The Downs at Albuquerque, which operates a racetrack and casino at the New Mexico state fairgrounds, must pay the New Mexico State Fair $1.047-million in back rent by Monday or face termination of its lease.

The back rent does not include $208,000 in back rent that the fair alleges The Downs owes, but the Downs counter alleges that the fair owes it between $600,000 and $800,000 for capital improvements on the racetrack.

While all that is being sorted out, the Downs's attorney J. Duke Thornton said that his client would pay the million-dollar debt to continue racing, but that the Downs is not through fighting its case in court.

The Downs began leasing the track from the fair in July 1990, running a 17-day fair meet during September as well as its own spring meet. In 1999, the Downs began operating 300 slot machines under an addendum to the lease that it would pay the fair $445,000 or a graduated percentage of the slots handle. The fair's lawsuit claims The Downs has used incorrect calculations since September 2000, the Albuquerque Tribune reports.

The Downs, which is currently in the midst of its simulcast season, will open a 51-day mixed spring meeting on March 14.