Magna Entertainment Corporation, North America’s largest owner and operator of horse racetracks, has joined Richard Azan’s local consortium in its bid for Caymanas Park, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

Azan’s consortium, known as Caymanas Entertainment Ltd (CEL), also includes local lottery giant Supreme Ventures; Azan’s partner, Peter John Asher, a lawyer and well-known horse racing personality; as well as the architectural firm Leighton Hamilton & Associates.

News of Magna’s interest has been greeted in local horse racing circles as a strong statement of confidence in the Azan group’s proposal to lease the track from the Government.

“The Magna Corporation is the leading track management company in North America,” said one local horse racing analyst yesterday. “They have turned around many state-run racetracks into profitable businesses.”

If Azan wins the bid, Magna would provide management and technical advice to the consortium which, the Sunday Observer sources say, has a raft of impressive plans to redesign Caymanas Park into a modern, world-class racing/entertainment complex.

Magna’s network of North American thoroughbred racetracks includes:

. Santa Anita Park

. Gulfstream Park

. Pimlico Race Course

. Laurel Park

. Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie

. Golden Gate Fields

. Bay Meadows

. Thistledown

. Remington Park

. Portland Meadows, and

. Great Lakes Downs

In addition, Magna owns two standardbred tracks – The Meadows in Pennsylvania, and Flamboro Downs in Hamilton, Ontario – and operates Multnomah Greyhound Park, a greyhound track in Oregon.

The company recently opened Magna Racino in Austria, a racetrack which runs both thoroughbred and standardbred meets.

In July 2002, Magna launched HorseRacing TV, which is currently carried on cable systems in 10 states with approximately 1.4 million subscribers.

It also runs pari-mutuel operations, including off-track betting (OTB) facilities, and an account wagering business known as XpressBet, which permits customers to place wagers by telephone and over the Internet on horse races at over 100 North American race tracks and internationally on races in Australia, South Africa and Dubai.

The Sunday Observer could not confirm yesterday whether Magna’s OTB operations were included in the Azan group’s proposal and Azan himself could not be reached for comment.

Supreme Ventures’ chairman Paul Hoo, when contacted, declined to discuss the proposal, saying that it was before the National Investment Bank of Jamaica, therefore they should be the ones to speak on it if they so desired.

Hoo, however, said: “We believe the proposal has a lot of merit and will benefit the horse racing industry and Jamaica.”

Last month, the Sunday Observer reported that only two local groups – one led by Azan and the other by well-known race horse owner and breeder, Richard Lake – had filed bids for the track when the Government’s sale offer closed on June 14.

The Government, just over a year ago, had stated its intention to divest the racetrack, which is currently operated by Caymanas Track Ltd (CTL), a state-owned firm.

CTL was established in the 1980s when the Government intervened to save the industry after the previous promoters of horse racing, Racing Promotions Ltd, folded.

Although CTL, which has an approximate turnover of $3 billion annually, will be divested as an ongoing operational company, the racetrack, which is its main asset, will be leased long-term to the new owners.