Re: Arlington Park For Sale (649 Views)
Posted by: cjestice (IP Logged)
Date: February 28, 2021 09:48AM
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.
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.
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