A Tale of Two Tracks

Last year started out with rumors about Gulfstream Park being sold - most likely to Churchill Downs. It ended with Calder Race Course possibly changing hands this year.

The rumors about Gulfstream proved nothing more than "a cruel story running on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run," Ouida wrote. Instead, Churchill Downs did buy Calder for $86 million in January.

Kawasaki Leasing USA had been actively trying to pedal Calder since June, said track president Ken Dunn. The parent company, Kawasaki Enterprises, was liquidating holdings outside Japan for several years to concentrate on its main stake - manufacturing steel. Not because it is any financial trouble, he added.

Kawasaki bought Calder a decade ago for $68 million while Catoctin International Racing Corp. paid $88 million for Gulfstream in 1991.

When Churchill Downs Inc. increased its line of credit to $100 million last summer, it appeared that was the amount needed to buy Gulfstream. Using that rationale, but pure speculation since Dunn wouldn't even admit to a ballpark figure.

"Kawasaki has exhausted the market place," Dunn said in early December. "None of the offers were near what it wanted. If they don't get a reasonable offer before the end of the year, it will be taken off the market and Kawasaki will run it another year."

But he changed his tune on New Year's Eve:

"Kawasaki "will take a little longer to decide. Kawasaki is evaluating offers. A decision should be made in the near future." It was nearly a month later.

Calder closed out its 28th year on Jan. 2 during which the highlight continues to be the Festival of the Sun with five stakes in October, Dunn said. "The handle this year on track and nationwide was the highest in history. We also had success bumping up the purses in the sprint category."

On Jan. 3, Gulfstream opened its 56th season (the track is celebrating its 60th anniversary but was closed four years beginning in 1940).

The highlight of its season, divided in two parts, should be Breeders' Cup Day on Nov. 6.

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