No resolution on Arlington meet, negotiations to continue Saturday

The Illinois Racing Board approved amended race dates for Fairmount Park and a harness-racing meeting at Hawthorne but recessed a special meeting Friday without addressing a key item on the agenda regarding Arlington’s 2020 racing season.

The IRB approved a plan to have commissioner Thomas McCauley and executive director Domenic DiCera mediate a negotiating session between Arlington and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association scheduled to take place Saturday morning at Hawthorne. The ITHA and Arlington were supposed to have signed a contract governing the 2020 racing season on Jan. 1, but though the parties have made progress toward an agreement over the last week, there still was no contract in place Friday.

The agenda item covers a request from Arlington to amend its 2020 racing season and Arlington president Tony Petrillo argued that the board could approve Arlington’s plan contingent upon a contract agreement with the ITHA. That plea, however, fell on deaf ears with the IRB determined either to ensure there’s an agreement in place or move on to other plans when the body reconvenes Monday morning.

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Arlington, which is owned by Churchill Downs Inc. and declined to apply for a casino license when the opportunity arose last summer, initially said they couldn’t run a spectator-free race meet this year but now say they’re willing to race without fans. Sources earlier this week said contract negotiations were stuck on the issues of Arlington deferring at least part of the recapture money they are due in 2020 and the track’s insistence on signing a contract that also would govern a 2021 racing season.

Testimony at the Friday meeting, which was announced earlier this week, suggested Arlington could offer daily purses this season between $130,000 and $150,000.

If there’s no contractual agreement reached this weekend, the focus could turn toward Hawthorne’s fall-winter Thoroughbred season. Hawthorne has committed to running that meet, to deferring their 2020 recapture, and applied for a casino license. Arlington currently is receiving dark-host money – revenue generated from simulcast wagering when there’s no live racing – but Hawthorne could become the dark-host track this summer if the Arlington meet is canceled.

Meanwhile, Fairmount Park is set to resume spectator-free racing next week. The track has permission to return on Monday but said it’s more likely the season will start again on Tuesday. Fairmount will race Mondays and Tuesdays through the fall with cards starting at 4:30 p.m. Central.

Hawthorne’s harness racing season resumes spectator-free on Saturday.