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Fri., 7:12am: Racing panel alarmed over stalls at Austintown racino

COLUMBUS – The state horse-racing commission is concerned that there aren’t enough horse stalls being built at a new racino in the Youngstown area.

During a meeting in Columbus Thursday, commission members said that current plans for 760 stalls at the new track in Austintown are troubling, given that other tracks in the state have more than 1,000 stalls.

The panel has expressed concern that racinos might emphasize video lottery gambling more and short-change fans of live horse racing.

The owner of the track, Penn National Gaming, says that adding more stalls is problematic because of budget considerations and site-plan limitations.

The commission had signed off on Penn National’s plans to relocate an existing track in suburban Columbus to Austintown. A mid-2014 opening is planned.

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