Norco on the verge of opening off-track horse racing venue

The Derby Room, a sports bar and restaurant, could open as early as next month if it gets approved by the California Horse Racing Board. City officials say such an establishment would fit in perfectly with a community that calls itself “Horsetown U.S.A.”

Three years after it looked like a lost cause, Norco is apparently going to get an off-track horse racing establishment.

Lake Elsinore-based Californian Horse Racing and Sports LLC has received permission from the planning commission and city council to convert the former Cowboy Joe’s Restaurant at 3230 Hamner Ave. – into an off-track betting facility, Councilman Berwin Hanna said.

Much of the renovation has been completed. All that remains is obtaining a permit from the California Horse Racing Board and The Derby Room can open.

That could happen as early as the middle of next month, according to the man who will manage the 5,500-square-foot operation.

“There’s nothing else like this in the [Inland Empire],” said Kiko Zennedjian, currently the food and beverage manager at CJ’s Sports Grill & Turf Club in Lake Elsinore. “The timing is also good. Off-track betting tapered off for awhile, but with all of the new satellite technology that’s coming in it’s getting popular again.”

Norco’s slogan is “Horsetown U.S.A.” It allows single-family homes with stables and its 400 acres of parks help make for a more spread out, rustic lifestyle. Adding an off-track betting operation will only add to its reputation for being a horse-loving community.

“They opened one in San Diego a few years ago that didn’t work, but San Diego isn’t a horse town like Norco is,” said Hanna, who helped lead the effort to bring The Derby Room to the city. “This one should do fine. Among other things it has a lot of investors behind it.”

The Derby Room will have a sports bar and restaurant in addition to its gaming component, which for the moment will be restricted to betting on horse races. The restaurant will seat 230 people, and the entire facility will employ 60 to 70 people.

Assuming that the project is approved, The Derby Room will be California’s 12th satellite off-track betting facility, said Mike Marten, the horse racing board’s public information officer.

By law, there can be no more than 45 such operations in California: a maximum of 15 each in the north, central and south part of the state. Priority is given to sites that are likely to generate the most revenue.

Also, no two satellite wagering sites may be within 20 miles of each other unless the older of the two agrees to waive that prohibition. The Derby Room’s nearest competition will be the Finish Line Sports Grill at Fairplex in Pomona, the National Orange Show in San Bernardino and the Lake Elsinore Casino.

The application is being reviewed by the five-member horse racing board and likely will be addressed at the board’s next meeting, scheduled to be held Dec. 13 at the Los Alamitos Race Course.

While nothing is official, board members rarely turn down an application this late in the process, according to Marten.

“Getting the city’s approval is the hard part, and most of the time that takes awhile,” Marten said. “There’s usually some resistance within the community, and that can slow things down. This will be our 12th if it’s approved, but off-track better has been legal for 18 years.”

Off-track betting accounts for approximately 30 to 40 percent of the revenue generated every year by California’s horse racing industry. Despite that healthy percentage, satellite wagering is limited in how much it helps the sport financially because its practitioners don’t pay to park, don’t patronize the concessions stands or eat at the race track’s restaurant.

“The truth is that race tracks make very little money off betting,” Marten said in January 2014, when Norco’s first proposed off-track wagering establishment – it would have been located in the former Security Pacific Bank Building at Hamner Avenue and Fourth Street – was going through its permitting process. “They make their money in other areas, like selling food and drinks.”

Since its incorporation in 1964, Norco has prided itself on its rural atmosphere.

It made itself into a horse community, building multiple horse trails and passing zoning laws that allowed residents to use their horses to commute.

Today, Norco has more horse trails than sidewalks, and it’s home to several horse associations: the Norco Horseman’s Association,the Norco Junior Horseman’s Association.

Norco also has some residents who work in the horse racing industry, which is another reason why putting an off-track betting establishment in the city makes sense, Hanna said.

“We’re already Horsetown U.S.A.” Hanna said in reference to the moniker the city adopted about a dozen years ago. This fits in with what we’re already doing.”