Illinois politicians finally granted the owner's wishes: millions in financial relief -- property tax breaks and revenues from riverboat casinos -- to make up for losses, the reason Dick Duchossois closed Arlington after the 1997 meeting. The track was losing too many fans to the gambling cruises.
"An important Illinois agribusiness has been saved," proclaimed Duchossois, who led an investment group to purchase the track in 1983 and pledged to continue championship racing. That vow was first sidetracked on July 31, 1985, when fire broke out in the clubhouse of old Arlington Park, where I saw my first race at age 13, and then destroyed the grandstand.
Arlington reopened with its new name on June 28, 1989. But as gambling competition increased, the track's profits dwindled and finally Duchossois decided it was too costly to remain open.
Exactly when Arlington hosts live racing next year is a question. All tracks are required to file applications for dates to the Illinois Racing Board by Aug. 1. There's no assurance Arlington will receive the coveted summer dates that formed its traditional racing season.
"We'll all be competing for the dates we want, and the summer dates . . . well, let's just say that I like them," said Tom Carey, general manager of Hawthorne Racecourse, which is hosting live racing in the Chicago area virtually nonstop this year because of construction at neighboring Sportsman's Park. "I'm assuming everyone will file for the dates, and then we'll all take our best shots."
The battle may not be so bloody, according to Jim Carfagno, executive director of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association. "We've gotten everyone in the same room talking about things. And if you get people talking, you begin to get things done in a positive way."
I hope so. The racing industry needs all the positives it can get.
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