$2 million in renovations began last summer
By Brandon Brown | Phoenix Business Journal
Brothers Tom, Dave and Mike Auther and their longtime partner Joe Jackson have spent their whole careers in Phoenix’s real estate world, but now they are trying something a little different: horse racing.
“We are a real estate company by and large,” Jackson said. “We weren’t not fans [of horse racing], but we probably didn’t make too many horse bets.”
In January 2018, Jackson and the Auther brothers purchased Yavapai Downs, a racetrack 90 miles north of Phoenix in Prescott Valley, out of bankruptcy for $3.22 million. The track hasn’t held races since 2010.
Over the summer, the $2 million worth of renovations started and they re-branded the property as Arizona Downs. Races are going to start in the spring making horse racing a year-round business in Arizona. Currently Turf Paradise in Phoenix holds races from October to May. This will give Arizona-based horse breeders, owners, trainers and jockeys a chance to work within the state all year.
“Instead of having to go to Minnesota for three months of the year, they can just go up to Prescott,” Tom Authersaid. “They could actually commute if they wanted to.”
While the four are excited about horse racing, they don’t know much about it. That is why they brought on experts to help them out. Longtime racing executive Corey Johnsen is part of the ownership team, and they hired Ann McGovern as Arizona Downs’ general manager. McGovern has decades of experience at horse racetracks, and Dave Auther said she is their go-to when any questions or problems arise.
“I don’t know if there is another woman in the industry that is more prominent than Ann,” Dave Auther said.
Arizona Downs is expecting racing to start at the facility Memorial Day weekend and run through to Labor Day. In 2019, there will be 35 days of racing, Dave Auther said. One day he imagines they could do 50 days of racing during a summer.
