Arlington Million, three other graded stakes will be run at Churchill on special Aug. 13 card

Churchill Downs in Louisville will run nine stakes races this year previously staged at Arlington Park outside of Chicago, including four on a special Aug. 13 live-racing program, the track announced on Tuesday.

The Aug. 13 program, which will take place outside of Churchill’s customary racing dates, will include four races that were previously held on Arlington’s biggest race day of the year, including the $1 million, Grade 1 Arlington Million, the $500,000, Grade 1 Beverly D., the $300,000, Grade 2 Secretariat, and the $200,000, Grade 3 Pucker Up, Churchill said.

Five other stakes previously run at Arlington will be scattered among the 48 other stakes run at Churchill during its spring-summer meet, which is scheduled for April 30 to July 4. The Kentucky Derby this year is scheduled for May 7.

Arlington is owned by Churchill’s parent company. Last year, Churchill Downs Inc. did not apply for 2022 racing dates at Arlington after the company announced that it had reached an agreement to sell the property to the Chicago Bears. The transaction is not expected to close until the summer of 2023, Churchill officials have said.

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Late last year, a Churchill official acknowledged during a meeting of the Illinois Racing Board that the company was lobbying the state legislature, but the official did not provide details on what the company was seeking. In 2019, Churchill declined to pursue a casino license for the track, a decision company officials blamed on high tax rates.

Churchill owns a majority interest in Illinois’s biggest casino, which is located 15 miles from Arlington. Churchill’s announcement of its agreement to sell Arlington was heavily criticized by the racing industry, both nationally and locally.

Last summer, Arlington ran its most prominent stakes races on Aug. 14, though the Arlington Million was re-named the Mr. D. Stakes, after the former owner of Arlington and major Churchill shareholder Richard Duchossois, who died earlier this year. The race had a $600,000 purse last year.

Churchill does not typically run in August, with those dates usually reserved for Ellis Park. In a release announcing the one-day card, Churchill said that it was able to get permission to run the stakes through an agreement with Ellis, the state’s horsemen, and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

During the spring-summer meet ending on July 4, Churchill said that 41 of the 53 total stakes have been targeted for “significant” purse increases. Purses at Kentucky racetracks are heavily subsidized by so-called historical horse racing machines, which are devices similar to slot machines.

Total stakes purses this year at the spring-summer meet, including the four stakes on Aug. 13, will be $20.37 million, Churchill said. Last year, total stakes purses for the spring-summer meet was $13.44 million for 40 stakes races.