South Coast hotel corrals horse lovers

By Liz Benston

Wednesday, March 15, 2006 | 7:06 a.m.

Several hundred horse owners attending the first show at the South Coast Equestrian Center last month got a big surprise when they arrived at the hotel check-in desk.

Bellmen were standing by to take their bags and escort them to their rooms - a service unheard of at other shows.

"They just got the biggest charge out of that," South Coast General Manager Michael Gaughan Jr. said. "They just thought that was the fanciest thing."

The South Coast Equestrian Center, which hosts its largest event yet today through Sun-day, is believed to be the only facility of its kind. It features a 4,500-seat stadium as well as 1,200 climate-controlled horse stalls, a vet clinic, feed store and a place for shoeing horses.

That doesn't even include the attached 660-room hotel and 80,000-square-foot casino.

There's a satellite hotel check-in desk at the equestrian center, with gaming tables a horseshoe toss away. The hotel's design allows for mixing of the gambling and horse crowds.

For hotel and casino customers, there's the prospect of playing blackjack or bowling near hundreds of horses waiting for their turn in the arena.

And hotel guests flipping through channels on their in-room TVs can tune into events going on in the center.

The equestrian center is the brainchild of Gaughan's father, Coast Casinos boss - and horse lover - Michael Gaughan. His company has been a longtime sponsor of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and Professional Bull Riders events.

Gaughan Sr.'s wife and daughter participate in horse cutting events - exhibitions in which horses are used to separate cows from a herd.

The South Coast will play host to as many as 40 horse shows a year. Show participants are likely to stay at least five days, setting up makeshift camps around their horse stalls and socializing with other fanciers. Many of the events will tie in with open-to-the-public consumer shows featuring everything from horse supplies to clothing and jewelry.

The South Coast's first two horse shows are reporting their version of the oft-touted "Vegas effect" - shows that garner record crowds when they move to the city and its wide range of other entertainment options.

The South Coast Winter Championship and MillionHeir Classic, a National Cutting Horse Association event, attracted more than 750 horses a few weeks ago. That compares to an association record of about 450 horses, Gaughan said.

The Silver Dollar Circuit, an annual event organized by the American Quarter Horse Association that begins today at the South Coast, already has attracted a couple hundred more horses than is typical.

About 400 people will be staying at the hotel for the event.

"These are people who want to have a good time and be entertained in Vegas just like anyone else," Gaughan said.

Horses can cost in the thousands to the hundreds of thousands, while owners' household incomes typically approach $200,000 per year.

The equestrian center is expected to generate higher room rates, hotel occupancy and revenue across the property, he said.

The American Quarter Horse Association is the world's largest horse breed association, with 350,000 members and 4.5 million registered horses. The AQHA will host a regional event at the South Coast in August and is considering an even bigger event there in the future.

"Any time a world class facility like the South Coast Equestrian Center is built, especially in a city like Las Vegas, the quarter horse industry will benefit," said Bill Brewer, executive vice president of the Amarillo, Texas-based group.