The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) has formally asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to set aside and temporarily not approve proposed anti-doping and medication control rules proposed by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) until the constitutionality of the HISA Act is determined by the Courts.
“This has nothing to do with wanting uniform rules or having a central rule making authority, two things the ARCI supports,” said Ed Martin, ARCI President. “This has all to do with avoiding a situation where an enforcement action is overturned because the authority of the enforcing entity to act is in question. The potential exposure to the entire sport is avoided by leaving the existing state rules and enforcement in place until this gets sorted out.”
The ARCI Board voted unanimously to make a similar request in early December and the FTC shortly thereafter rejected the proposed HISA rules without prejudice citing reasons of the underlying legal uncertainty. With the Fifth Circuit Court's rejection earlier this week of HISA's petition based on changes made recently to the Act, the potential for regulatory chaos remains.
The filing made today reads as follows:
“ARCI requests that the FTC yet again reject the Rules or, at the very least, withhold decision until all legal challenges to the Act are finally adjudicated.
“As you might know, in addition to the federal court case that led to the Fifth Circuit's ruling, other litigations raising material questions about the legitimacy and constitutionality of the Act remain pending. Moreover, after HISA resubmitted the proposed Rules, the Fifth Circuit denied HISA and the FTC's petition to vacate the court's earlier ruling and for a rehearing, meaning two important things: (1) by mandate of the Fifth Circuit, the preliminary injunction prohibiting HISA enforcement in states within the Fifth Circuit will return to full effect and no longer be stayed; and (2) the Fifth Circuit's decision that the Act is unconstitutional will stand for the time being.
“Once again, the FTC is in a unique position to restore some level of regulatory certainty to the horseracing industry. It should do so by quickly and publicly announcing what it already determined a few weeks ago—that it will not approve HISA's proposed Rules at this time. A decision to the contrary would come at too great a cost, as it would lead to regulatory uncertainty, exacerbate existing confusion throughout the horseracing industry, and seriously compromise public interests.”
Racing's Possible “Catch – 22”
Should the FTC approve the HISA rules and penalties were imposed for a violation of those rules the action could be appealed and potentially overturned and wiped away due to the finding in the Fifth Circuit that HISA is unconstitutional.
Likewise if a racing commission enforces the existing State anti-doping rule and penalties imposed for a violation are appealed using the argument that the federal rule preempts state action the possibility that it can be overturned also exists.
The only way to avoid this Catch-22 is to leave state rules and enforcement in place by delaying final action on the HISA ADMC rules.
The ARCI has not taken a position on the pending litigation, although some member States have and are litigating the constitutionality of the Act. In August, Martin called for HISA to sit down with all litigants and negotiate a way out. That did not happen.
When the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance was established in 2012 with seed money from The Jockey Club, Keeneland, and Breeders' Cup, one of its goals was to establish sustainable funding upwards of $20 million a year from a wide swath of the industry.
A decade later, TAA – which both accredits and funds aftercare operations throughout the country – has fallen far short of that mark in annual funding.
In this week's Friday Show, TAA operations consultant Stacie Clark-Rogers joins Ray Paulick and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills to talk about the successes of the organization and the challenges it faces, both in real terms and perceptions that many people have about aftercare.
“We haven't solved the problem and a lot of people would like to think we have,” said Clark-Rogers, calling the issue an “Achilles heel” for the industry.
“What we're trying to do here is improve the life of the horse, improve the life of the sport, and improve the life of the business and the opportunity for us to work in this industry,” she said. “It's not a touchy-feely, cute thing, aftercare,It's part of our business.”
Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:
(Last of a three-part series. Click to read Part 1 and Part 2)
It took six months to liquidate Arlington Park's assets. It will take a lot longer to erase the history and memories made there. The new owners will raze the building, maybe even sell off the fallen bricks, but they cannot erase the vision that Dick Duchossois once had for first-class racing in a beautiful, palatial facility near Chicago. His ambition and passion for racing made his dream a reality, but these qualities did not transfer to the new owners along with the land.
The sign from Arlington Park to the adjacent Metra rail station bid a friendly goodbye
Pat Day stopped riding regularly at Arlington in 1993 but will forever be the track's second-leading rider. Day is wistful about Arlington's closing. “To say I am disappointed by the demise of Arlington Park would be an understatement,” said Day. “It was one of the finest racing facilities I have had the pleasure of riding at. (I'm) saddened that the efforts made to save this storied racetrack were unsuccessful. You would certainly think there could have been a way, but alas…not to be.”
One Dreamer, Marketing Mix, Carload, Linear and Indy Groove all won stakes at Arlington for Leonard and Bernice Lavin's Glen Hill Farm. Its VO5-colored silks were a familiar site on the track and in the Winner's Circle dating back to 1969. But in 2008, grandson Craig Bernick took over the farm's racing operations and five years later left Arlington for good.
“The purses were very poor, the horsemen were pushing for Illinois-bred initiatives, and management really only cared about (the Arlington Million),” Bernick lamented. “I felt like opportunities were better elsewhere. We were always going to come back if and when a casino came to town and purses became competitive so it's a real shame for us. Arlington was the most beautiful place and the experience for fans was probably the best of any track.”
Retired jockey Randy Meier wandered through Arlington Park's empty jockeys' room, searching for the sign congratulating him on his 4,000th lifetime win. That milestone came in 2007, two years before a riding accident there ended his career. Meier crossed the 3,500-win threshold at Arlington, too, and he knew both congratulatory signs had to be hiding somewhere. He aimed to get them before they disappeared, and finally found both in the silks room. It was empty save for the dry cleaner-like carousel that formerly blossomed with color. Now it stood like a skeleton. Meier grabbed his signs and reached out to his former competitors – E.T. Baird, Chris Emigh, Mark Guidry, Carlos Silva – whose milestone signs he'd also unearthed. There were no takers, and the signs now belong to strangers who got them the easy way: without breaking any bones.
Former jockey Randy Meier's 4000th career win came at Arlington Park (MELISSA HORTON PHOTO)
Another former Arlington jockey found a precious artifact, too. Frankie Lovato, Jr., inventor of the Equicizer, shelled out $3,250 to buy a Kawai baby grand piano that formerly stood in Mr. Duchossois' private penthouse. It was catalogued next to an Equicizer Lovato built for Arlington in 2008, and he had a tough time deciding where to spend his money. “I wanted a memento of some kind, maybe a poster, garbage pail, or bench, even lusted over a furlong marker,” Lovato said. “But then I saw this baby grand. It was my lifelong dream (to own one), let alone this Kawai from Arlington!” When he's not building Equicizers, his fingers are tickling the keys in his Ohio home.
Former Arlington jockey Frankie Lovato, Jr. won the bid on a baby grand piano found in Richard Duchossois' private penthouse (FRANK LOVATO, JR. PHOTO)
Ironically, Arlington's quarter pole (sold: $950) stands today in front of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association trailer on the Hawthorne backstretch.
Arlington's quarter pole found a home in front of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association…at Hawthorne (ROWAN WARD PHOTO)
Long-time rivals for prime Illinois racing dates, Hawthorne is now the only surviving racetrack in Chicagoland. A casino is currently under construction there.
If you missed out on the 20 Arlington auctions, you still have a chance to nab a memento: many items from the Grafe auctions have ended up on the secondary market. Need a trash can? Sold from Arlington in lots of 10 for about $50, you can find one on eBay for $35. Were you the unfortunate underbidder on a lot of 10 “Arlington Million 25th Running” ball caps? Don't fret; they're listed on eBay for $500.
Arlington Million ballcaps are offered on eBAY for an astronomical price (PATTI DAVIS/eBAY PHOTO)
Is there a resale market for a jockeys' room scale? Jeff Piluski thinks so. He bought one at the Arlington auction for $70. It's yours for a cool $5,000 on eBay.
This scale sold at auction for $70. It can be yours at a 7000% markup (PATTI DAVIS/eBAY PHOTO)
On a dreary, cold January day, Grafe Auction Company sold the remaining assets of Arlington Park. Contents of the executive offices, things that didn't sell previously, things that were sold but never retrieved, even the sinks from the washrooms…tagged, sold, gone. Then Tony Petrillo, the last Arlington executive on the grounds, turned out the lights. It was done.
Many have asked what will happen to the iconic bronze statue, “Against All Odds,” which still overlooks the paddock. It depicts John Henry nosing out The Bart in the inaugural (1981) Arlington Million. It could have gone to the Arlington Heights Historical Museum or the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Saratoga. It might have been auctioned for any number of worthy racing-related charities. Initially, CDI had considered moving it to Churchill Downs. Instead, rumors are swirling that it will be shipped to Colonial Downs in Virginia, now a CDI property, to go along with its newest race: the “Arlington” Million.
The plaque at the base of the statue reads, “During its entire history, Arlington International Racecourse displayed the desire, the courage and the ability to transform adversity into success.”
If only that were still true.
The iconic “Against All Odds” bronze statue looms over a deserted paddock
A lifelong racing fan, Patti Davis helped catalog Arlington Park's assets. She is a writer and editor based in Chicago.
The housecleaning began almost immediately. After a competitive bidding process, Arlington Park hired Grafe Auction Company of Rochester, Minn., to tag everything that wasn't nailed to the walls – and everything that was – and sell it all to the highest bidders.
It was Grafe's first liquidation of a racetrack, and its staff didn't know a paddock from a padlock. I offered to help by putting my nearly 50 years of racing experience to work identifying Arlington's vast collection of racing assets and memorabilia. I'd also owned and raced horses at the suburban Chicago track and knew both the frontside and the backstretch areas well. Auction company owner/operator Judd Grafe hired me immediately. Last August, just as the first of the Grafe auctions was getting underway, I strolled through the facility, both to remember…and to forget.
You could park the world's largest aircraft carrier inside Arlington's cavernous 700,000-square-foot grandstand and still have room to land a few planes. Now it sits completely empty, the famous 200-by-600-foot cantilevered roof looming over the empty facility like the lid of a coffin. It's as eerily quiet as a graveyard, too. Thousands of green, Arlington-logoed seats and wood and wrought iron benches – the latter affixed with plastic plaques bearing the epitaph, “Arlington International Racecourse, 1989-2021” – had been tagged for sale and no longer dotted the famous grandstand.
Arlington crest folding chairs, once ubiquitous in the grandstand, await new ownersArlington affixed this sad epitaph to each bench before the sale
The dormant track shows obvious signs of neglect, with some observers claiming CDI hadn't busted its maintenance budget since it took majority control in 2000. Walking through the frontside I sidestepped piles of debris fallen from walls, jumped rivulets of putrid water in the basement, and navigated around ankle-deep weeds blanketing the paddock and walkways.
The empty paddock is now a weed gardenThe horse path between the stable area and the paddock has seen better days
Though the horses were long gone, for some unknown reason a crew of mowers kept the famous turf courses – built with European-style racing in mind – perfectly manicured.
The Arlington turf course was perfectly maintained despite the track's closure (SHAWN SMITH/GRAFE AUCTION PHOTO)
The Finish Line pole had been disassembled and laid to rest in the Winner's Circle, itself an unintended garden of weeds, awaiting a winning bid.
Arlington's Finish Line pole awaits its new owners in the Winner's Circle
Last September, former jockey Randy Meier, who made Arlington his summer home from 1980 until 2009, visited the track one last time. The 5'3” Meier stood next to a scraggly weed pushing through a crack in the track's apron, the unsightly plant paralleling his forehead.
Randy Meier (5'3”), once a prominent rider at Arlington, visits the track's apron
“This was one of the most beautiful tracks in the country,” he lamented, peering over a rusty rail into the infield. “It's still gorgeous despite what's become of it.”
Many of the looky-loos told me how they'd grown up at the track, maybe tagged alongside a parent or grandparent. Others had held a bachelor's party here, worked a summer as a busboy, or had gotten engaged in the paddock. Auction company head Judd Grafe said, “We are trying to be respectful to the property and the people who have made memories here.” Arlington was special. Auction bidders just wanted a piece of history, to hang onto the track, and their memories, a little while longer.
One of the favorite sayings of the late Richard Duchossois, the longtime Arlington chairman, was, “Don't Expect What You Don't Inspect.” That's as true of Arlington's auctions as at any Thoroughbred sale at Keeneland or Fasig-Tipton. What you see is what you get. At Arlington, every Monday was Preview Day, a chance for bidders (or just gawkers) to inspect what would be sold the next day. Interested bidders registered with Grafe and for the next six months 20 online auctions were held, starting with commercial kitchen equipment harvested from the track's 15 restaurants, food court, and concessions. If you were in search of a nacho chips warmer, you were in luck.
The nacho cheese sauce was offered as well, though a careful bidder might have taken note of its expiration date: Kentucky Derby Day. In 2021.
CDI even sold the cheese sauce for nachos (Note expiration date.)
Many bidders wanted a piece of the track, literally. Plastic bags of Polytrack appeared in an early auction, started to draw bids. Suddenly, they disappeared from the auction catalog, CDI attorneys expressing concern that the synthetic material might pose a choking hazard.
Bags of Polytrack were withdrawn from the auction; “choking hazard,” said CDI attorneys
Eight-foot-square sections of interlocking rubber brick from the Winner's Circle each sold in the $40-$75 range; individual bricks sold for about half that. Numbers and words torn unceremoniously from the once-grand infield tote board sold for up to $700 each.
The most mundane items were tagged and sold. Restroom and teller signs, menus, paddock passes, trash cans, elevator signs. Thousands of chairs, tables, TV monitors, electrical cords. Shirts, ties, and belts (from staff offices, not the gift shop). Parking lot signage. Employee handbooks, posters touting special events, old clubhouse tickets. Storage containers and racks. Turnstiles, bill counters, office equipment. Huge quantities of promotional buttons, pens, keychains, pins, hats, shirts, beer koozies, shot glasses, water bottles, tote bags, mobile phone holders. (Perhaps dwindling race day attendance contributed to this overstock.) All the fake – and some real – trees, potted plants, and decorative foliage moved on to new homes.
The ridiculous sold, too. What Arlington employee kept a 6” skull on his desk? (Winning bid: $75)
This skull was “unearthed” from an office in Arlington's basement (GRAFE AUCTION PHOTO)
Which office housed the life-sized knight in (rusty) armor? ($375)
Even without his shining armor, this life-sized knight commanded a steep price (GRAFE AUCTION PHOTO)
From the ridiculous to the sublime: the contents of Mr. Duchossois' fifth-level luxury penthouse and the famed Million Room (a lot of 40 china plates sold for $1,000) enticed buyers with deep pockets. Few knew the penthouse residence existed; fewer still ever saw it. Fashioned after Queen Elizabeth's private apartment at Ascot, it was mainly used for entertaining celebrities and yielded pricey equestrian-themed art, sumptuous furniture, vintage racing photos, and other décor to the auction.
But the track's artifacts were the biggest draw. Anything bearing the Arlington logo sold. Arlington's two starting gates were purchased by a jockey who prefers to remain anonymous. The Finish Line pole brought a final bid of $3,750. A different bidder took home the photo finish mirror ($160). Furlong poles – both from the turf course and the Polytrack – were hot commodities even though they weren't in the best shape. The 15' one-mile marker brought a winning bid of $220 (not including a hefty $150 “removal/loading fee,” the 18 percent auction house premium, and 10 percent sales tax). It was abandoned by the winning bidder and sat for months in a junk pile near the far turn.
The one-mile marker sold for $220, but was never picked up by the buyer
So, too, the jockeys' weigh-in platform from the Winner's Circle; sold for $110 last September, it's still in the parking lot, waiting to be claimed.
Jockeys' weigh-in platform from the Winner's Circle was also abandoned after it sold
In contrast, the 7/8ths mile pole ($180) was quickly whisked away on a flat-bed truck, perhaps to become a garden ornament.
Arlington's 7/8ths pole loaded and ready to be hauled away
Clearing out the racing office was especially depressing. Near where jockeys' agents once gathered and gabbed a hastily scribbled message on a whiteboard said it all: “Farewell AP.” Someone had added a broken heart.
The racing office, broken-hearted, bids “Farewell AP”
A sign over a desk echoed, “T-O-U-G-H G-A-M-E”.
A clerk left this message in the racing office
The office looked as though the staff had just gone home for the day, leaving condition books open on the desks, ready to take the next day's entries. But they would never return.
A clock in the jocks' room had stopped, maybe months ago. It, too, bore a Grafe Auction tag. It was only a matter of time before this, and other auction purchases, would appear on the secondary market.
Tomorrow: In the final installment of this three-part series, author Patti Davis takes a trip down memory lane with some who called Arlington Park home.
A lifelong racing fan, Patti Davis helped catalog Arlington Park's assets. She is a writer and editor based in Chicago.
