Next Years Kentucky Oaks Will Be Run at 9PM at Night

[Silver Charm]

Goes to the Board next week for a Vote. Lets face it Churchill Downs has sold out the City of Louisville and all the other Friday Evening Events, Restaurant Owners and Others for more money. NBC bought the race. CD gets the Green. The City gets the Shaft. Prostitution at its finest.....

[Silver Charm]

The Oaks announcement has been made Official. The 8PM time reported I believe is the telecast time. Not Post Time. There will probably be races run until midnight with the usual 10:30AM start time on Derby Day. Who gives a shit about the horsemen, fans and help right?

One alternative from what I was told was to \"Sell the Rights\" of the Derby to say Dubai and run the race over there. There would be a $5M purse boost and a $15M licensing fee paid to Churchill. Derby Post time would be 11AM to accommodate Dubai time. The regular Derby Day Card would start at Noon allowing a small breather for race attendees and horsemen who worked until midnight the night before. NBC could then replace Saturday morning Cartoons with the Derby. A Ratings boost for that time slot.  

The calculators said it would add .02 to Earnings Per Share if everything else stayed the same. The singing of \"My Old Kentucky Home\" would no longer be necessary. The pitch was this was a Big Win for the Shareholders.

Fans, Traditions and Horsemen are basically being told FU.

[Roman]

You are kidding about Dubai right?

[Gary Irish]

Silver,

I hope this is your audition to \"The Onion\" newspaper. I\'ve always pooh-poohed the \"end of racing\" stuff, but this is really warped.

Brings to mind the old - \"Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?\" line.

[Roman]

The fact that I had to ask if it was tongue-in-cheek is because I would not put it past CDI to do such a thing. Remember, they shuttered Arlington Park and the Million is run in Virginia , The Chicago Stakes in Louisville.

Is the Kentucky Derby in Dubai that far fetched?

[Silver Charm]

Gary lol I had never heard of \"The Onion\" until you mentioned it but I did look it up. And I don\'t believe Racing is Dead either. It has its place but there are challenges.

Let me be clear Track Management are smart guys but here is the truth. The stock is down over 15% in the last year. Cash was increased as of 6/30/25 to just under $300M. And there is $2.9B in Net Plant and Equipment. And this counts the recent upgrades which are nice. But there is a catch. There is nearly $5.0B in Notes Payable and Long Term Debt. Plus this minus that most of that Balance Sheet difference is there is $3.3B in Goodwill and Intangibles assets. Thats paper trash. The Auditors do their tests, hold their noses and let it slide.

This company is leveraged out their A$$.

Roman yes the Arlington Million is run at Colonial in Virginia. Somebody once bought Arlington Park, demolished it and sold the land. Same with Hollywood Park, Calder and now Fairgrounds is up for Sale. I believe those markets are Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans. Was this \"helping to grow the sport and good for the game\" as the press release said today? You decide....

The NFL now plays on every day of the week except Tuesday and Wednesday. But might occasionally if those days fall on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Games are played in London, Munich, Brazil, Mexico. And you guys doubt me when I said a proposal to move the Derby to Dubai was under consideration at the right price? That $5.0B of Debt is not going to be paid back selling $3.00 Racing Programs at the front gate. EVERYTHING is on the table.

They had a great meet here recently. The last thing they need is a drug and doping scandal. There goes the handle. The Land in Hallandale is worth 5 maybe 10 times more per acre than the Land off Longfield is. Like I said they are looking for Revenue and Cash Flow and nothing else matters. I believe it was Gordon Gekko who once said \"If you want loyal fans and tradition go buy a dog\". You get the point....