Tag: Arlington Park

Chicago Bears Sign Agreement To Buy Arlington Park For New Stadium

Churchill Downs Incorporated announced on Wednesday that it has signed a purchase and sale agreement with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League to sell Arlington Park racecourse, a 326-acre property in Arlington Heights, Ill., for $197.2 million.

The closing of the sale of the property is subject to the satisfaction of various closing conditions. CDI anticipates closing the sale of the property in late 2022/early 2023. CDI said it is planning to use the proceeds of the sale to “purchase or invest in replacement property that qualifies as an Internal Revenue Code §1031 transaction.”

The purchase agreement was first reported Tuesday night by theathletic.com.

“We are excited to have executed a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) for the Arlington Park property,” said Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips. “We are grateful to Churchill Downs Incorporated for their efforts to reach this point. We also appreciate the support of Mayor Tom Hayes and the Village of Arlington Heights. Finalizing the PSA was the critical next step in continuing our exploration of the property and its potential. Much work remains to be completed, including working closely with the Village of Arlington Heights and surrounding communities, before we can close on this transaction. Our goal is to chart a path forward that allows our team to thrive on the field, Chicagoland to prosper from this endeavor, and the Bears organization to be ensured a strong future. We will never stop working toward delivering Bears fans the very best experience. We will continue to provide updates on our progress at the appropriate time.”

“This has been an extraordinarily competitive bid process,” said Churchill Downs Incorporated CEO Bill Carstanjen. “Congratulations to the Chicago Bears for their professionalism and perseverance. It is clear they are committed to an exciting vision for their team and their fans. We wish them the greatest success and are excited for the opportunity this brings to the Village of Arlington Heights and the future economic development of this unique property.”

“I could not be more excited about the news that the Chicago Bears have signed a Purchase and Sale Agreement to buy the Arlington Park property in our community,” said Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes. “My goal for any redevelopment has always been to put this prime piece of real estate to its highest and best use, and I can't think of a higher and better use than this one. There is a long way to go as we begin this journey, and many issues for the community to discuss, but the Village is committed to working with the Bears organization and all stakeholders to explore this opportunity for Arlington Heights and the northwest suburban region.”

The Bears, owned by the McCaskey family, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $1.3 billion, will likely seek public funding for a new stadium. The NFL's newest stadiums, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., cost $1.9 billion and $5.5 billion respectively. Illinois taxpayers are still paying for renovations to Chicago's Soldier Field, where the Bears have played since 1971 and have a lease with the Chicago Park District through 2033.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a Tweet on Tuesday night she is committed to working with the Bears to keep the team at Soldier Field.

The agreement to sell the property is a devastating blow to the Illinois horse racing industry, where Arlington Park has been the flagship track for nearly a century. After working with horsemen in the state capitol in Springfield for years to seek casinos at racetracks, Churchill Downs Inc. officials stunned horsemen by saying it would not seek a casino license at Arlington after lawmakers in 2019 approved legislation that would have permitted casinos at all state tracks.

With Arlington not seeking 2022 racing dates during a bidding process that included at least one group determined to keep racing alive at the  track, all racing – both Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds – in the Chicago area will shift to Hawthorne, which is constructing an on-site casino. Racing dates for 2022 at Hawthorne were announced last week.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘This Filly Really Did Save My Little Brother’

When nothing was going according to plan and it seemed like everything around him was falling apart, Austin Thurman bought a racehorse. 

“This filly really did save my little brother,” explained his sister, Lizzie. “He'd always seen how the horses brought joy to my mom and dad. To us growing up, that's always what made them happy, and he saw 'Ellie' and just had to have her.

“You know how you have that horse, that one horse? This is his horse.”

When “Ellie,” racing under the registered name English, broke her maiden on Sept. 16 at Arlington Park with Lizzie in the saddle, Austin could barely contain his excitement. He was proud of the filly, of course, but it also felt like everything in his life was finally coming back together.

“I'm super lucky; blessed, I guess you could say,” said Austin, 22. “She's brought our whole family together. Lizzie's boyfriend helped break her, dad (co-owner Kelly) shoes her, mom (trainer Rhonda) rubs her down every day. 

“She's given us back that spark, and now I've got 17 horses here (at Fairmount Park). We've got mares in foal at the farm, young horses… Since she won, I've got another guy bringing us two more horses to train.”

Though the Thurman family has been involved in Illinois racing for over 30 years, Austin didn't grow up in the game. Instead, he spent the majority of his free time in high school working toward becoming an all-state wrestler, with dreams of earning a college scholarship.

That all changed when he broke his neck at age 16. Austin shattered his C6 and C7 vertebrae, and underwent surgery to place four screws and a spacer in his neck.

“It's crazy, but I'm able to ride the pony every day,” Austin said. “The doctors didn't even think I would be able to do that, but I only lost about 10 percent of my mobility.”

Nonetheless, his wrestling career was over. Austin made the best of his situation, and after recovering began flipping cars to pay for his first two years of college. He was studying for a finance degree and had gotten an internship working 38 hours a week for One Main Financial. 

It was a solid job, a good potential career, but Austin wasn't happy. 

“I was just miserable; it wasn't what I wanted to do,” he said. “When I was in class every day, I was thinking about what I could be doing when I got out of class.”

Austin had started helping his parents around the racetrack in his spare time. Since expanded gaming became legal in Illinois in 2019, the racing industry was beginning to show signs of hope and regrowth. His mother, Rhonda, then a full-time manager at WalMart, reinstated her trainer's license that year, and along with her husband began conditioning a couple horses at the family farm in Collinsville, Ill. 

Austin got more involved with the horses, and also helped a woman named Dawn Martin a few days each week. When Martin told Austin she wanted to sell a couple horses, everything clicked in his mind. He suddenly knew what he wanted.

“I had this week where everything wasn't going right with the job and school,” Austin said. “I dropped out of school, quit my job, and bought this filly. I just walked out, and didn't go back.

“I called my dad and asked if he wanted to look at some 2-year-olds Dawn had. English looked like Cox's Ferrara, a filly we had a long time ago. I knew that horse was a runner. We decided to sleep on it. At the time, the project vehicle I was working on was an old Chevy pickup. My dad was in on it with me, so the next day we sold the truck and then went and bought the horse. It all happened in the same week.”

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Austin and his father brought “Ellie” home to the farm, and set about starting the English Channel filly under saddle. Lizzie, who'd always wanted to be a jockey and had been working with the family racing stock every day since she was old enough to hold a pitchfork, was the first one on her back.

When Lizzie broke her leg at the track, her boyfriend Javier Diego stepped up to finish getting English ready to race. The filly made her debut at Keeneland in October, but wasn't quite ready mentally and finished at the rear of the field.

Undeterred, Austin and Lizzie worked with her over the winter. 

“Austin and I have always said that I'm gonna be the trainer and he's gonna be the owner,” said Lizzie, laughing. “We're best friends, like a year and a half apart. He's my little big brother. Everyone always thought we were twins.”

When they brought English back to the races in March of 2020, she rewarded their efforts with a second-place finish in a maiden special weight at Fairmount Park.

Then COVID-19 hit.

“The only places you could run were Will Rogers Downs or Fonner Park,” Austin recalled. “I hauled her down to Will Rogers a couple of times, and she ran well enough.”

Luck fell the wrong way again in the summer of 2020 when a barn fire at the Thurman farm killed three yearlings and destroyed multiple vehicles and most of their equipment. The racing stock was at Fairmount Park at the time, thankfully, but the fire was still a huge hit, both emotionally and financially.

Through the rest of the year, Austin hauled English around the Midwest to run her about once a month. She kept running well, hitting the board fairly often but never quite getting the job done.

“She's been pretty honest with me,” said Lizzie, who's piloted English for most of her starts. “She's always trying, and right there, but the racing gods were never with us.”

When 2021 rolled around, the Thurman family was fully invested in horse racing once again. They had mares in foal for the first time in years, and once again sent horses to Fairmount Park, now Fanduel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, with Austin at the helm as assistant trainer. 

Lizzie, meanwhile, took a job riding for trainer Steve Asmussen in Indiana along with her boyfriend. Still, every time English ran, Lizzie came back to meet her brother in the paddock wearing the family silks.

The Thurman family at Fairmount Park

The Thurmans got their first win since 2017 in August of 2021, when Rejoice an Be Glad hit the winner's circle at Fairmount, but Lizzie wasn't able to ride that day. When English followed suit about a month later at Arlington, getting it done in her 19th career start, Lizzie was in the saddle.

“It was my first win for Mom and Dad, and at Arlington,” Lizzie said. “I've won one other race there, but always wanted to win one for mom and dad there. It hit home a little more.”

Reflecting on that winner's circle moment, Austin could hardly contain his pride in his filly.

“Every time she runs, we thought she was going to win,” he said. “She'd been knocking on the door, but finally got it done. She's like my 1200-lb dog, and she just never quits trying for me.”

Lizzie echoed her brother's sentiments about English.

“She is a very sassy drama queen but we all love her,” she said. “It's funny because she's so full of herself, and it's just Austin's horse.

“She gave us that little bit of hope when we needed it, you know? She's a cool little filly.”

For Austin, English's win represents success beyond just the racetrack. He enjoys getting up in the mornings, spends all his free time at the barn with his horses, and is as hands-on as possible with 17 head under his care. He rides the pony to the track every day to watch his horses train, learning as much as possible from his parents along the way, and he truly can't imagine doing anything else with his life.

The Thurman family has since added another victory to their 2021 tally, building momentum for the future. Austin truly seems to have found his calling, thanks in large part to “Ellie.”

“You just can't make it up,” Austin said, laughing. “We're just the little guy with a few horses in Illinois, but we're in the winner's circle.”

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This Side Up: Quit Chasing the Dollar and Try Cruz Control

Assuming that you, too, have by this stage marvelled at the tenacity, balance and athleticism of Alex Cruz in winning a race despite losing both irons leaving the gate, at Emerald Downs last weekend, then perhaps you might also have been prompted to reassess our prejudices against the seat of the 18th Century guardsman.

To the modern eye, the long-shanked equitation of those days appears ludicrous: awkward, stilted and, above all, inimical to the freedom of the horse's movement. We think of the elevation of the modern jockey, as popularized in Edwardian England by the American Tod Sloan, precisely as a withdrawal from interference. Yet seeing how his mount reeled in her rivals, more or less under her own steam, it struck me that the one thing Cruz couldn't be doing, in these rather eye-watering circumstances, was supervise her mechanics. Albeit he did contrive to brandish his whip, it would be a stretch to say that he was in charge of the situation. Yet if he was little more than a passenger, then you have to say that the engine appeared to run very smoothly indeed.

 

Now it would clearly be unwarranted to extrapolate too much from this single sample. But tastes do change–after all, the Turf Establishment in Newmarket was initially scandalized by Sloan's posture, deriding him as a monkey on a stick–and maybe we are too eager to discover efficiency in the style we nowadays find most aesthetically pleasing.

Be that as it may, it would seem that all variations in technique share the same objective, which is to minimize the contribution of the rider. It's very striking, after all, that you hardly ever see a loose steeplechaser even make a mistake, never mind fall, after discarding its jockey.

And I'm afraid that this principle has repeatedly occurred to me, in the days since, as an apt one to pursue in how we present the Thoroughbred to the racing public. Because it does seem that human beings will tend to get involved only to let their own shortcomings–their avarice, their self-interest, their venality–get in the way of the contrasting, captivating nobility of the breed.

Emerald Downs | Reed and Erin Palmer

Now it so happens that Emerald Downs, the setting for Cruz's prodigious feat, filled the poignant gap created by the sale of Longacres to Boeing, resulting in its closure 29 years ago this very week. No such sanctuary, sadly, seems likely for Illinois horsemen after they pay their final respects to a still more storied venue at Arlington on Saturday.

It's going to be a shattering experience for the railbirds of Chicago–among which this Englishman has often been fortunate, over the years, from time to time to infiltrate himself–to watch the curtain come down on one of the most sumptuous facilities, for horse and horseplayer alike, anywhere on planet Turf. Even for those of us who never set foot in the place, the video of the final race at Longacres is extremely moving, with caller Gary Henson doing unforgettable justice to the moment by unexpectedly leaving it to be run in silence. As they galloped toward the clubhouse turn, he solemnly declaimed: “Ladies and gentlemen, these horses belong to you. Listen to their final thunder.”

And, sure enough, there was a sound familiar to our species for centuries before the advent of the horseless carriage, never mind the Boeing jet: the pounding of hooves, against which percussion you hear only the improvisation of 23,358 fans crammed into the stands, crying out and whooping. Some are seen hugging each other in a devastated silence of their own after saluting the winner–ridden, aptly, by Idaho-born Gary Stevens, who began his journey to greatness round this circuit.

Henson's father Harry himself called at Longacres for 14 years but was associated even longer with Hollywood Park–a still more grievous loss to our sport, in the meantime, on the Pacific coast. That track, of course, had passed through the hands of Churchill Downs Inc, whose behavior at Arlington permits little doubt of their unabashed priorities in considering, apparently almost exclusively, the perceived interests of shareholders.

“Perceived” is the key word here, though it's evidently futile to renew the warning that cashing in Arlington tugs fatally at the weakest link in capitalism–namely, that point where a drooling, short-term lust for dividends and bonuses wrenches future profit from its source, in the sustainable engagement of consumers.

Arlington Park | Coady

You really couldn't come up with a more deranged example than putting a wrecking ball through Arlington (Arlington! paragon of racetracks!) in order to corral zombie gaming addicts into a more efficient factory. I can't let this bleak day pass without again quoting Richard Duchossois himself, in a conversation a few years ago. “We're never going to chase the dollar,” he said. “If you have the best services you can, a quality product and a competitive price, then we feel the dollar will catch us… Providing product, that's mechanical. Customer service, people-to-people, is the most valuable thing we have.”

As it is, the track he rebuilt after incineration is this time to be deliberately destroyed–with little prospect, it seems, of a phoenix–by the kind of blindly groping corporate avarice that ultimately injures itself beyond repair.

No doubt others have been culpable, too. I certainly can't claim, if indeed anyone can, to read the inner workings of Illinois politics. But the bottom line is that human beings somehow seem determined, in unspoken but deafening self-interest, always to subvert the glory of the Thoroughbred–stewardship of which is a privilege that should sooner compel us toward a reciprocal beauty, courage and generosity.

I'm not remotely qualified to pronounce on the merit or otherwise of the proliferating litigations that have once again filled the pages of TDN this week, though dismayed to see even the non-racing states of Alaska and Mississippi, presumably on ideological grounds, harnessed to attempts to derail the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA). But one way or another there seem to be plenty of people out there with a personal agenda that can only erode public confidence in the way we handle the breed.

Our industry will only thrive if devoted to the horse, the whole horse and nothing but the horse. Future fans, if they are to emerge, are relying on us to breed a robust animal that thrives on the demands of racing–and not just to paper over the cracks as long as it takes to get them through the ring at Keeneland this past fortnight. It seems quite obvious that the long-term interests of the breed itself coincide with those of the fans.

Life Is Good in Pletcher tack | Susie Raisher

With its gray areas supporting yet more litigation, the Bob Baffert saga has arguably become an unhelpful distraction from operations whose sinister performance appears plainly legible in black and white. Some of these have patrons who purport to be respectable, but who can again be charged with wilful interference, in pursuit of short-term gain, with the natural functioning of the horse.

It must be tough for Baffert to see Life Is Good (Into Mischief), a refugee from his troubled barn, shaping as though he retains the potential to prove the most talented sophomore of all. His debut for Todd Pletcher was simply spectacular, and he will doubtless repay the prudent restraint of his rider that day when set a less exacting task in the GII Kelso H.

Baffert having meanwhile scratched the horse at the center of the storm from the GI Pennsylvania Derby, we welcome back a 3-year-old whose profile could scarcely be more different from Life Is Good in Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow). For all the contrasts between them, these two horses both capture the majesty of the Thoroughbred and its capacity to engage and enchant a mass audience.

So maybe let's all of us try throwing our legs out of the irons, and just leaving the horse to do its thing. That way, in the long run, we all prosper together–life will indeed be good for horses, horsemen and fans. That way, we can daily declare: “Ladies and gentlemen, these horses belong to you.”

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As Arlington Closes, Hawthorne To Shoulder ’22 Dual-Breed Dates Burden

Under the shadow of Arlington Park potentially going dark forever after Sept. 25, the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) on Thursday unanimously approved a 2022 race dates package that shifts the burden of hosting all Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing in the Chicago area to Hawthorne Race Course.

And while horsemen's groups for both breeds expressed gratitude for Hawthorne stepping up to implement a crammed-and-jammed, year-long race calendar that will be unprecedented in Illinois racing, representatives of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) said during the Sept. 23 meeting that the new arrangement isn't a viable long-term solution.

“Right now, on the Thoroughbred side, we're going to be going from 120 race days this year to 76 next year,” said David McCaffrey, the ITHA's executive director. “You always are reluctant to say we're at rock bottom because it maybe can get worse. But a second track in Chicago is so important for both breeds.

“And with Arlington's absence next year, we're seeing the importance of that second track play out. Because both breeds are having to share Hawthorne,” McCaffrey continued. “Hawthorne's having to turn their track [composition] over four times. One breed's going to be there for three months. Another breed's going to be kicked out for three months [for racing and training]. And then it's going to start all over again the latter part of the year. The importance of a two-track system in northern Illinois cannot be overstated.”

Half a century ago, greater Chicago had five competing tracks sharing Thoroughbred and Standardbred meets. Washington Park closed in 1977. Sportsman's Park briefly switched to auto racing in 2003 before being demolished. Maywood Park and Balmoral Park both shuttered in 2015.

In February of this year, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), Arlington's corporate owner, announced an industry-devastating intention to close and sell Arlington. Although at least one known bidder in the sales process has stated an intention to keep Arlington alive for Thoroughbred racing, CDI long ago telegraphed its intention to sell the property for “non-horse racing” purposes, ostensibly so a new owner won't be able to compete with CDI's existing and proposed Chicago casinos.

On Thursday, for the fifth consecutive IRB meeting since CDI declared that Arlington would be snuffed out, nine of the 10 commissioners continued to maintain an astounding silence about the prospect of losing the state's most opulent and historic Thoroughbred venue.

The lone exception, once again, was commissioner Alan Henry, who, as he has at past IRB meetings, spoke passionately for about five minutes on what the loss of Arlington means for the sport in Illinois.

“I will tell you, frankly, that it dismays me to have to vote in favor of the 2022 racing dates that were reluctantly put before us today,” Henry said. “I'm well aware that it was the least-bad option. I also know that if this becomes the new normal in Illinois, we're on the road to the suffocation of an entire industry.

“The fault for this calendar, most of it, belongs to CDI. Their decision to permanently close Arlington Park, then to not apply for 2022 racing as a placeholder–even while one of the groups still alive in the bidding process wants to keep the track open–

has been a masterwork of corporate single-mindedness.”

Henry implored fellow commissioners to remember CDI's harmful actions if and when the gaming corporation ever comes before the IRB again to try and make a pitch for another racing license for a different track. He described CDI's decision to abandon Arlington as “a brutal clear-cut for the entire sport.”

Henry also urged fellow commissioners to “get in font” of another near-term problem involving CDI that he sees looming on the horizon: even after Arlington closes, it will still be generating revenue from advance-deposit wagering and off-track betting until Dec. 31. Normally, the portion of that revenue that goes to bolster the ITHA purse account would simply carry over into the next calendar year.

“But because there's no racing at Arlington next year, this issue now is what happens to that money, which is estimated to be about $800,000,” Henry said.

“I believe CDI should be brought in, under oath if need be, to confirm that they will live up to their obligation to deliver those funds to the [horsemen's purse account] in a timely fashion,” Henry said. “To insist on anything less would be a mistake, particularly given CDI's occasional talk about building a new track elsewhere in the state in some future year where it might say they would use those funds.”

ITHA president Michael Campbell tried to put a positive spin on the near-term deal to race at Hawthorne. But he added that the racing community can't ignore the bigger picture.

“We're excited about the [Hawthorne] racino being finally built out. It's a dream come true, particularly given the fact that for 20 years we've worked on this,” Campbell said. “And of course, our deep disappointment is that Arlington chose–or CDI chose–not to take advantage of [building its own racino].

“So we'll move forward into the future. I wish I could be as optimistic as [Hawthorne officials are],” Campbell said. “You know, we've got a lot of circumstances to overcome, including a divided schedule, a shared racetrack, the inability to train part of the year…

“It's great to talk about the future,” Campbell summed up. “But having said that, when's it going to happen? What can we rely on? What can we tell these people that are breeding these horses? What can we tell the people that own these horses? Because now, with Arlington's demise–or supposed demise, anyway–where does that leave us?”

McCaffrey supplied some breeding statistics to hammer home Campbell's point, noting that 15 years ago, Illinois annually produced about 2,400 Thoroughbreds.

By 2019, McCaffrey said, that number had plummeted to 420.

“It's like an 85% decrease in the amount of foals being produced. And the reason is that there's such a murky future, and has been for 20 years,” McCaffrey said.

Thoroughbreds in 2022 will race at Hawthorne between Apr. 2 and 30 on a two-day weekly schedule (Saturdays and Sundays). Between May 1 and June 24, that schedule gets bumped up to three days by adding Fridays, plus a stand-alone Thursday card on June 23.

In the fall, Thoroughbreds will race at Hawthorne on the three-day Friday-Sunday schedule between Sept. 23 and Dec. 31 (Christmas Eve and Day both dark).

Around and in between that dates structure, Hawthorne will conduct seasonal winter/spring and summer harness meets totaling 75 dates.

FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing (known for 95 years as Fairmount Park before a corporate rebranding this year), is some 350 miles southwest of Chicago and is not considered part of the state's northern circuit. It will race 61 programs in 2022 between Apr. 19 and Sept. 24. The weekly schedule will be Tuesdays and Saturdays until June 12, with Fridays added thereafter.

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