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The struggle between horse racing and soccer for space at Rillito Racetrack could be headed for a courtroom, instead of the ballot box as part of the next bond election.

With Pima County reneging on plans for a new horse track in Marana, former Supervisor Ed Moore has warned he will sue if the county goes ahead with conversion of Rillito to an 18-field soccer tournament site.

He says the conversion mostly will benefit soccer clubs that charge fees to hire professional coaches, and it's inappropriate for the county to spend tax dollars on soccer fields to benefit private businesses.

"The big mistake the soccer folks are making is to fight us," Moore said. "What they're guaranteeing is a long legal battle that will go on longer than anyone realizes."

Two years ago, Moore, a fierce advocate for horse racing and an author of the 1984 initiative that guaranteed racing would continue until 2010, joined other members of an advisory committee in signing a recommendation to move racing to Marana and for the historic racetrack to be converted to soccer fields.

Moore now says the county has plenty of other sites that could be developed for soccer, and he plans to pursue a National Register of Historic Places designation not just for the track's chute, which is already on the register, but the grandstand, clubhouse and track as well.

If the county places the conversion of the track on the ballot for a future bond election, Moore says he will sue them for not supporting the designation process.

Advocates for youth sports said Moore is misleading the community about the feasibility of developing other soccer sites, and they are frustrated to see Moore fighting to save the track after he agreed to the recommendation to move racing.

"We sat there for seven months listening to experts, and the plan he signed said racing will be converted to soccer," said Gary Davidson, chairman of the Rillito Advisory Committee and a member of the Bond Advisory Committee, as well as a parks commissioner.

"Not one of those people stood up and said they disagreed. I honestly thought we would move forward after that," Davidson said.

Moore now says he only signed because he knew the county would never build another racetrack. Since the recommendation called for racing to continue at Rillito until a replacement track was built, he said, that meant it could remain at its historic location forever.

Rillito Racetrack, 4502 N. First Ave., opened in 1943 and was the first regulated facility for quarter-horse racing in the United States.

Since the recommendation signed by Moore and other committee members was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2006, the county has abandoned plans to build a new track in Marana.

A new track and grandstands there would have cost $38 million, and the federal land Marana wanted to use for the track would not have allowed gambling. An alternative site on state land was too expensive.

Now county parks officials are working on plans for a track at the Pima County Fairgrounds, which has facilities for dressage but not for racing. Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Director Rafael Payan said it's a logical location, with easy access to other horse-racing sites like Sonoita and Patagonia. Officials estimate it will cost roughly $6.5 million to construct a track, additional stalls and a grandstand.

Moore said the site is unacceptable because the perpetual winds spook the horses. Payan said racing sites in New Mexico are much windier and still work.

"We really were working in good faith and we still are," Payan said. "What amazes us is we thought we had an agreement and now they seem to be backing off."

Even if the track were designated historic, that doesn't prohibit the owners form tearing it down, an architect with the State Historic Preservation Office said, also noting the owner of a property must consent to a historic designation.

Moore said taxpayers would be better served spending a little money fixing the existing facility than building new.

"Let's see if the community really wants to tear down something that would cost $38 million to replace so a bunch of high-paid soccer coaches can make more money," he said.

Ebie Aldaghi, president of the Tucson Soccer Academy, the soccer club that Moore accuses of being a business, said Moore is wrong about the club.

He said the younger children who make up the majority of members have volunteer coaches like the other youth leagues. Older children who pass tryouts for the more elite club pay about $120 a month for professional coaches, but the fees just cover costs, and the club provides scholarships to talented children who cannot afford the fees.

"I believe in order to achieve their goals, they need to be trained by professional staff. And how can you ask a professional to work for free?" Aldaghi said.

Tucson Soccer Academy incorporated as a non-profit in 2007, although it operated as a volunteer-based organization before incorporating, he said.

But Aldaghi said Tucson Soccer Academy's status is beside the point. All youth sports need more fields, and Rillito Park offers easy access not just from the Foothills but from Midtown and the South Side as well.

"He threatened me that I will lose," Aldaghi said, referring to Moore. "Who am I? This isn't about me as a person. This is for the kids. This is for soccer but also for football, for lacrosse."

Instead of converting Rillito, Moore wants the county to speed construction of fields proposed just north of the existing Roger Road sewage treatment plant and a site in Marana. With good freeway access, they would make better tournament sites, Moore said.

Converting Rillito, as well as the other two locations, however, is dependent on a future bond package that may not go to the voters until 2009.

Davidson said the Marana site is problematic. While it would work as a tournament site, it would be inconvenient for most Tucson-area residents to drive their children to practices there.

"Why Rillito? Because that's where the children are," Davidson said. Like Aldaghi, he said Rillito is accessible by public transportation from all over town. He accused Moore of "trying to create a wedge" by claiming the conversion is "all about rich kids from the Foothills."

Moore has been making his case to community groups and local officials over the last few weeks, urging supporters of keeping racing at Rillito to turn out for a Bond Advisory Committee meeting Friday morning.

Moore said he has allies among the soccer community, though he has asked them to keep quiet to avoid an internal battle, and allies among historic preservationists, though he wasn't prepared to name them.

Members of local soccer leagues plan to be out in force at meeting as well.

County officials have reserved the largest room at the Manning House for what they expect will be an overflow crowd Friday.

Moore said the committee shouldn't be swayed just because the soccer community may have numbers on its side.

"Just because they can trot out a bunch of kids in uniform doesn't make it the right thing for the community."