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Can Arlington Park survive against casino-fed racetracks?

Horse racing alone might not be enough to help Arlington Heights racetrack compete

Arlington Park celebrates another opening Friday with a much anticipated Party in the Park.

But after nearly 90 years of horse racing, it's not at all crazy to wonder if it could be the last Opening Day at the Local Oval.

As racetracks in neighboring states continue to entice and poach local trainers, owners and breeders with higher purses due to slots and casinos, Illinois tracks scratch and claw to stay alive while waiting for the state to expand gambling.

If not for the previous governor, who vetoed a pair of bills that passed the General Assembly, tracks would already be up and running with slots and competing again for the best horse racing product in the Midwest.

But with Arlington Park getting ready to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the “Miracle Million” this summer, it may take something of a miracle to keep Illinois horse racing alive.

“We don't know how much longer it's going to last,” said Arlington Park general manager Tony Petrillo. “The industry is crippled from the inside out.

“The breeding industry is falling apart, and if people don't breed and owners don't own horses here, we won't have a product to sell.

“Competition is getting tougher with neighboring states and their casino-type gaming at race tracks, and those are the only tracks thriving.”

If race tracks die, along with them will go a billion-dollar industry and as many as 50,000 jobs statewide.

“Most people don't realize how far-reaching the horse racing industry is,” Petrillo said. “As farms start to close, there are jobs for those who provide the hay and the grain and the wheat and the straw.

“They close down and move to Indiana and Ohio or out of state somewhere else, and those states court our breeders and trainers with the promise of more money and better opportunities, and they can do it because of slots.

“What was once a large lake has been reduced to a puddle and it's drying up, and as our agribusiness shrinks, it grows in these other states.

“Racing touches nearly every legislative district because of something involving farm implements or mechanical equipment or lumber or veterinarians, or the people who are paid who spend their money at local businesses.

“There are payroll taxes in nearly every district that have some impact on local communities. The tentacles are everywhere and all that may be gone.”

Racetracks, however, are not asking for a gift from the state of Illinois or its taxpayers. They merely want the right to compete with other gaming interests.

“We're asking for the right to invest to build out facilities to run a business so we can compete with out-of-state businesses who have a huge competitive advantage,” Petrillo said. “We're talking about a $150 million investment and several thousand jobs, and the bills that were passed and vetoed would have given us that chance.

“Those bills would have produced $500 million in revenue to the state every year, so we're not looking for a handout, not looking for a subsidy. We want to be a producer for the state.”

While Illinois racing waits for the state to act again, Arlington opens Friday with a 3:15 p.m. first post, features Kentucky Derby Day Saturday and will offer special events and promotions all season long on Fridays and Saturdays.

On July 31, Arlington will honor those who fought the fire in 1985, and Million Day will commemorate the remarkable effort of those who made possible the race that took place three weeks later.

There is also talk that California Chrome is pointing toward the Million, which would make a great day of racing even better.

There was a time not many decades ago when Illinois horse racing was consistently great and a major player in the industry, and the Chicago area once had more tracks than any other metro area in the country.

Now, you have to wonder if there's any hope of saving the sport locally and the jobs and revenue that accompany it.

It might just take another miracle.

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