Arlington Stakes Cuts Not Enough for Horsemen

Blood-Horse

The Illinois Racing Board March 17 approved a drastically reduced stakes schedule for the summer meeting at Arlington International Racecourse, putting five graded events “on hiatus.” But the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association argued the cuts in stakes purses are not deep enough, given the hard economic times facing the state’s industry.

ITHA executive director Glen Berman said the $3.725 million in stakes purses represents about 27.2% of total purses paid, which would violate the current 20.4% maximum specified in the horsemen’s contract with Arlington. Arlington general manager Tony Petrillo said the stakes purses equate to about 20.5% of purse money earned, which is within contract parameters.

Whether to apply “purses earned” or “purses paid” to that equation is a long-standing bone of contention between Arlington and the horsemen’s group.

“It’s just too high,” Berman said of the stakes total of 18, noting Arlington also has grouped all its stakes in July and August, leaving May, June and September without any stakes races. “By the time September comes around, the purse account is going to be low or maybe negative and we’re afraid that Arlington will come in here and ask for a purse cut or to vacate dates.”

Petrillo said Arlington needed immediate approval of the stakes schedule in order to continue recruiting horses for the track’s three grade I events in August. The issue was to have been considered in February but that meeting was canceled.

After lengthy discussion, the schedule was approved on a 9-1 vote, with one abstention.

The highlights of the season will be “Million Preview Day” on July 11, with four grade III events on the turf, all pointing toward the International Festival of Racing Aug. 15. That day includes Arlington Million (gr. IT), the Beverly D. (gr. IT), for fillies and mares, the Secretariat Stakes (gr. IT) for 3-year-olds, and the American St. Leger, upgraded this year to grade III status and run on the turf at 1 11/16 miles.

Missing from the 2015 stakes schedule are the Arlington Classic (gr. IIIT), Arlington Matron (gr. III), Chicago Handicap (gr. III), Arlington Oaks (gr. III), and Washington Park Handicap (gr. III). The decision to mothball those races highlights the “now or never” financial condition of Illinois racing because if the events are not run for two consecutive years, the historic events could lose their graded status.

Illinois tracks for the past three years have been operating with supplemental funds from a now-expired tax on riverboat casinos. They are banking heavily on future revenue that would result from passage by the state legislature of a gaming expansion bill including authorization for slots at the tracks.

Two such bills were vetoed by former Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat who lost his re-election bid to Republican Bruce Rauner. Rauner faces a severe budget crunch at the state level and it is hoped he will be more amenable to gaming expansion as a revenue source. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, also facing monumental financial shortfalls, could benefit from a downtown Chicago casino as part of the expansion package.

The fly in the ointment is that the industry is not united. The ITHA contract with Arlington expires April 22 and negotiations for a renewal have hit a standstill. Illinois Racing Board officials said they have begun a mediation process, but the two sides remain at odds.

Petrillo said the biggest issue for Arlington is the amount of money the ITHA wants to take from the purse account to cover its operating expenses—a figure which, under state law, must be negotiated. Petrillo also said Arlington fears horsemen are planning an entry-box boycott at the start of the summer meeting to show their displeasure with the relationship.

Chris Block, a leading owner/trainer and a vice president of the ITHA, denied that.

“There has been no talk about not running at Arlington,” he said. “We want to race.”

Further reflecting the sad state of the industry, the IRB also approved a request by Arlington and Hawthorne Race Course to accelerate the cycle of pari-mutuel settlements between the tracks and Coast to Coast Food Service Ltd., which operates the off-track betting parlors owned by the Chicago-area harness tracks, which are operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The bankruptcy was forced by a jury verdict in a civil suit tied to imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s shakedown of a track owner. Coast to Coast is an independent, affiliated entity and not involved in the bankruptcy proceeding. But Hawthorne and Arlington argued the firm could be dragged into the case and that any outstanding sums owed them at that point by Coast to Coast could be at risk.

The board approved a weekly reconciliation and payment schedule with payment on Tuesday for the previous week’s owed balance. The harness tracks said that will require them to provide additional working capital to Coast to Coast which, in turn, will require the approval of the bankruptcy court.

An attorney for the tracks said he hoped to be able to report progress on that issue at the April 21 meeting.

The March meeting was the first under the chairmanship of Jeffrey Brincat, a north suburban businessman.