TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A real estate developer and his business partner are the new owners of the Heartland Park Topeka racing facility.

Chris Payne said Thursday he and Todd Crossley are the new owners of Heartland Park, apparently ending more months of uncertainty about the track’s future.

Payne confirmed he has reached an agreement with CoreFirst Bank & Trust and has already taken possession of the track.

The announcement came only hours after The Topeka Capital-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1IXfSgb ) that negotiations with another potential owner, Jim Farnum and his group, Heartland USA LLC, had stopped negotiations with CoreFirst.

The race track’s future has been unclear since a proposed deal between the city and former owner Raymond Irwin was rejected by the Topeka City Council in May.