Churchill Downs Incorporated

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...

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...

   Gray horses have been in a GI Kentucky Derby rut the past 15 years. No fewer than 31 consecutive grays (or roans) have gone to post without winning on the first Saturday in May (or September) since Giacomo roared home in front at 50-1 in 2005. That's the longest Derby drought for grays in terms of consecutive starts since 1930, when Churchill Downs began compiling detailed records related to horse colors. There's an asterisk as to whether it's the longest stretch in terms of years. There was a 17-year...

After alleging last month that a disagreement over advance-deposit wagering (ADW) hub rate fees was so egregious that it amounted to a "shakedown" that needed to be fought in federal court, a subsidiary of the gaming corporation Churchill Downs, Inc., dropped its lawsuit against Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) Mar. 8. According to a "notice of voluntary dismissal" filed Monday in United States District Court (Central District, California, Western Division) by Churchill Downs Technology Initiatives Company (CDTIC), an agreement between the parties was reached Mar. 5 that apparently settles the...

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...

Mike Anderson has been named the 14th President of Churchill Downs Racetrack, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced Tuesday. Anderson brings to the role 24 years of leadership experience at CDI, having recently served as Vice President of Operations, where he led the planning, construction and opening of over $300 million in capital projects across CDI's properties. He joined CDI in 1996 as Controller and has held a number of roles with the Company, including Vice President of Corporate Finance, Investor Relations, Risk Management and Treasurer. Anderson will report to Bill Mudd,...

Churchill Downs took its Saturday grass races, including the GII Mrs. Revere S., off the turf and made the following announcement: "There will be no turf entries taken for races scheduled to be run on turf from Nov. 19-22. All scheduled turf races in the condition book during this time period will be transferred to the main track and entries taken for the same conditions will be dirt only." Churchill was also off the turf on Friday. On Thursday, 2020 GI Kentucky Derby competitor Winning Impression reportedly broke down after...

The long-term future for Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) to continue racing in Illinois involves selling its Arlington International Racecourse land for another purpose and transferring the corporation's racing license to another location. Bill Carstanjen, the chief executive officer of CDI, outlined the gaming company's desire to rid itself of Chicago's premier Thoroughbred venue in a July 30 conference call with investors. His comments came six days after Arlington's delayed 2020 season opening (because of the pandemic and a bitter contract dispute with local horse people) and one day before 2021...