Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association | Horse Racing Free Tips

Arlington Heights Trustees May Place Restrictions On Arlington Park Land Use

Trustees of the village of Arlington Heights, Ill., will address the future of Arlington Park racetrack and consider placing restrictions on the property's use during a regularly scheduled virtual meeting at 7:30 p.m. CT Monday night. (To participate/view the meeting, click here for instructions.)

Churchill Downs Inc., the publicly held company that owns the track, announced in February that the 326 acres on which the racetrack sits will be offered for sale but that the company may pursue using the racing license elsewhere in the state. CDI officials stunned the racing community in 2019 when they announced, following passage of legislation that would permit casinos at racetracks, that Arlington would not seek a casino license – something they had lobbied for alongside horsemen for decades. While officials cited dissatisfaction with the law's tax structure, it is widely believed that CDI did not want an Arlington casino to compete with the nearby Rivers Casino, of which the company is majority owner.

Item XIII on the meeting's agenda has two items listed under “legal”: a resolution regarding zoning regulations for the racetrack property, and an ordinance amending “negative use restrictions” that would seek to prohibit CDI from selling the property with usage restrictions (i.e., no horse racing or gambling) that run contrary to the village's public policy. The ordinance is designed 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,” according to a report from the village's planning and legal staff.

“We are planning to take some proactive steps to ensure that any future plans discussed for Arlington Racetrack meet the desired land uses the village would like to see on this significant parcel, and that the door to continued horse racing at the track remains open,” Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said in a statement reported in the Arlington Daily Herald.

The Daily Herald reports that Mike Campbell – president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association – and perennial leading trainer Larry Rivelli are working separately with potential investors to buy the property and continue racing.

Hayes told the Daily Herald that continuation of live racing and a new stadium for the NFL's Chicago Bears are two possibilities for the site.

The village's planning and legal staff recommends passage of a resolution regarding zoning regulations that would put “prospective purchasers and the public on notice that the village intends to make changes to the zoning, subdivision code or other regulations. The resolution states the fact that the village is considering making changes to the zoning ordinance to restrict certain uses and establish other development standards that would be applicable to Arlington International property.”

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Report: Churchill Rebuffs Interest In Purchasing Arlington For Racing Purposes

Mike Campbell, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, told the Thoroughbred Daily News on Friday that he knows of several parties interested in purchasing Arlington Park for racing purposes. However, Campbell also said that Churchill Downs, Inc., current owner of Arlington, is only interested in selling the track for redevelopment.

“We reached out to them as a group of horsemen to see if they would allow us to pursue buying the track for pari-mutuel racing only and were told that Churchill had no interest in talking to us,” an anonymous source told the TDN.

CDI announced the sale of Arlington on Feb. 23, 2021, indicating that it would host live racing at the Illinois track through the 2021 season, which is scheduled to end on Sept. 25.

“It would do (CDI) no harm and it would not put them at a competitive disadvantage if there continued to be racing at Arlington Park beyond 2021,” Campbell told the TDN. “There would be no competition for their casino (in Des Plaines, Illinois). Gamblers who gamble on slot machines and table games, they are a different breed from horseplayers. The frustrating part for those of us who want to save this historical, iconic racetrack is the fact that everything you can glean from this speaks to Churchill wanting to not allow even racing there. That's baffling to me.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

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Possible Suitors for Arlington Park, But Will Churchill Sell to a Racetrack Operator?

With the track having been put up for sale and with parent company Churchill Downs Inc. failing to commit to a meet after this year's season, Arlington Park's days may be numbered. But there may be a flicker of hope. Mike Campbell, the president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, told the TDN that he knows of a number of companies and individuals interested in buying the track and keep it open for racing.

“There is interest, for sure, from different parties that wish to keep it just as a racetrack,” Campbell said. “They're interested in developing part of the property and keeping the rest of it for live racing. There has been interest from multiple parties.”

Campbell declined to disclose just who was interested in buying the track.

The picture for Arlington became bleak when Churchill failed to apply for a casino license in 2019, saying in a release that it would be “financially untenable” to have a casino at the track. It is widely believed that Churchill does not want a casino at Arlington because it would siphon away business from its successful casino in nearby Des Plaines, Illinois. In February, the track took another step toward extinction when Churchill announced that it was putting the property on the market.

Campbell said those interested in buying the track have only begun the process.

“It hasn't evolved past the point of conversations, discussions,” he said. “There has been nothing in depth.”

At deadline for this story, Arlington General Manager and Senior Vice President Tony Petrillo had not returned a call seeking comment.

Though Campbell said he was a bit more optimistic about Arlington's future than he was before hearing from potential buyers, he said he is afraid that Churchill will not sell the property to anyone wishing to keep racing there. When asked why he had come to that conclusion, he pointed to recent comments made by CDI's CEO Bill Carstanjen. In a recent conference call with shareholders, Carstanjen said: “We will conduct racing in 2021 at Arlington while moving forward with the transaction to sell this highly desirable land for other non-horse racing mixed used options.”

One individual, who asked to remain anonymous, said his group had reached out to Churchill in hopes that they could begin negotiations to buy the track, only to be rebuffed.

When announcing that the track was being put up for sale, Carstanjen made no mention of it possibly remaining as a racetrack.

“Arlington's ideal location in Chicago's northwest suburbs, together with direct access to downtown Chicago via an on-site Metra rail station, presents a unique redevelopment opportunity. We expect to see robust interest in the site and look forward to working with potential buyers,” Carstanjen said in a statement.

Campbell estimated that the property, which sits on 326 acres 30 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, was worth about $125 million. “It's worth a lot less than people have been led to believe,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he could not speculate why Churchill might refuse to sell the track to anyone wishing to keep it open and running for horse racing, but he remained pessimistic that the property would be sold to anyone committed to racing.

“It would do them no harm and it would not put them at a competitive disadvantage if there continued to be racing at Arlington Park beyond 2021,” he said. “There would be no competition for their casino. Gamblers who gamble on slot machines and table games, they are a different breed from horseplayers. The frustrating part for those of us who want to save this historical, iconic racetrack is the fact that everything you can glean from this speaks to Churchill wanting to not allow even racing there. That's baffling to me.”

The 2021 meet is scheduled to end Sept. 25.

Churchill management has released statements that raise the possibility that they will want to keep a racing license in the possibility that they could open a racino somewhere else in the state. Campbell said he was not optimistic that a new track would be built.

If Churchill goes ahead with its current plans, racing in the Chicago area would be down to just one track, Hawthorne. Hawthorne is obligated to also hold a harness racing meet, which means the opportunity to run Thoroughbreds there is limited.

“Arlington Park is a wonderful institution that's been part of our society for almost 100 years and I'm afraid they're going to run a bulldozer through it,” Campbell said.

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ITHA Statement: Illinois Horsemen ‘Appalled By Churchill’s Contempt For Live Racing’

The following statement is from the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association in response to a press release from Churchill Downs Inc. saying the company will attempt to sell Arlington Park for development and relocate its racing license elsewhere in Illinois.

Illinois thoroughbred owners and trainers appreciate the opportunity to race this year at Arlington Park, a world-class track, but are disappointed that Churchill Downs will renege on its longstanding promise to preserve and grow jobs in Illinois racing while also serving the best interests of Illinois taxpayers.

Churchill spent two decades lobbying Illinois lawmakers for the authority to develop a casino at Arlington. But since purchasing the majority stake in the nearby Rivers Casino, Churchill has all but abandoned any meaningful commitment to Illinois racing. Churchill abruptly reversed course, deep-sixed that Arlington development plan, and instead devoted itself to ensuring that Arlington could not become a gaming competitor to Rivers.

Churchill's anticompetitive behavior was so brazen, in fact, that its CEO publicly dismissed the prospect that racing might continue at Arlington under another owner and insisted the property would “have a higher and better purpose for something else.” Even in its statement today, Churchill obviously is disingenuous when it claims that it will move the Arlington racing license to elsewhere in Illinois.

“The license is not Churchill's to move,” said Mike Campbell, ITHA president. “Moreover, the notion that a seasoned gaming operator would relocate a racing license away from a state of the art, modern racing facility near the heart of the Chicago metropolitan region to some yet-to-be-determined location is absurd. Churchill is just trying to obfuscate from the fact that it cares only about maximizing profit and will gladly sacrifice the spirit of Illinois law and the livelihood of working Illinoisans to serve its greed.”

The Illinois gaming expansion law was intended to boost overnight purses and otherwise invigorate thoroughbred horse racing in this state for the purpose of creating jobs, sparking economic opportunity and diversifying the tax base for the state and local communities. Illinois owners and trainers are appalled by Churchill's contempt for live racing and the working men and women, from backstretch workers to breeders, who have devoted themselves to Illinois racing and who depend on racing opportunities and overnight purses to support themselves and their families.

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