HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Gambling is what horse racing is all about. Pinnacle Race Course founder Jerry Campbell is betting that Detroit will back his new thoroughbred track.

The Republic Bancorp founder says he and other plan to invest up to $142 million in the track, which opens Friday in the shadow of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The question: Can Pinnacle succeed one year after Michigan's only other thoroughbred track failed, even as the state's auto industry chokes on $4 a gallon gasoline and nearby casinos keep sucking money out of the horse racing business?

"It's a very tough economy right now,'' said Campbell, whose been a race horse owner for 35 years.

He said he studied the success of Detroit's big-league teams - the Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons and Lions - with the goal of creating "a first-class family entertainment venue that will bring the best of horse racing to Michigan.''

With a picnic area designed to appeal to parents with children and an emphasis on food service, Campbell said he wants to lure people who can easily take their entertainment dollars somewhere else.

"You've got to have the customers want to come, and come back, because it's a good experience,'' he told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Government officials have placed a big side bet on Pinnacle. Wayne County handed over 320 prime acres for $1 in the hope of spurring development around the busy airport.

Thoroughbred Times managing editor Tom Law said Campbell's family-friendly approach could prove to be a winner. Saratoga Race Course in New York, along with Del Mar near San Diego and Keeneland near Lexington, Ky., have done well in appealing to nontraditional audiences, Law said.

"They draw a lot of young people'' and "could plant the seeds for the future'' by developing tomorrow's race fans, Law said from his office in Lexington.

For now, the key to success is drawing the betting crowd whose wagers keep any track afloat.

Carlos Osorio / AP Pinnacle Race Course owner Jerry Campbell is wagering up to $142 million on his new thoroughbred track.

"There's no betting, there's no horse racing,'' Law said.

The 68-year-old Campbell, whose bank was bought in 2006 by what is now Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc., owns 150 race horses. He didn't plan to go into the track business until a crisis hit the state's thoroughbred industry last August.

Horse track operator Magna Entertainment Corp, based in Aurora, Ontario, announced financial problems were forcing it to scrap a plan to build a $100 million track complex in Romulus.

That would have left Michigan without a thoroughbred track. Magna's Great Lakes Downs near Muskegon closed last year after losing $1.8 million in 2006. The Detroit Race Course, which featured thoroughbred racing, closed in 1998.

Campbell, who sits on Magna's board, pulled together a group that drafted a proposal to the Michigan Racing Commission. The commission gave its blessing, and Wayne County offered up the land, which is about 20 miles southwest of Detroit.

The first phase at Pinnacle cost $28 million and includes a 1,000-seat grandstand; corporate hospitality suite with restaurant, lounge and simulcast viewing area for year-round betting plus 15 barns with 600 horse stalls. The track plans an abbreviated 63-day race schedule in 2008.

Campbell said he's lining up financing for Phase 2 in 2009. It includes a 4,000-seat grandstand with luxury boxes, several restaurants, additional stables and other amenities that would bring the total investment to $72 million.

A third phase, a $70 million housing and retail development, hangs on the success of the first two.

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Pinnacle Race Course's opening comes in the face of a long decline in horse racing around the country. Betting fell 3.6 percent to $7.27 billion in the first half of 2008, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

"Our industry is in the midst of a challenging period with discretionary entertainment dollars tighter than they have been for several years,'' said group President Alex Waldrop.

In Michigan, horse race attendance fell from 2.56 million in 1992 to 1.01 million in 2007.

Thoroughbred Times' Law said Pinnacle has a shot at success "if it's done the right way'' and "if they're able to offer a quality product.'' But he acknowledged the hurdles are high for any new non-casino gambling venture.

"It's a tough time to be launching a business in America,'' Law said. "There's only a certain amount of gambling dollars to go around.''

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