Business & Tech
Will Lawsuit Force Arlington Racecourse to Hold Its Horses This Year? (UPDATED)
Contentious contract talks between the track and a horsemen's group have led to legal action. Will that mean no racing in May?
UPDATED (10:19 p.m. Thursday, April 21): At a Thursday hearing, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association was denied its temporary restraining order request that was part of a federal lawsuit filed Monday against Arlington International Racecourse, the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation and the Illinois Racing Board, the Arlington Heights Post reports.
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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL―Arlington International Racecourse has been a fixture for Chicago-area horse racing fans since the late 1920s. But a federal lawsuit between the track and a group representing owners trainers could pull back the reins on racing this summer.
What sparked the lawsuit? Who does it affect? And will fans of the sport of kings at Arlington Racecourse need to find a new outlet to enjoy their pastime? Here's what you need to know about the legal action and how it will affect operations at the track
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What's the lawsuit about?
In the midst of contract negotiations with Arlington International Racecourse, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association filed its suit Monday in U.S. District Court against the Arlington Heights track, the Illinois Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Foundation and the Illinois Racing Board, accusing the groups engaging "in collusive conduct designed to replace the ITHA as the 'horsemen's group' under Illinois and federal law with the ITBOF for the contract Arlington needs in order to conduct live racing and simulcasting at Arlington Park for the 2016 summer meet," according to a statement by the ITHA.
Essentially, the ITHA—which has represented owners and trainers at Arlington and Hawthorne Racecourse in Cicero for more than 20 years—claims the track is trying to muscle in a "sweetheart group" in the ITBOF for contract purposes, a move that the horsemen's group thinks is damaging to the sport of racing.
"The conduct described in the lawsuit is nothing new. ... Arlington continues once again with its coercive and unlawful actions to the detriment of horsemen racing in Illinois."
Ultimately, the ITHA is asking a court to make it Arlington's "sole and exclusive horsemen's group" and bar Arlington and the ITBOF from working together.
What does this mean for horse racing at Arlington?
During a hearing on the lawsuit Wednesday, the judge took the case under advisement and didn't make a ruling, the Arlington Heights Post reports.
However, an attorney representing Arlington said during the proceedings that if the track and the ITHA can't work out an agreement, there will be no horse racing at the venue this season.
Arlington's racing season begins May 6.
What's next?
Arlington International Racecourse and the ITHA will continue to negotiate a new deal before the May 6 opening.
Although the both parties aren't close to an agreement, one obstacle has been removed: Representatives for the ITBOF told the judge at Wednesday's hearing that the organization was stepping aside because it couldn't afford a court battle.
But if the track and the horsemen's group can't find common contractual ground before opening day, horse racing fans traveling to Hawthorne Racecourse won't be the only thing heading south. Arlington's lawyer cautioned Wednesday that a cancellation of the track's 2016 season could deliver damaging blow to horse racing in the state, a sport he characterized as "hanging by a thread," according to the Post.
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