Churchill Downs Proposes New Track in Northern Kentucky

Churchill Downs Inc. has proposed building a new track in Northern Kentucky and taking the winter race dates away from Turfway Park.

In a Sept. 5 release, CDI said it will file an application with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission requesting those winter Thoroughbred racing dates. In the long term, Churchill will pursue the winter dates for a $200 million track and historical gaming facility it would construct in Northern Kentucky named New Latonia Racing & Gaming. The track would also serve as a year-round training center.

While the track is being constructed, CDI proposes racing the 2020 winter dates at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. 

The application requests that NKYRG, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDI, be issued a racing license to conduct live racing from January-March 2020 and in December 2020. 

Currently, winter racing on the Kentucky circuit is conducted at Turfway Park, but that track's ownership never added historical racing, despite repeated encouragement from the KHRC to do so in an effort to improve purses. Turfway is the only Thoroughbred track in Kentucky without such gaming (Keeneland partners with The Red Mile on a historical gaming facility).

The dates for December 2019 were awarded last year to Turfway by the KHRC. Turfway in recent years has raced from December-March. Churchill is proposing taking over all those winter dates beginning in January 2020. Then, going forward, Churchill—followed by the new track when it's ready—would race from December-March.

In April, it was announced Hard Rock International would purchase Turfway in a $780 million deal in which it also purchased JACK Cincinnati Casino from Dan Gilbert's JACK Entertainment. Since that deal, Hard Rock has not announced any plans to add historical racing at Turfway. In a Sept. 6 release, JACK Entertainment said that sale has not been completed.

JACK Entertainment said it has applied for Turfway's traditional race dates.

"The track submitted its annual application for the dates that historically have been granted to Turfway Park in July of this year," JACK Entertainment said in a statement. "Hard Rock has committed to regulators and Kentucky leaders to investing over $100 million into improving Turfway Park including the addition of historic racing machines, building race purses, and significant enhancements to the racing business. Once these improvements are completed, Turfway will be an exceptional facility that is well positioned to carry on its rich history of Thoroughbred racing while becoming an entertainment attraction for all of Northern Kentucky.  

"We are shocked and thoroughly disappointed by Churchill Downs' recent attack on Turfway Park, which has been a significant part of the Northern Kentucky community for over 60 years. JACK Entertainment and Hard Rock International will jointly defend the long-standing race dates that have regularly been awarded to Turfway Park and contest the inappropriate actions of Churchill Downs and their attempt to disrupt the Northern Kentucky racing community."

JACK Entertainment has long promised improvements at the track and the addition of Historical Racing games but not delivered. The track was approved in 2015 to add 250 historical racing machines but never added a single machine. 

In February 2018, Turfway officials announced plans for a $25 million overhaul of the facility that would include the addition of historical gaming but those plans never came to fruition. Then in December 2018, Turfway said it had a smaller plan in the works that would add 350 machines by June, 2019. Not a single machine has been added at the track at this time.

At the December meeting, the KHRC said Turfway's progress would be monitored and inaction could jeopardize their historical gaming license. At that meeting KHRC chairman Frank Kling Jr. suggested that the prolonged inaction by JACK Entertainment could be explained as the owner protecting "its southern flank." JACK Entertainment also owns the nearby JACK Cincinnati Casino, about a dozen miles away.

CDI said allocation of the 2020 race dates to NKYRG is a critical short-term measure to support the Thoroughbred racing circuit in Kentucky. CDI expects that awarding these 2020 race dates to NKYRG will lead to significantly increased purses and pari-mutuel handle, resulting in increased tax revenues to the Kentucky General Fund, Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, equine industry programs, equine drug research, and for higher education.

If approved, the race dates conducted at Churchill Downs would permanently move to the proposed New Latonia facility once it's completed.

"Churchill Downs is stepping up to protect and grow Kentucky's Thoroughbred racing circuit," said Churchill Downs track president Kevin Flanery. "Our willingness to make a sizable investment in the neglected Northern Kentucky market is our latest effort to improve Kentucky's valuable horse racing and agriculture industries." 

As outlined in a CDI release, Phase 1 of the proposed New Latonia facility would represent up to a $150 million economic development project for Northern Kentucky anticipated to create nearly 400 direct full- and part-time equivalent positions and an estimated 800 direct construction jobs.

Aspects of Phase 1 include a historical racing machine facility featuring up to 1,500 machines, a state-of-the-art clubhouse, food/beverage venues, a one-mile synthetic main race track, an inner dirt track, and stabling facilities. CDI expects New Latonia would remain open year-round as a training facility to support the Thoroughbred racing circuit across Kentucky. Phase 2 of the proposed project could include the addition of a hotel, with an incremental investment of up to $50 million.

CDI-owned historical gaming facility Derby City Gaming has performed well in Louisville, and the company believes it could enjoy success in Northern Kentucky as well.

"Just as Derby City Gaming's historical racing machines have supercharged purses at Churchill Downs racetrack, we plan to do the same for Northern Kentucky's racing fans at New Latonia," Flanery said. "Our goal is to deliver an ultra-competitive racing product with more entries and high-quality horses that appeal to bettors and horseplayers nationwide."