Category: Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”)

Fair Grounds Lowers Pick 5 Takeout and Introduces New Pick 6 Pick 5 and Pick 6 takeout rate is set at 15%

louisianathoroughbred

NEW ORLEANS (Wednesday, October 26, 2022) – With the approval of the Louisiana State Racing Commission handed down Wednesday afternoon, Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots announces two horseplayer-friendly adjustments to the 2022-23 wagering menu. Takeout will be reduced on the Pick 5 from 25% to 15%. Also, a new Pick 6 at the same 15% rate will be added.

Takeout is the percentage of every wagering dollar removed before payoffs are calculated.

Racing officials at Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) and Fair Grounds have been studying successes at other tracks and working to make this change at Fair Grounds.

“We are very excited about both of these new wagering opportunities for horseplayers,” said Gary Palmisano Jr., the newly appointed Executive Director of Racing for CDI. “Fair Grounds has not had a Pick 6 in many years. After monitoring the success of this same wager at the New York Racing Association, we feel this is an interesting variation of the pool to implement and worth exploring.”

Fair Grounds offers a traditional Pick 5 where the entire pool, after the 15% takeout, is paid out to winning bettors. If there are no perfect Pick Five tickets, the entire pool, minus the takeout, will carry over to the late Pick Five the next racing day. On most racing days there will be two Pick Five opportunities for horseplayers – an early and a late – and on cards of 11 races or more, a third may be added.

The new Pick 6 wager will have a $1 minimum wager. It will be “non-jackpot” and 75% of the after-takeout pool will be paid to all tickets with 6 winners. The other 25% will be paid to all those with 5 of 6 winners as a consolation. If no one has 6 winners, then 75% goes to the next day as a carryover and 25% is paid to all the consolation tickets.

“The obvious goal is that this wager will create numerous carryover opportunities and draw attention to racing in New Orleans,” Palmisano Jr. added.

The 80-day, 2022-2023 Fair Grounds racing season opens on Friday, November 18 and runs through Sunday, March 26. Regular post time will be 1:05 p.m. CT, but opening day post time is 3:00 p.m. CT. Sixty-five stakes worth a combined $8.5 million, up more than $700,000 from last season, will be offered during the Thoroughbred meet.

Judge Rules CDI Can Ban Broberg From Fair Grounds Over Alleged Neglect

louisianathoroughbred

by Paulick Report Staff

 

Trainer Karl Broberg

Last September, Churchill Downs, Inc. banned trainer Karl Broberg from the entry box at its parent company’s racetracks after an incident involving a voided claim led to what CDI alleged as neglect.

When racing began at the CDI-owned Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, La., however, the Louisiana Racing Commission insisted that only state racing stewards could legally exclude Broberg from racing. Commission chair Benjamin Guilbeau argued that since the Kentucky commission did not take action against Broberg, the trainer’s license remained in good standing.

Broberg wound up starting 40 horses at last year’s Fair Grounds race meet, per Equibase, running out earnings of $152,900. For comparison, the trainer started 76 horses at the 2020-2021 race meet.

 

Read Paulick Report Article

Fair Grounds Not Definite on Dates Reduction

louisianathoroughbred

By T. D. Thornton

Jason Boulet, the Fair Grounds director of racing, was repeatedly pressed by Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) member Tom Calvert Tuesday about whether or not his track would once again seek a statutory change to reduce its required number of race dates from 80 to 75 when the state legislature convenes its 2022 session Mar. 14.

The exchange did not yield a definitive answer beyond Boulet’s disclosure that the Fair Grounds and its corporate parent, the gaming firm Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), would be in favor of participating in discussions among stakeholders that might reduce race dates in Louisiana with the goal of making it easier to fill entries at the state’s four Thoroughbred tracks.

The dates statute wasn’t on the agenda for the Jan. 18 LSRC meeting. But Calvert brought it up after Boulet reported that so far through the November-through-March meet, the number of starters per Fair Grounds race has dipped from 8.3 to 7.6 in a year-over-year comparison, a decrease Boulet termed “alarming.”

 

Read TDN Article

Louisiana Commission Backs Broberg in CDI Dispute

louisianathoroughbred

Churchill Downs Inc. banned him after one of his starters returned sore from a race.

 

Questioning the due process afforded owner/trainer Karl Broberg when Churchill Downs Inc. barred him this fall from competition at all of its tracks, the Louisiana State Racing Commission unanimously passed a motion during its Oct. 26 meeting authorizing his participation at CDI-owned Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots as long as he has a valid Louisiana license and is not suspended.

CDI’s ban as a property owner came last month when it revoked his stabling and entry privileges at all its tracks after his $10,000 claiming horse Rockandahardplace returned sore after a sixth-place finish Sept. 18 at Churchill Downs.

A submitted claim by another owner for the 5-year-old gelding was voided after the race when the horse was declared lame by a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarian at the track’s test barn. The following week, CDI reported in a statement that “the horse was returned to his stall by a paid hot-walker, but a subsequent investigation revealed that there was no responsible representative of the trainer on-site to make veterinary decisions or to take appropriate steps to protect the welfare of the injured horse.”

Read BloodHorse Article

Arlington Heights Votes to Ban No-Gaming Clause in Sale

louisianathoroughbred

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.”

 

Read BloodHorse Article

CDI Thinking Long-Term in Sports Wagering Rollout

louisianathoroughbred

Dollars and Sense examines industry business trends

While other companies have made a bigger initial splash in sports wagering, Churchill Downs Inc. has taken a more patient approach  aimed at long-term success, making 2021 a key year.

Under a strategy it believes will save on marketing costs compared with other companies in the emerging sports wagering market, CDI plans to leverage the success of its advance-deposit wagering platform, TwinSpires.com, to attract sports bettors. There has never been a better time for that approach as TwinSpires enjoyed massive growth in 2020 as the pandemic forced horseplayers from on-track and simulcast outlets to the mobile and Internet platforms offered by their ADWs.

To close out 2020, TwinSpires.com saw three straight quarters of double-digit percentage growth in handle. In the fourth quarter, compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, handle increased 45% and the number of active players spiked by 50%. It’s a trend that Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen noted has continued into 2021.

 

Read BloodHorse article

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

louisianathoroughbred

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.

Read Paulick Report Article

Louisiana Judge to Rule Friday on Fair Grounds Emergency Stabling

louisianathoroughbred

By T. D. Thornton

A temporary restraining order issued Sep. 4 has blocked a Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) mandate from taking effect that seeks to force the Fair Grounds to open its backstretch stabling to as many as 500 Thoroughbreds displaced by Hurricane Laura in the last week of August. An Orleans Parish Civil District Court judge is now expected to rule on the injunction after a Sep. 11 hearing.

The news site Crescent City Sports first reported on the 57-page request for injunction filed by attorneys for the Fair Grounds, which is owned by the gaming corporation Churchill Downs, Inc. The filing stated that the LSRC “does not have the legal authority to issue the mandatory injunction” and that “issuing such an order constitutes an unconstitutional taking and violates Fair Grounds’ constitutional rights to due process.”

After the Aug. 27 hurricane wrecked infrastructure at Delta Downs, the racino announced that its property would close to assess and repair damage. The Oct. 6-Feb. 27 meet could be delayed or abbreviated.

Read TDN Article

146th Kentucky Derby to Run on September 5th without Fans

louisianathoroughbred

Aug 21, 2020 Tonya Abeln

LOUISVILLE, KY., (August 21, 2020) – Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) announced today its decision to run the 146th Kentucky Derby on September 5, 2020 without fans. CDI issued the following statement:

The Kentucky Derby is a time-honored American tradition which has always been about bringing people together. However, the health and safety of our team, fans and participants is our highest concern. Churchill Downs has worked diligently over the last several months to plan a safe Derby with a limited number of spectators in attendance. We were confident in that plan, but dedicated to remaining flexible using the best and most reliable information available. With the current significant increases in COVID-19 cases in Louisville as well as across the region, we needed to again revisit our planning. We have made the difficult decision to hold this year’s Kentucky Derby on September 5 without fans. Churchill Downs and all of our team members feel strongly that it is our collective responsibility as citizens of Louisville to do all we responsibly can to protect the health, safety and security of our community in these challenging times and believe that running the Derby without spectators is the best way to do that. We deeply regret the disappointment this will bring to our loyal fans.

The decision comes with the support of Governor Andy Beshear who said, “The virus is still aggressively spreading in Kentucky, and the White House has announced that Jefferson County and the City of Louisville are in a ‘red zone’ based on increases in cases. This week alone the county had more than 2,300 new cases,” Gov. Beshear said. “I applaud Churchill Downs for continuing to monitor the virus and for making the right and responsible decision. I am asking all Kentuckians to take action to stop the spread of the virus so we can get back to the many traditions we enjoy, like the Kentucky Derby.”

Since early May, decisions regarding this year’s Kentucky Derby have been made in consultation with public health authorities including data provided by medical experts at Norton Healthcare. Positivity rates in the more than 70,000 patients tested at Norton have gone from as low as 2% in June to a rapid escalation of 10% in recent days.

“This is a critical point in time for our community,” said Russell F. Cox, president and CEO of Norton Healthcare. “This remains a very fluid situation and every event should be evaluated based on the data available as close to the date of the event as possible. We appreciate and support Churchill Downs’ decision.”

“This year’s Kentucky Derby was never going to be the celebration we’re used to, but I could not be more grateful to our tremendous team members and community partners for all of their efforts. We’ve left no stones unturned and reached the right decision,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI. “We hope our fans, the Louisville community and our country find an opportunity over the coming weeks to reflect on the challenges we have faced this year as a community and as a nation, and work together toward a better and safer future.”

Additional information about Kentucky Derby 146:

  • The decision to run without fans includes Kentucky Oaks on Friday, September 4 and all live racing at Churchill Downs Racetrack for Derby week (September 1-5). Only essential personnel and participants will be permitted on property.
  • Ticket holders for all Derby week race dates and related programming, including Dawn at the Downs, will be automatically issued a refund.
  • NBC will televise coverage of the Kentucky Derby and undercard racing on September 5 from 2:30-7:30 p.m. ET. The 146th running of the Kentucky Oaks will be televised Friday, September 4 on NBCSN from 3-6 p.m. ET.

Click here for answers to additional commonly asked questions
About Churchill Downs Incorporated

Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event – The Kentucky Derby. We own and operate Derby City Gaming, a historical racing machine facility in Louisville, Kentucky. We also own and operate the largest online horse racing wagering platform in the U.S., TwinSpires.com, and we operate sports betting and iGaming through our BetAmerica platform in multiple states. We are also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.

Kentucky Horsemen’s Group Sues Churchill, Keeneland, Commission Over Lasix House Rules

louisianathoroughbred

by

 

This week would begin the first 2-year-old races of 2020 in Kentucky, and is meant to mark the start of a partial phaseout of furosemide on race day. The Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association is hoping to put a stop to that phaseout.

The horsemen’s group filed a civil suit in Franklin County Circuit Court May 15 seeking to remove racetracks’ legal ability to card Lasix-free races, as well as requests for an emergency and a permanent restraining order and a temporary injunction to stop Churchill Downs and Keeneland from running 2-year-old races without Lasix under house rules. The suit names the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Keeneland Association, and Churchill Downs Inc. as respondents.

Read Paulick Report Article