Category: Arlington International Racecourse

Arlington Heights Votes to Ban No-Gaming Clause in Sale

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Village board voted to prohibit CDI from including clause in sale of Illinois track.

 

The village of Arlington Heights, Ill., has tossed a potential monkey wrench into the planned sale and presumed demolition of Arlington International Racecourse.

The Arlington Heights village board at a May 3 meeting voted to prohibit the track’s owner, Churchill Downs Inc., from including in any sale agreement a provision the new owners could not use the property for gaming or certain other uses.

The village legal and planning department, which drafted the ordinance, said the intent is “to preserve all options for the property whether it includes complete redevelopment through a long-term master plan or continued use as a horse racing facility with additional redevelopment.”

 

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Churchill Downs To Sell Arlington Park, Pursue Relocation Of Racing License

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Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Tuesday that it has launched a process to sell the 326 acres in Arlington Heights, Ill. that are currently the home of Arlington International Racecourse. CBRE will bring the redevelopment opportunity to market on behalf of CDI.

CDI is committed to running Arlington’s 2021 race dates from April 30 – Sept. 25, and does not expect any sale of the Arlington site to close prior to the conclusion of Arlington’s 2021 race meet or that the conduct of the sale process will impact Arlington’s racing operations this year.

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Illinois Racing Board Grants Arlington 2020 Race Dates

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Board had threatened one week earlier to deny Arlington race dates.

 

The Illinois Racing Board has voted to grant Arlington International Racecourse its normal summertime racing dates for 2020 despite concerns about owner Churchill Downs Inc.’s decision not to pursue a casino license that would have generated millions of dollars for the purse account.

The vote, at a packed meeting Sept. 24 in the Chicago Loop, came after a week’s delay during which an IRB committee sought potential changes in CDI’s position. None was forthcoming, although CDI senior vice president and general counsel Brad Blackwell told the IRB the company is “still trying to figure this out,” referring to new Illinois legislation authorizing racinos.

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Illinois Racing Board Threatens to Shut Down Arlington

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Board may deny track 2020 dates after gaming refusal.

 

The Illinois Racing Board Sept. 17 threatened to deny Arlington International Racecourse racing dates for 2020 unless its owner, Churchill Downs Inc., can demonstrate within one week a concrete commitment to racing. The board adjourned its annual dates-award hearing until Sept. 24 and appointed a three-member committee to listen to “any new proposal which Churchill may wish to make.”

The action stems from a CDI decision not to apply for a gaming license at Arlington under terms of a new state law—an action that would cost purse accounts many millions of dollars a year. The decision, after years of Arlington lobbying for the right to run casino games, came some five months after CDI took a majority stake in Rivers Casino, located less than 15 miles from Arlington.

 

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