New Thoroughbred track proposed for metro Detroit

While Hazel Park Harness Raceway submitted an application to race 92 harness dates next year at a hearing held Monday with Michigan Racing Commissioner Christine White, Campbell proposed a 165-day meet for Pinnacle Downs, which he hopes to build on 240 acres near Metropolitan Airport. The exact location is just east of Interstate 275 and south of Eureka Road.

Campbell’s racetrack plans include a 1 1/8-mile oval and 1,080 stalls. The grandstand will seat 10,000, and the site will also include a family picnic area. Plans call for 200,000 square feet of retail space. At the hearing Campbell stated he hopes to have the track and a temporary grandstand in place for a July 2008 opening, with construction of a permanent grandstand and the retail area ongoing during the race meet.

Campbell, who is the chairman of Citizens Republic Bancorp, the largest bank based in Michigan, has proposed the idea of a $500,000 race to be called the Michigan Derby, with its positioning to be sometime in April as a prep race for the Kentucky Derby.

The Pinnacle Downs proposal was not the only Thoroughbred license application submitted to Commissioner White as a real estate developer also applied to operate an 86-day meet at Great Lakes Downs. Winfield Cooper III’s request is contingent on a purchase or lease agreement with Magna Entertainment Corp., which earlier announced it will close Great Lakes Downs when the current meet ends in early November.

In 2005 Magna was granted a license to build a proposed $100 million dual-breed racetrack also near Metro Airport. Earlier this year Magna relinquished the license and dropped its plans to build the facility.

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