TWO GROUPS INTERESTED IN BUYING ARLINGTON TRACK?
Horsemen’s Association: We’ve been approached
If Churchill Downs won’t build a casino at Arlington International Racecourse, the corporate gambling giant should sell it to someone who will.
That’s the opinion of the owners and trainers of the horses that run at the historic track.
And now there are two potential bidders who could vie to do just that, according to the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.
Four months after Churchill Downs announced it wouldn’t become a “racino” as authorized under a sweeping gambling expansion in Illinois — even though it had lobbied for two decades to win that privilege — the spurned Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association says two groups interested in buying the 92-year-old track have approached it asking if the owners and trainers would support them in a potential bid.
“They clearly have the ability and wherewithal to pull it off if, in fact, Churchill has no desire to fulfill the intent of the law,” Mike Campbell, association president, told the Chicago SunTimes Thursday.
Tax revenue from the gaming expansion law signed over the summer, which also legalized sports betting and opened the door to six new casinos, is earmarked for construction projects in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s $45 billion statewide capital infrastructure plan.
The owners’ and trainers’ representatives viewed it as the ultimate betrayal when Churchill Downs announced in August it wouldn’t install table games and slot machines at Arlington. The racino concept had long been viewed as a financial savior for Illinois’ struggling horse racing industry, but Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said high taxes and a “hyper-competitive” gambling market made it an “untenable” investment.
The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association says the Louisville-based corporation, which bought Arlington in 2000, only wants to stifle potential competition against the other major gambling asset they own 12 miles from the track: Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.
With that bad blood simmering, Campbell said he was approached last month by two separate groups floating the idea of purchasing Arlington and operating it as a racino. He declined to identify partners in either group but said one group has “a great deal of experience” in horse racing.
Representatives for Churchill Downs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The corporation has refused to commit to live racing at Arlington beyond 2021.
“If Churchill is not going to utilize their license, they should move over,” Campbell said. “We would welcome a new owner of Arlington.
“The important thing is finding someone with the money. Both [prospective buyers] clearly have the interest and the resources.”
Pritzker’s office declined to comment on a potential Arlington sale.
After Churchill Downs announced Arlington wouldn’t become a racino, Pritzker’s office called it “a significant reversal from the years and years of race track owners seeking additional ways to generate revenue to keep their operations working.
“In fact, the gaming legislation provides several opportunities for significant additional revenues, including table games and slots,” the governor’s office said then. “Just as importantly, the legislation allows the racing industry to flourish instead of facing more years of decline. Just to be clear: actions taken around gaming will be done to benefit the people of Illinois, not solely for the bottom line of individual operators.”
Rumblings of a potential sale come as the track owner remains at loggerheads with the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association over a contract ahead of the racing season slated to begin May 1. The Illinois Racing Board awarded 68 racing dates to Arlington despite the objections of horse owners and trainers and some board members furious over their racino decision.
Campbell says it’s “50-50” whether there’ll be any racing at all this year at Arlington. The horse owners and trainers are seeking an average of $200,000 in daily purse money, but they say Churchill Downs won’t budge from $130,000, well below average purses in neighboring states.
“We held on thinking that a casino at the racetrack was going to make a difference for us,” Campbell said. “Now, that’s unlikely.”