Wednesday Hearing Next Step in Illinois Lawsuit

One day after the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) sued Arlington Park in a federal court to keep an alleged “sweetheart” deal from going through that would install a rival organization as the legally recognized body for signing contracts between the track and horsemen, Arlington general manager Tony Petrillo insisted his track has been negotiating in good faith and exclusively with the ITHA, emphasizing that “we'll participate in constructive dialogue to get the industry out of the mess that's being created by this lawsuit.”

The ITHA suit, filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division), names the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation (ITBOF), and the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) as co-defendants because they allegedly acted “in collusion” and “unlawfully and backhandedly attempted to usurp the ITHA as the horsemen's lawful representative body.”

According to the lawsuit, the ITHA, as it has done for the previous two decades, entered into negotiations earlier this year with Arlington on a contract for the 2016 summer meet, which is scheduled to begin May 6. When talks stalled, the IRB ordered the ITHA and Arlington to mediation, with IRB chairman Jeffrey Brincat acting as the self-appointed mediator.

On Apr. 7, with no contract signed and the meet less than a month away, the lawsuit alleges that “through an engineered vote by secret ballot endorsed and facilitated by Defendants, the ITBOF passed a resolution stating that it would indeed attempt to supplant ITHA and take over negotiations on behalf of the horsemen with Arlington.”

This change would be detrimental to Illinois racing, the lawsuit alleges, because the ITBOF, “will demand less of the racetracks at the bargaining table and neglect to adequately protect the interests of horsemen before the IRB and in the Illinois legislature, to the benefit of racetracks like Arlington and to the detriment of horsemen.”

To remedy this situation, the ITHA is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, plus monetary damages that might include, but are not limited to “the loss of the ITHA's share of the purse account for the 2016 Summer season at Arlington, which would total hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

According to David McCaffrey, the ITHA executive director, the next legal step in the process is a Wednesday court hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.

“We're dismayed and really dumbfounded as to what this lawsuit is intended to accomplish,” Petrillo said in a Tuesday phone interview. “We've actively participated in mediation, and we participated in discussions as late as Monday, the same date the lawsuit was filed, [that were] outside of mediation. We get the feeling that there are very few issues remaining on the table.”

When asked directly if Arlington has entered into any contract talks with the ITBOF, Petrillo said, “we have not started any negotiations with the other group.”

McCaffrey said several times in a Tuesday phone interview that the purpose of the lawsuit was “to protect horsemen's rights.” But when asked if it was a fair characterization to say there are two separate issues at stake–the immediate issue of the 2016 contract, and the longer-term issue of which entity will move forward as the legally recognized horsemen's group—he declined to elaborate for the record, citing the pending litigation.

Similarly, with regard to the 2016 contract, neither executive was overly eager to go into detail about specific negotiating points. But based on the few pieces of information Petrillo and McCaffrey did divulge for the record, the two sides appear to be in disagreement over whose move it is next in the bargaining.

“We've made them an offer that gives them one-and-a-half times more money than they received last year,” Petrillo said. “We just need to hear back if they accept our offer or not. There are just one or two other minor things that are out there, but nothing that hasn't really been solved.”

Asked to name the specific dollar amount, Petrillo said, “You'll have to get that from the ITHA. I don't want to embarrass them as to the amount of money that they're seeking.”

Petrillo continued: “We've been down the same path before, and it always seems to come down to the last minute for one reason or another. Insofar as we are concerned, we have met or fulfilled all of the requests that the ITHA has made, and vice-versa. I thought we were there on Monday.”

McCaffrey acknowledged that the two sides had talked as recently as Monday, but he said those negotiations were “ancillary” to the main to topic, involving Thoroughbred aftercare. “That's still a very important piece, but that's not the big sticking point,” he added.

“[Arlington is] in full receipt of an offer,” McCaffrey continued. “If they were to agree to that offer, then I think the contract would be signed. I don't remember seeing a written offer from them [in the most recent round of negotiations].”

As for Petrillo's suggestion that the two sides were close, McCaffrey said, “Not only is 'close' subjective, 'close' is irrelevant. A contract isn't done until a contract is done. Then and only then, is it final.”

Both sides are in agreement over one point, though: It's a little more than two weeks until the scheduled start of the meet, and the stable gates at Arlington have been closed to incoming horses.

“This is clearly a lockout,” McCaffrey said.

“Our gates will not open until…we get a positive [negotiating] response,” Petrillo said.

A number of horses had already been let into the Arlington stable area before the closure of the gates. Petrillo would not confirm how many; McCaffrey estimated it was about 100. Petrillo said caretakers are free to come and go to feed and exercise the horses, and that they have full use of the track during traditional training hours.

At the end of their respective interviews, both Petrillo and McCaffrey were asked to estimate the chances that Arlington meet would actually start as scheduled on May 6.

“One hundred percent,” Petrillo said.

“I have no idea, but I'm hopeful,” McCaffrey said.