Batavia Downs on the Upswing

.....Still, all New York racetracks with VLTs have noticed improving profitability in recent months. And Batavia Downs, with 586 machines, still lags the state's most successful VLT tracks, Saratoga Gaming and Raceway and Finger Lakes.

Since its opening more than two years ago, Saratoga averages about $200 a day per machine in profit; Finger Lakes, $189; and Batavia Downs, $109. Both Buffalo Fairgrounds and Mighty M Gaming at Monticello Raceway in the Catskills are slightly behind, based on data from the state Lottery Division.

After buying Batavia Downs out of bankruptcy in 1998, Western OTB pumped in more than $15 million to renovate it. The track reopened in 2002, but shut down less than two years later after debt piled up.....