The epicenter of Oregon horse racing could move to Grants Pass as Portland Meadows heads toward a future as a massive distribution center.

It appears increasingly unlikely the North Portland race track will see another season. It hasn’t been sold, but a sale is pending, and plans filed with the city last year call for its redevelopment.

But more telling is that Dutch Bros. Coffee chief executive Travis Boersma has secured a commercial racing license for a track in Grants Pass, including the rights for off-track betting and to simulcast races held elsewhere, a major money-maker for tracks.

The Oregon Racing Commission approved a three-year license for Grants Pass Downs last week without hearing a word of objection from Portland Meadows’ owners, said Jack McGrail, the commission’s executive director.

The decision wouldn’t preclude Portland Meadows from seeking a renewal of its own license, which expires in June. But it’s unlikely Oregon could sustain two tracks through split simulcasting revenue, said McGrail said.

Portland Meadows General Manager JT Corrales confirmed the pending sale in an email but said that “nothing is for certain.”

“We are currently business as usual, including the Kentucky Derby Party coming up," he wrote, adding, “The deal is not done.”

Nonetheless, Boersma’s TMB Racing is preparing for a fall meet in September and October, the first commercial race event at the expanded Grants Pass Downs.

In the meantime, the group will expand the grandstands and concession areas, add nighttime racing lights and make other improvements, according to its application to the racing commission.

Boersma, a horse racing fan who as a child attended fair meets at Grants Pass Downs, said commercial racing at Portland Meadows — and in particular the simulcasting and off-track betting — has historically helped support racing events at smaller venues like Grants Pass, as well as Pendleton, Tillamook and Burns.

“There’s no way to replace Portland Meadows, or what it was once,” he said. “The thing I think is really important is to keep horse racing alive in the state.”

And the Grants Pass operation could turn out to be an interim measure, Boersma said.

He’s spoken with the owners of Churchill Downs Racetrack, which hosts the Kentucky Derby, about their “huge interest” in building a new horse track between Portland and Salem, he said. That would be a venture with a price tag around $100 million, he said, and it could take years to come together.

Boersma has also sought a manager to run the Grants Pass operation. Among the applicants, according to Boersma: The Stronach Group, the part-owner and manager of Portland Meadows.

The prospective Portland Meadows buyer is Prologis, a San Francisco-based company that’s one of the world’s largest owners of warehouses and distribution centers. A spokeswoman didn’t return a message seeking comment.

Plans filed last year by the Portland engineering firm Mackenzie call for nine or 10 buildings for warehousing, distribution or light manufacturing. It’s continued to refine the proposal with a new filings, the latest on March 20.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

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