Officials for La Mesa Racetrack and Casino have filed an appeal of the New Mexico Gaming Control Board’s decision to revoke its gaming license.

The board revoked the license on May 4, citing several missed deadlines. However, in a release distributed Thursday by an Albuquerque public relations firm hired by Horse Racing at Raton LLC, attorney Sam Bregman said the company never received due process, and he added that the board showed “complete disregard for what’s in the best interests of the state.”

“We look forward through this (appeal) process of finding out why the board took this irresponsible action, which is both unlawful and very hurtful to the people of northern New Mexico,” Bregman added.

The 21-page appeal is accompanied by 91 exhibits. Greg Saunders, the gaming board’s deputy executive director and chief information officer, confirmed that the board received the appeal on Thursday morning.

“We are looking at the data provided and will respond to them within the timeframe provided by our statute,” which is 30 days, Saunders said.

Horse Racing at Raton president Michael Moldenhauer said that he has complied with all the issues raised by board. The statement described the reasons the gaming license was revoked as “technical issues” and said “those issues had already been resolved.”

“We are just a few weeks from opening and it just makes absolutely no sense to pull this license,” Moldenhauer said in the release. “We are not going to give up on Raton. We are not going to let down the people of northern New Mexico who are counting on the jobs.

“Losing this project would be a heartbreaker for all of us, but especially the workers and the small businesses that are counting on the economic activity,” he added.

On May 4, the gaming board voted unanimously to revoke Horse Racing at Raton’s license, citing Moldenhauer’s failure to meet certain conditions attached to the license, including providing certain financial information and documentation. The board also cited that Moldenhauer failed to submit a complete license renewal application and proper payment.

Also, the board had set a May 1 deadline for the temporary casino to open, a deadline that was not met.

The New Mexico Racing Commission has a June 16 disciplinary hearing scheduled for La Mesa at which the commission will consider revoking the project’s racing license for the $50 million Raton project that was supposed to begin live racing last Friday, but has yet to start construction work on the track facility.

“(The appeal process) allows La Mesa to demonstrate that all technical issues for this project have been addressed and that the project is on the verge of opening and becoming an economic engine for northern New Mexico,” said Moldenhauer, who added that he believes the appeal will be successful “because when the board members see all the facts in front of them, the wisdom will be obvious as to why this project should go forward.”