Penn National Gaming Inc. will relocate its two Ohio racetracks, including Beulah Park, to cities in Ohio that are not already slated for casinos if the state government allows it to operate slot machines at the facilities, the company told the Ohio State Racing Commission on Thursday. Approval of racetrack slots and the relocation of the two facilities would allow Penn National to open a total of four casinos in the state in four different markets, without local competition from any other gambling facilities. Penn National is building casinos in the two cities where the tracks are located, Columbus and Toledo, after receiving voter approval for the exclusive rights to operate the casinos late in 2009. Both casinos are scheduled to open in 2012. Slot machines are not currently legal at Ohio’s seven racetracks, but Gov. John Kasich, who took office last year, is considering a proposal to legalize the devices at the facilities without legislative approval or a statewide vote. Casino companies, including Penn National, have been lobbying heavily to influence the process in the hopes of gaining additional slot-machine licenses, and Penn’s proposal on Thursday to spend $400 million to build the two new relocated facilities is part of that strategy. If slot machines are approved at the tracks, Beulah’s operations would be moved 70 miles west to Dayton, in the southwestern region of the state, Penn told the commission Thursday. Dayton is approximately 30 miles east of Indiana, where casinos are legal, and 60 miles north of Kentucky, where casinos are not legal. Dave Basler, the executive director of the Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said that Penn National officials did not discuss the relocation plan with horsemen’s officials prior to the meeting on Thursday, despite weeks of hints from the company about its desire to relocate Beulah to Dayton. "We have more questions than comments right now," Basler said.  Penn’s other Ohio track, the harness facility Raceway Park in Toledo, would be moved 175 miles east to Youngstown, in the northeastern part of the state, near the border of Pennsylvania, where casinos are legal. A separate investor’s group has announced that they are also seeking a racing license in Youngstown, solely in the hopes of winning a casino license. Penn said that it has bought options to purchase the properties where the new casinos would be built. Both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racetracks in Ohio have suffered long declines over the past decade, and racing nationwide is suffering steep handle drops and racehorse shortages brought on by the recession and a severe contraction in the bloodstock market. In the past 12 months, all three Thoroughbred racetracks in the state have been acquired by casino companies: Beulah to Penn, River Downs in Cincinnati to Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and Thistledown in Cleveland to Harrah’s Entertainment. Penn National owns 23 gambling facilities in 16 jurisdictions. On a conference call last week announcing the company’s 2010 earnings, Peter Carlino, the chief executive of the company, said that Penn has been actively seeking racetrack properties over the past several years because “racetracks tend to end up with slots.” “Operating tracks at a loss is not in our long-term plan,” Carlino said on the call. “We will continue to ratchet down costs. We’ll be tough and brutal about that. We’re not running a public charity.”