Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen made headlines in Illinois on Thursday after comments about the CDI-owned Arlington Park during a quarterly earnings call with investors, reports the Chicago Daily Herald.
“The long-term solution is not Arlington Park. That land will have a higher and better purpose for something else at some point,” Carstanjen said. “But we want to work constructively with all of the constituencies in the market to see if there's an opportunity to move the license or otherwise change the circumstances so that racing can continue in Illinois. For us, we've been patient and thoughtful and constructive with the parties up in that jurisdiction, but long-term that land gets sold and that license will need to move if it's going to continue.”
The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association released the following statement in response to Carstanjen's comments: “For Churchill's CEO to say preposterously that Churchill has been 'patient' with other stakeholders speaks to the height of Churchill's contempt for the elected officials and working families of Illinois. The very least that Churchill could do is be honest about its true intention: the company cares only about maximizing profit and is happy to sacrifice the spirit of Illinois law and the livelihood of working Illinoisans to serve its greed.”
Delayed first by the coronavirus pandemic and then by a contract dispute with the ITHA, Arlington began a 30-day meet without fans on July 23.
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