CDI

Exactly 50 days after executing a purchase-and-sale agreement that will see Arlington International Racecourse demolished to become the future site of a football stadium, the gaming corporation Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) came before the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) Thursday to request 2022 licensure to retain control over simulcasting at its inter-track wagering (ITW) locations even though it won't be hosting any live racing next year. The IRB heard contentious pro-and-con testimony on the Arlington-related agenda items, but in the end essentially punted on the matter by voting 10-0 to "lay...

The Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) unanimously passed a motion Tuesday that owner and trainer Karl Broberg believes will allow him to race horses at the upcoming Fair Grounds meet despite an exclusion order imposed last month by that track's corporate owner, Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI). "I am allowed to enter and run at the Fair Grounds," Broberg told TDN hours after the LSRC ruled that the private-property exclusion by CDI doesn't carry the same reciprocity as a ruling issued by a board of stewards or state racing commission. According...

The July 30 deadline for applying for Illinois 2022 race dates came and went with no surprise move that might have buoyed the near-future fate of Arlington International Racecourse. If anything, suburban Chicago's landmark Thoroughbred track inched closer to permanent closure Friday, because Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), the gaming corporation that owns the up-for-sale landmark, failed to file even a placeholder application to race next year that could have been transferred to a buyer willing to keep the sport afloat. Nor did CDI ask the Illinois Racing Board for race...

According to a report in Chicago's Daily Herald newspaper, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), the owner of Arlington Park, has sent official notices to employees informing them they will be laid off 14 days after the final day of the meet, which is Sept. 25. CDI has not committed to racing beyond the end of this meet and has put the track up for sale. The layoff notices are a discouraging development after CDI applied for 2022 Illinois racing dates. A date request is not binding and does not have to...

The Week in Review, by T.D. Thornton Two months before Arlington International Racecourse is scheduled to run what is feared to be the historic track's final race, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), the gaming corporation that owns the up-for-sale landmark, has reportedly requested an application for 2022 race dates from the Illinois Racing Board. But as columnist Jim O'Donnell of the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago put it in his Friday scoop of this story, "What the carnivorous CDI will do with the application remains to be seen." With a July...

The Week in Review, by T.D. Thornton We're not even at the midpoint of 2021, and one North American Thoroughbred is already taking aim at a ninth win on the season. For perspective, the eight wins racked up so far this year by Arizona-based Six Ninety One (Congrats) are equal to the number of victories achieved by the four horses who co-led the continent during the entirety of 2020. Such a fast start through the first 5 1/2 months puts Six Ninety One on a trajectory to blast past what...

It is as true to say that Americans and Europeans are united by an ocean as divided by one. And while horsemen are often considered insular, their transatlantic engagement--fluctuating but perennial--means that they always have things to learn from one another. In recent times, contrary to European prejudice, it is the Americans who have been more willing to leave their comfort zone. Whereas not even Coolmore have lately been rolling the dice on the dirt at the Breeders' Cup, American raiders have increasingly enriched the pageant of Royal Ascot. And...

Churchill Downs announced Tuesday that it has launched a process to sell Arlington Park, which sits on 326 acres of real estate 30 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The sale will be handled by CBRE Group, a full service commercial real estate firm. Arlington's future looked bleak in September of 2019 when Churchill Downs made the surprising decision to not take the necessary steps to open a casino on the racetrack property. It is widely believed that Churchill did not want to create competition between an Arlington casino and a...

Hunter Rankin has been hired as Senior Director of Racing for Churchill Downs Incorporated, CDI announced Tuesday. The role was recently vacated following Mike Ziegler's promotion to General Manager of Churchill Downs Racetrack in December 2020. As CDI's Senior Director of Racing, Rankin will act as a representative and liaison to the U.S. Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry and focus on the implementation of standards and processes outlined in the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act ("HISA") across all of CDI's racing properties. "Hunter brings to this role a breadth of...

Turfway Park, currently in the midst of being demolished and rebuilt under new corporate ownership, is projecting 2,400 applications for 900 stalls for the upcoming 52-date combined holiday, winter, and spring meets that will open Dec. 2. But even though a larger-than-usual number of Kentucky racing outfits are expected to remain at Turfway for the winter instead of shipping out to warmer-climate race meets, track officials told members of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory committee during an Oct. 6 video meeting that purse expectations should be tempered because...

In a first-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), said he was "more than cautiously optimistic" that the Sep. 5 GI Kentucky Derby will proceed as rescheduled, ideally with spectators allowed to attend by adhering to whatever form of COVID-19 social distancing is appropriate at that time. As part of a broader scope of fiscal progress reports, Carstanjen also gave updates on construction projects at the gaming firm's two Thoroughbred racetrack properties in Kentucky, where work is both ongoing and...