Arlington Park opening pushed back to at least June

Arlington won’t begin its 2020 race meeting on May 1, as had been scheduled, and the racing schedule this year remains totally unsettled in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Arlington has sent a notice to season boxholders that Arlington won’t race at all during the month of May, and a source reported that an Illinois state government official said Arlington would like, if possible, to race between early July and early September.

Arlington president Tony Petrillo confirmed that the racing season will be delayed at least until June, but declined to discuss any specific plans.

“All things are on the table,” Petrillo said Monday morning. “Until we understand the conditions that the [coronavirus] precautions and directions require, we won’t understand what our options are.”

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Arlington was scheduled to begin accepting horses onto its backstretch April 10, but the timeline for stabling horses and their human handlers has been pushed back indefinitely.

Arlington has provided a notice to the Illinois Racing Board regarding the delay in opening the backstretch, Petrillo said, but has not engaged in formal discussions with the IRB about plans for the 2020 race meet.

The IRB still doesn’t have an acting chairman and several seats remain open, but does have six commissioners, the minimum to form a quorum. The Arlington schedule will certainly be part of the next IRB meeting, but whether that takes place in April or May is uncertain.

Arlington and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association also remain without a contract for the 2020 meeting, and negotiations have moved to formal mediation overseen by the IRB. The two sides met once with a mediator in early March before the full scope of the coronavirus complicated schedules and planning, and have not engaged in formal talks since. The ITHA’s focus is on boosting overnight purses from a limited purse fund and has suggested Arlington significantly cut back its open stakes schedule, with a focus on the Arlington Million card.

Arlington is owned by Churchill Downs Inc., which declined to apply for an Arlington casino license when the opportunity arose last summer.

◗ Steve May was appointed executive director of the Minnesota Racing Commission last week. May, who is set to take up his new position in April, leaves his job as the director of pari-mutuel wagering and compliance at the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. May has previous experience with the Association of Racing Commissioners International. He replaces the retired Tom DiPasquale.