Moyer is buying the option for an undisclosed price from Vancouver businessman Eugene Ferryman, who until now had been in negotiations Canada-based Magna Entertainment Corp. Magna owns several of the country's most popular horse tracks, including Santa Anita Park in Southern California and Gulfstream Park in Southern Florida.

Moyer, who is out of town this week and not available for comment, is talking with several parties interested in operating the track, including Magna, at least temporarily, according to a source integral to the negotiations. "Things will become clear around May 15," says the source.

What's clear now is that any new operator will be talking horse manure before it does anything else. The federal environmental protection agency has filed a lawsuit against Ferryman in U.S. District Court here over his handling of the equine excrement. Ferryman has reportedly spent several hundred thousand dollars trying to mitigate the problem with gutters, rainwater collectors and stable improvements, but the matter has not yet been settled with the EPA.