Robin Goodfellow’s Racing Tips: Best bets for Wednesday, May 5
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Wednesday's meetings at Chester, Newton Abbott, Kempton, Fontwell and Kelso.
Month: May 2021
‘Future Of Arlington Park Can Be Very Bright’: Former Track President Heading Investment Group Hoping To Keep Racing Alive
Roy Arnold, who served as president and CEO of Arlington Park from 2006-10, announced his intention on behalf of a group of investors to purchase the Arlington Heights, Ill., racetrack in a letter to the village's board of trustees prior to their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday night at which Arlington's future was on the agenda.
Arnold, who currently heads the Endeavor Hotel Group, is aligned with Mike Campbell, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association in an effort to continue live racing at the suburban Chicago racetrack after owner Churchill Downs Inc. said in 2019 it would not seek a casino license and now has the property listed for sale.
Arlington Park opened for live racing on April 30 and is scheduled to run through Sept. 25 in what many assume will be its final meeting.
During their Monday meeting, the Arlington Heights board of trustees voted unanimously in support of two resolutions: one that would restrict the types of businesses permitted if the racetrack property is developed and the other preventing Churchill Downs Inc. from putting restrictive covenants on a sale agreement (i.e., restricting a buyer from continuing to operate Arlington Park as a racetrack or to add casino gambling).
Following is the text of the letter from Roy Arnold, president and CEO, Endeavor Hotel Group:
Good evening, Mayor Hayes and members of the Arlington Heights Board of Trustees. Thank you for the opportunity to address you concerning the future of Arlington Park, a gem among racetracks in North America and a community asset with tremendous untapped potential.
A decade ago, I had the privilege to serve as Arlington Park's president and chief executive officer. I witnessed the venue's attraction to local families and friends as scores of fans from Arlington Heights, Chicago and surrounding communities – and, in fact, from across the Midwest – traveled to Arlington Park to enjoy leisurely and lively recreation at a beautiful track. I also experienced and came to fully appreciate the challenge of effectively managing a large and complex gaming operation.
Today I speak to you on behalf of investors planning to soon purchase that property, continue its tradition of thoroughbred horse racing, expand its gaming opportunities, and develop portions of the site to better support and serve the needs of the local economy. Simply put, we seek to maximize the potential of Arlington Park's full 326 acres.
We embark on this pursuit with the knowledge that it will be up to Illinois lawmakers to decide whether to revisit the state's gaming law to extend the window for Arlington Park's future owner to apply for a license to add and operate a casino. As we all know, that license was explicitly authorized by the state's 2019 gaming expansion legislation. But Churchill Downs, which had spent two decades lobbying state government for that license, opted, to everyone's disbelief, not to apply for the license and the application window expired.
We are accounting for the possibility of operating Arlington Park without the addition of a casino, but we nonetheless want to ensure there is no artificial restraint on owners, the village or the state in such time that common sense prevails and the legislature acts to allow us to implement the intent of the 2019 gaming law. We respectfully encourage you, as the elected representatives of the Village of Arlington Heights, to retain unfettered control as a home rule community and not permit Churchill Downs to encumber the property in any way. We urge you to adopt the proposed ordinance to prohibit restrictive covenants concerning gaming uses at Arlington Park.
Churchill abandoned its commitment to Arlington Park and the community of Arlington Heights. It should not be allowed to limit in any way the future activities or economic opportunity at that site. Indeed, as was clearly expressed by the terms of the 2019 gaming expansion law, Illinois lawmakers intended for the owner of Arlington Park to expand gaming opportunities at the track; stimulate gaming competition in Illinois; improve the quality of purses that form the wages for thoroughbred trainers, jockeys, blacksmiths, veterinarians and numerous backstretch workers; boost tourism; and grow and diversify the tax revenue base for the local and state governments.
Our team is prepared to do just that. In our judgment, there is no higher or better use of Arlington Park than as a thoroughbred racetrack. Arlington Park is an internationally acclaimed icon of thoroughbred racing; its value to the people of Illinois and, most especially to the people of Chicagoland, can't be overstated. Arlington Park cannot be replaced. The site's potential has long been recognized by the racing industry, by Churchill Downs and by the political leadership of Illinois. And there is no secret as to how to tap that potential: to prosper, Arlington Park must become a diversified entertainment destination.
New ownership can bring new vision and the accountability that the Village of Arlington Heights and the State of Illinois deserve. Our team believes that the owners of a gaming facility such as Arlington Park should be held accountable for their commitments. Horse racing and other forms of gaming are regulated forms of entertainment; a license to operate racing or casino gaming is a privilege, not an entitlement. Such a license is granted by the state and that grant entails respect for the goals established by the legislature. The owner and operator of a treasure such as Arlington Park must act to serve not only investors but also the taxpayers of Illinois.
We believe Arlington Park has the potential to lead the North American thoroughbred horse racing industry with a modernized facility. Should we have the chance to own and operate that magnificent property, we will:
- Keep the core of Arlington Park the same. We would preserve a world class sporting venue on approximately 126 acres including stables, fan parking, the grandstand, and, of course, the track itself. This would include what is recognized as one of the world's best turf courses.
- Relocate the stable area in order to open space for a compatible industrial and mixed-use development. This is consistent with the wishes of the community and would broaden the local tax base. The industrial park of roughly 100 acres would be framed by adjacent industrial properties and the Metra line to the north.
- Develop a year-round entertainment district of about 40 acres that would supplement the summer racing choices for visitors. Select portions of this section would include hotel, retail and condo options.
- Urge the General Assembly to allow Arlington Park to add casino gaming, realize the venue's full potential, fulfill the intent of the 2019 gaming expansion law, bolster tax revenue and economic opportunity for Arlington Heights, and help generate revenue (as intended by the 2019 gaming expansion law) to support the state's Rebuild Illinois capital construction program.
We have no doubt that Arlington Park, as a track and gaming entertainment destination, can be profitably operated. A smaller footprint for the track would reduce operating costs. Diversifying the entertainment district means more fans and, importantly, new fans. Embracing technology and an affiliated sports wagering platform would bring new revenue to support the track from wider access to the Arlington Park product.
We recognize that comments from Churchill Downs executives and recent media reports suggest that demolition of Arlington Park is inevitable – that we have just now begun the last season of racing at the track. But we firmly reject such fatalism; we know that with the support and partnership of the Village of Arlington Heights, the State of Illinois and the thoroughbred racing community, the future of Arlington Park can be very bright indeed.
Arlington Park can again be a top tier racetrack attracting the world's greatest racing talent and creating new lifetime memories for millions of fans. We come before you with a clear vision for obtaining that objective – and for delivering the benefits of success to the Village of Arlington Heights, surrounding communities, and the State of Illinois. – Roy Arnold
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Cordmaker Returns To Pimlico Special For Third Straight Year
Hillwood Stable's multiple stakes winner Cordmaker, third in each of the past two years, is headed for a third straight trip to the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) May 14 at Pimlico Race Course.
Trainer Rodney Jenkins said Monday that plans call for the gelded 6-year-old son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin to make his 29th career start in the 1 3/16-mile Special on the undercard of the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2).
“We're going to give it a shot. He's run great the past two years,” Jenkins said. “We're going to give it a chance to see if we can be something besides third this time.”
Bred in Maryland by the late Bob Manfuso and trainer Katy Voss, Cordmaker was beaten two necks when third behind Tenfold and You're To Blame in the 2019 Special. Harpers First Ride was a two-length winner in 2020 when the race was delayed from mid-May to early October amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Cordmaker a half-length behind runner-up Owendale.
Last year's Special came during a career-long winless drought for Cordmaker of 10 races spanning more than 17 months. Second or third in six of those starts, all of them in stakes, he returned to the winner's circle with a front-running one-length triumph in the 1 1/8-mile Harrison E. Johnson Memorial March 13 at Laurel Park.
“It had to be good for him because it got him more confidence. He ran a really nice race,” Jenkins said. “We hope between that and the way he's been training that he's up to this.”
Cordmaker has breezed twice since the Johnson, both times bullet five-furlong moves at Pimlico. He went in 1:00.20 April 18, the fastest of 33 horses, and returned to go in 59.40 seconds April 27, the best of 15 horses.
“He's doing really well. The horse is probably has never done better in his life than he's doing now,” Jenkins said. “He seems to be interested in everything. We took him to Pimlico to work him and he worked good there, so I hope he runs as good as he's training.”
Purchased for $150,000 as yearling in 2016, Cordmaker has nine wins, four seconds and six thirds with purse earnings of $588,640. He won the Jennings for Maryland-bred/sired horses as a 3-year-old in 2018 and the Johnson and Polynesian at Laurel and DTHA Governors Day Handicap in 2019 at Delaware Park.
The Pimlico Special for 3-year-olds and up was created in 1937 by Alfred Vanderbilt, the master of Sagamore Farm, as the first major stakes in the United States set up as an invitational, and was won by Triple Crown champion War Admiral. The following year, War Admiral was upset by Seabiscuit in what Sports Illustrated has called the “Race of the Century.”
Revived in 1988 by the late Maryland Jockey Club president Frank J. De Francis, the Special's illustrious roster of winners also includes Triple Crown winners Whirlaway, Citation and Assault and modern-day Horses of the Year Criminal Type, Cigar, Skip Away, Mineshaft and Invasor.
A total of 16 stakes, 10 graded, worth $3.25 million in purses will be contested over Preakness weekend, May 14-15, at Pimlico, highlighted by the 146th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (G1), Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.
The post Cordmaker Returns To Pimlico Special For Third Straight Year appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Feds: HBPA ‘Jumped the Gun’ in HISA Lawsuit
Federal attorneys want the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA)'s anti-constitutionality lawsuit thrown out of court, arguing that the HBPA's allegations of injury regarding the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) “are entirely threadbare” because no rules, regulations or fees have been established by the not-yet-in-effect regulatory body.
“Plaintiffs jumped the gun bringing this constitutional challenge,” the federal government stated in an Apr. 30 motion to dismiss filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. “Their complaint questions the validity of a law that currently subjects them to no obligation or penalty.”
The filing continued: “Neither the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nor the [HISA] Authority have even proposed rules that they could endeavor to enact. There has been no proposal for rules regarding permissible and impermissible drugs; no proposal for rules regarding racetrack safety; and no proposals for rules regarding enforcement procedures or penalties…There has not even been a rule crafted to govern how the Authority is to 'propose' any rules to the FTC–which is all fitting, given that HISA is only four months old.”
In March, the HBPA, with the support of 12 of its state chapters, sued 11 individuals in connection with their official capacities related to the FTC and HISA's not-yet-active Authority. The HBPA claimed that the law, “unconstitutionally delegates to a private entity the legislative authority to regulate” the sport, and asked the court to “declare HISA unconstitutional and preliminarily and permanently enjoin Defendants from implementing and enforcing the law.”
The feds have responded that the HBPA has it wrong: The bill that got signed into law in December “merely creates a framework for the FTC, with the subordinate aid of the 'private, independent, self-regulatory, nonprofit' HISA Authority to enact future standards and rules.
“Congress established this framework because it concluded that, in the absence of independent national oversight and uniform drug and safety standards, the horseracing industry was failing to adequately protect its participants,” the filing stated.
“But, recognizing that rulemaking in a new area should proceed carefully and with proper deliberation, Congress provided that no regulations governing the conduct of horseracing can take effect before July 1, 2022. Regulations the FTC enacts under HISA may (or may not) impact Plaintiffs in the future. But there is not even a proposed regulation for Plaintiffs to complain about today.”
The filing continued: “Plaintiffs thus fail the most basic requirement for invoking this Court's jurisdiction: they cannot establish that they have been harmed in any concrete way by the law they protest. Nor can Plaintiffs establish that their challenges to the statute are ripe for judicial review.
“Adjudicating the merits of Plaintiffs' legal claims now would require the Court to evaluate HISA's framework in the abstract, unaided by any concrete facts or history of agency action. There is no justification for the Court treading this path under any circumstances, and it is doubly improper when Plaintiffs are asking this Court to resolve constitutional claims.”
The federal attorneys also argued that the HBPA's suit fails to support its central claim that HISA unlawfully delegates legislative power to the FTC and the private Authority.
“HISA is far more detailed than the statutory schemes that the Supreme Court has sustained against delegation challenges over the past 80 years,” the filing stated. “And both the Supreme
Court and courts of appeals around the country have repeatedly confirmed that private entities can properly provide extensive assistance to federal agencies, so long as those agencies retain
final decision-making authority and control, as the FTC does here.”
The feds asked the judge to toss out the lawsuit, either on the grounds of the alleged lack of subject-matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for the HBPA's supposed failure to state a claim.
“At best, Plaintiffs' complaint could be read to suggest that the Plaintiffs might be subject to some rules they dislike in the future…The Plaintiffs' challenge at this point therefore amounts to nothing more than a request for an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of HISA. This Court is not empowered to provide that, “The Plaintiffs may be able to show a concrete injury from HISA on some future occasion when a specific rule affects their interests,” the filing summed up. “Until then, however, the Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain their claims.”
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