Roy Arnold

As the only member out of 10 on the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) to directly address the pending closure of Arlington International Racecourse and the devastating effect it will have on the state's racing circuit, commissioner Alan Henry said at Thursday's monthly meeting that a losing bidder in the track's sale is still working behind the scenes to fashion a deal to keep racing alive alongside a new football stadium on the 326-acre parcel. Back on Sept. 29, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), the gaming corporation that owns Arlington, announced the...

Two additional bidders in the controversial Arlington International Racecourse sale have been revealed, and neither explicitly mentions the continuation of Thoroughbred racing as a component of their proposed development. Eric Peterson of suburban Chicago's Daily Herald broke the story over the holiday weekend. Of the four now-known bids submitted to seller Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), only one--submitted by the track's former president, Roy Arnold--calls for the track's grandstand and track to remain in place alongside a new 60-acre entertainment district and 300 units of housing. Before this past weekend, the...

The future of Arlington Park remains very much up in the air, but Roy Arnold is convinced that racing can prosper there and is hopeful that he can spearhead an effort to insure that one of America's most beautiful racetracks remains a racetrack for years to come. Arnold should know. He was the track's president during better times, from 2006-2010, and is currently the president and CEO of Endeavor Hotel Group. Arnold was instrumental in bringing together a consortium interested in purchasing Arlington Park from Churchill Downs. Churchill announced in...