The new buyer for Turf Paradise racetrack in Phoenix will complete the deal within the next two months and plans to hold a live racing meet at the track at the beginning of 2024, if not sooner, Arizona racing officials said at a Department of Racing meeting on Thursday. The new buyer was identified as Frank Nickens by Turf Paradise’s general manager, Vincent Francia, and by the president of the Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, J. Lloyd Yother. Nickens approached Turf Paradise last week about buying the track after a potential sale collapsed 10 days ago, Francia and Yother said. Francia said that Nickens had planned to be at the Thursday meeting but could not make it due to a “last-minute” development. Francia read a prepared statement from Nickens to the commission. “We plan to keep live racing and bring this facility into a new era of horse racing for the benefit of everyone involved,” Nickens wrote, according to Francia. “We feel the preservation of such a wonderfully historical facility, and the preservation of the thousands of jobs that horse racing offers, can carry the legacy of Turf Paradise on for the next 50 years.” Reached by telephone after the meeting, Francia declined to provide background details on Nickens but agreed to forward a message to him from Daily Racing Form seeking a phone call. “I can tell you it’s all good, and it’s all heading in the right direction,” Francia said. The emergence of a new buyer came shortly after a partnership headed by California real-estate developer James Watson backed out of a deal to buy the track, citing a failure to get authorization for historical horse racing machines. Subsequently, Jerry Simms, the current owner of the track, said he would close the track as of Sept. 30, when Turf’s agreement with its horsemen expired. The closure of the track would have led to a blackout of simulcast signals at 37 offtrack betting outlets in the state and the cessation of account-wagering as of Oct. 1. But on Wednesday night, Turf Paradise issued a statement saying that the Arizona HBPA extended its agreement with the track until Nov. 12, in an effort to allow simulcasting to go forward while the deal with Nickens is being worked out. Yother, the Arizona HBPA president, said at the racing commission meeting that leadership of his group had met with Nickens on Tuesday night, and that Nickens appeared at a horsemen’s meeting on Wednesday when the organization voted to extend the agreement to Nov. 12. “We’re looking to save live racing in Arizona,” Yother said. “I’m doing my utmost to do what’s possible to do that.” Simms told the racing commission that a “purchase agreement” would be sent to Nickens later on Thursday and that Nickens has said that he plans to complete his due diligence on the deal in the next 60 days. “He’s an enthusiast and he wants to run racing,” Simms said. The rapid emergence of the deal led Dave Auther, one of the owners of Arizona Downs in Prescott Valley – which has not run a live meet since 2022 – to question whether Turf Paradise was attempting to keep control over simulcasting revenues through the end of 2023 even though Simms had announced that the track was going to close. Under Arizona racing regulations, licensed permit-holders retain a share of the offtrack betting handle in the state, as well as the source-market fees generated by account-wagering handle. “Has anyone vetted this person?” Auther asked the commission, referring to Nickens. “Does he need a permit? Is it going to be under Turf Paradise’s permit? What is going on? Because all we hear is that Turf Paradise is closing and Jerry is going to his place in California and retiring.” In answer to Auther, Chuck Coolidge, chairman of the commission, said that “the buyer is still going to have to go through all the things they have to do” in order to get a license. Simms said that Nickens had already received licensing paperwork from the commission. Because of the new deal, the commission approved simulcast contracts with a number of tracks that will offer their simulcast signals in Arizona through the Nov. 12 date. In addition, it renewed the advanced-deposit wagering licenses for three account-wagering operators, two of which have authorization to operate in the state through an agreement with Turf Paradise. As for a live race meet, Simms said that Nickens told him that the current plan would be to operate a live race meet in January. Turf Paradise has typically run a live race meet from early November to early May, and Simms said that Nickens might seek earlier race dates if the deal can be completed quickly. “This is moving ahead, and if we got to the end of the deal in time and he wanted to run [this year], I think something could be worked out, maybe if he leased the track,” Simms said. “He’s ready to move ahead.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.