Penn National made it official last week by stating to the Ohio State Racing Commission that they want to move horse racing tracks from Toledo and Columbus to Mahoning Valley and Dayton respectively. The Mahoning Valley site is a vacant 186-acre business park in Austintown. The Dayton site is another former Delphi Corp. automotive plant. These moves would be totally contingent on the legalization of VLTs. No VLTs, no move. If all goes well, both tracks would open in 2013.

These proposed moves have their detractors. Another group, the Mahoning Valley Development Group, also wants to bring horse racing to the Mahoning Valley area and there is a potential racetrack/casino slated for New Castle, PA, which is less than 20 miles away. Residents and business owners alike point to the problems of existing tracks and contend that another track would be more destructive rather than constructive. Owners of the Lebanon Raceway, a track located in Warren County, cite a law that prohibits construction of a new track within 50 miles of an existing one. The Dayton site is 40 miles away.