Arlington Park For Sale

[cjestice]

I was an owner/breeder in Chicago in the late 90\'s when slots at the track first came up. I believe it was 95 or 96 when I attended a meeting of IL horsemen and DD. Meeting was led by Mike Campbell. Not sure if here were ITHA president at the time.

Here was the sticking point on why slots didn\'t proceed. Horsemen wanted to know what their cut of the deal would be and that Arlington wouldn\'t stop racing. DD said, nope. Get me the slots and I\'ll we\'ll work out the deal.

Horsemen didn\'t trust DD and wouldn\'t proceed without some guarantee. There were no other tracks with slots so there was no benchmark.

Governor Jim Edgar (big owner/breeder in IL and very popular) had recently left office and had time to dedicate to this cause. He still carried plenty of juice in Springfield.

What a wasted opportunity.

[billk5300s]

Racing was thriving in Illinois in the mid 70’s through the mid 90’s.  IMHO former governor Quinn put the final stake in the heart of Illinois racing when he refused to sign the gambling expansion bill which would have brought slots to the tracks.  CDI swooped in like vultures to buy Arlington because they knew how valuable that land is.  The people of Illinois are losing a treasure with the pending demise of Arlington Park.

[Marlin]

YEP,  Governor Edgar was an great supporter, Quinn not so much. Gov. Edgar would attend & hand out the Arlington Million trophy.

But Dick Duchossois certainly knew what they were doing selling out to Churchill, was a business decision, IMO.

Sad, but not surprising here. Currently zoned Agricultural, like most tracks. Its like holding valuable land for a drive-in movie theater, you all saw how those disappeared.  

What will yield more in re-zoning to Mixed use or residential.  Interesting article about maybe The Bears move from Soldier Field, but think that is a Long Shot, not pun intended.  

OUT

[FrankD.]

I’ve read this thread and would like to make some corrections.....

The loss of Arlington is supreme but in truth, who didn’t see this coming?
CD lost Bay Meadows, Calder and now Arlington. The world has changed and horse racing as an industry was asleep at the wheel. OTB’s, tracks closing, etc.... it’s a joke that goes back until the 70’s!

Whatever move the industry made was wrong. 100 %, I’ll not go through them all, not enough room! The bettors and tide was going right, the industry went left.
Some tried, but were overruled, out voted or told to shut up and hide in the corner.

Priest wants Dick Duchossois to explain what happened 20 years after he sold the joint. The man was born on October 7, 1921. He will be 100 years old this year.
He sold the place after it was closed for 2 years to CD for 4 million shares of their stock. Anyone care to guess at CD’s price in 2000? Per usual he made a fortune..... And then some! The man is NO DUMMY......

I lived there 83-89, through the fire, the 85 million, yes same year as the fire.
86 & 87 under the tents, Manila 14-10-4-0 in 87, closed in 88 for construction and the current or lack there of plant was established in 89.

Dicky D. Was an operator, a decorated WWII Veteran, an operator who zigged and zagged. He made trades in the pits on LaSalle St. that were let’s say questionable. Who cares. That place made millionaires out of high school drop outs and broke them again.

 Once one of the guys from whatever network carried the Million in the early days asked him to hold post for the Beverly D.(named for his ex-wife) 3-4 minutes so they could show it on tv.....Guess what his answer was?

They had a bet before simulcasting called the super bet in Illinois only 85-88 only. The 3rd, 4th and 5th races of the day you had to pick exacta, exacta and trifecta on the cards 3 worst races. Now again remember the timing!!! Steve Crist had not written about the pick 6, there was not a pick 3,4, or 5 in thoroughbred land.......
NO ONE (self included) knew how to bet YET! Most guys boxed 3 horses in the exacta’s, 4 in the trifecta, $864 for a buck in 1985......

There was an “investment group from Philly” that showed up and hit several super bets. They would show after a few days of carryover. Remember the year 1985, no or very little simulcasting.  Arlington would handle a million a bit over a day, 2 million plus on a really big day. These guys would show up after the pool got up to 1/2 a million bucks or so. They bet 20k, 40k, 60k keeping on getting bigger as the play went on.

They showed at Arlington on 2 days before July 31, 1985. I’m not sure of the days of the week. They played 20 & 40k into it, it carried over. Day 3 they showed up and were called into DD’s office. No play, there money was no longer any good, they were barred from the track. That night Arlington Park burnt to the ground. 🤫

DD was a super business man and of course had an insurance policy that actually paid him every day he could not operate. It gave him the money to build the new Arlington 89-97 before the industry could not once again figure out the future as stated by billk5300 and cjestice.

The rest is history, BAD like the rest of the industry screaming back to the 70’s.

Frank D.

[Boscar Obarra]

Never heard that  AP syndicate story. Is that in print anywhere?

Must have been fun buying so many tickets and combos back in the day.

[P-Dub]

FrankD. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’ve read this thread and would like to make
> some corrections.....
>
> The loss of Arlington is supreme but in truth, who
> didn’t see this coming?
> CD lost Bay Meadows, Calder and now Arlington. The
> world has changed and horse racing as an industry
> was asleep at the wheel. OTB’s, tracks closing,
> etc.... it’s a joke that goes back until the
> 70’s!
>
> Whatever move the industry made was wrong. 100 %,
> I’ll not go through them all, not enough room!
> The bettors and tide was going right, the industry
> went left.
> Some tried, but were overruled, out voted or told
> to shut up and hide in the corner.
>
> Priest wants Dick Duchossois to explain what
> happened 20 years after he sold the joint. The man
> was born on October 7, 1921. He will be 100 years
> old this year.
> He sold the place after it was closed for 2 years
> to CD for 4 million shares of their stock. Anyone
> care to guess at CD’s price in 2000? Per usual
> he made a fortune..... And then some! The man is
> NO DUMMY......
>
> I lived there 83-89, through the fire, the 85
> million, yes same year as the fire.
> 86 & 87 under the tents, Manila 14-10-4-0 in 87,
> closed in 88 for construction and the current or
> lack there of plant was established in 89.
>
> Dicky D. Was an operator, a decorated WWII
> Veteran, an operator who zigged and zagged. He
> made trades in the pits on LaSalle St. that were
> let’s say questionable. Who cares. That place
> made millionaires out of high school drop outs and
> broke them again.
>
>  Once one of the guys from whatever network
> carried the Million in the early days asked him to
> hold post for the Beverly D.(named for his
> ex-wife) 3-4 minutes so they could show it on
> tv.....Guess what his answer was?
>
> They had a bet before simulcasting called the
> super bet in Illinois only 85-88 only. The 3rd,
> 4th and 5th races of the day you had to pick
> exacta, exacta and trifecta on the cards 3 worst
> races. Now again remember the timing!!! Steve
> Crist had not written about the pick 6, there was
> not a pick 3,4, or 5 in thoroughbred land.......
> NO ONE (self included) knew how to bet YET! Most
> guys boxed 3 horses in the exacta’s, 4 in the
> trifecta, $864 for a buck in 1985......
>
> There was an “investment group from Philly”
> that showed up and hit several super bets. They
> would show after a few days of carryover. Remember
> the year 1985, no or very little simulcasting.
> Arlington would handle a million a bit over a day,
> 2 million plus on a really big day. These guys
> would show up after the pool got up to 1/2 a
> million bucks or so. They bet 20k, 40k, 60k
> keeping on getting bigger as the play went on.
>
> They showed at Arlington on 2 days before July 31,
> 1985. I’m not sure of the days of the week. They
> played 20 & 40k into it, it carried over. Day 3
> they showed up and were called into DD’s office.
> No play, there money was no longer any good, they
> were barred from the track. That night Arlington
> Park burnt to the ground. 🤫
>
> DD was a super business man and of course had an
> insurance policy that actually paid him every day
> he could not operate. It gave him the money to
> build the new Arlington 89-97 before the industry
> could not once again figure out the future as
> stated by billk5300 and cjestice.
>
> The rest is history, BAD like the rest of the
> industry screaming back to the 70’s.
>
> Frank D.

If you wrote a book with race track stories, or any story for that matter, I would buy it.

[Bet Twice]

“If you wrote a book with race track stories, or any story for that matter, I would buy it.”

P-Dub

I have a feeling he’d have to go into the witness protection program if that book ever saw the light of day..... ðŸ˜,

[prist]

Boscar Obarra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Never heard that  AP syndicate story. Is that in
> print anywhere?
>
> Must have been fun buying so many tickets and
> combos back in the day.


I don\'t know about the Arlington Park connection, but Andy Beyer covered this story.

Those guys would be welcomed in today\'s betting market instead of getting barred.

[TGJB]

Frankâ€" the guy who tried to get them (to no avail) to hold up post time for the Beverly D for 3-4 minutes was Peter Rotondo, now the head of marketing for the Breeders Cup. For a while he, Serling and I were the only three in the industry living in Manhattan. That was one of the stories Peter used to tell about how the industry didn’t get it about television. They get it now, thanks (?) to the pandemic.

[Boscar Obarra]

Yes and no. Whale players are still criticized for coming in after the carryovers are built up and taking them down with firepower.

[johnnym]

Thanks Frank
Always love the nostalgia.

[richiebee]

I do not know if it would be a New York Times bestseller, but a collection
of the stories of Frank and Uncle Bill would be more entertaining than 90% of the
racetrack books I have read.

Frank\'s Capitol Region stories could make him a 21st century successor to William
Kennedy.

I would imagine JB\'s stories would require a separate volume.

Speaking of Frank and Bill, have not heard word one about live attendance at the
Spa, to me meaning NYRA is looking how best to limit crowds while monetizing the
weekends/holidays.

[prist]

Mr. Duchossois comments in the Daily Herald:

\"I think Churchill has two of the finest managers in the country,\" said Duchossois, who says he got briefed on the reasons for the sale and details. \"It\'s been explained to me, and I don\'t understand it, but I agree with it.\"

He sold to CD with the intention of selling to someone who would guide Arlington long into the future. While 20 years is into the future, I, and many others, expected more than what we got.

Two groups were gobbling up tracks at that time. Stronach and Churchill. I too thought Churchill was the right choice at the time. My opinion has changed, but Mr. Duchossois still holds them in the highest regard.

The only thing that confused me about the sale to CD was that they historically competed for the same horses. How were they going to make that work? How does a strong 6 month meet at Arlington benefit the racing product at Churchill Downs?

[billk5300s]

I agree with you prist.  Often times I felt like Arlington was “sandbagged” by CDI.  I know this sounds crazy but it seemed like their plan was to keep it so nobody else could have it.  This prevented competition.  Now they could have slots but they don’t want them because it will pull folks away from the $25 tables at Rivers.

[TGJB]

“I don’t understand it but I agree with it”.

There’s a guy on the Jake board who says that about figure making.