Topeka — An official of the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission says the agency is investigating operations at The Woodlands, a pari-mutuel racing complex in Kansas City, Kan.
Two top executives recently left the track without public announcement, and Tracy Diel, acting executive director of the commission, said Friday that The Woodlands management had told the agency about "some things they didn't feel comfortable with."
"Within the last week or so, The Woodlands management turned over to the commission staff a stack of documents, which we're in the process of going through and based upon that, we've initiated an investigation to determine if any rules or regulations of the racing commission have been violated at this point," Diel said.
"The Woodlands management came to us, based on some internal things that they were doing in regards to bettering their race track and trying to improve their relationships with horse and dog owners, just complaints they received," he said. "They noticed some things they didn't feel comfortable with."
He said it is too early to tell whether the park's finances are involved, or whether anything illegal had been done. Some documents that the commission should have received had not been provided to it, he said.
"What we're investigating has nothing to do with patrons making wagers at the race tracks," he said.
It was learned earlier this month that August J. Masciotra, who had been general manager of The Woodlands since May 2000, had been placed on administrative leave, and that Allan P. Meyers resigned as assistant general manager. The company did not announce the departures.
The operations are currently under the direction of Larry Seckington, corporate secretary of Kansas Racing LLC, which owns the track.
The Woodlands, which opened in 1989, has seen a dramatic drop in attendance and wagering since its early years.
Last year the betting on greyhound racing dropped to $12.5 million, down 27 percent from 2000. Horse betting, for a season now reduced to just 26 days, dropped almost 1 percent to $1.2 million.
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