Arlington memories

Rockfish

EOG Addicted
Did not think it would happen but then a couple of months ago i heard a guy on the radio and what he said made perfect sense.
Virginia McCaskey owns the most stock in the bears at 40 percent. She would never sell the team. The rest of the stock is owned by many other relatives of the Halas and Mccaskey clan. Many only own 1 or 2 percent. They have wanted to sell for many years and get the cash.
When Virginia dies (she is 98) they will sell the team. The team is more valuable with a big piece of land for the next owner to build his dream stadium after buying one of the great sports franchises out there. What ever they pay for the Arlington Heights land it will be worth double or triple in a few years when it comes along with the Bears being sold.
 

FairWarning

Bells Beer Connoisseur
Sucks if they build a crappy dome like Detroit or Minn. it just doesn’t look good on TV. I rarely watch a dime game unless the Bears are involved.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Sucks if they build a crappy dome like Detroit or Minn. it just doesn’t look good on TV. I rarely watch a dime game unless the Bears are involved.

They have to build a dome. If they want to get a Super Bowl and/or a Final 4, its a must. Why not a retractable dome? Likely wouldn't be needed until mid November.
 

FairWarning

Bells Beer Connoisseur
They have to build a dome. If they want to get a Super Bowl and/or a Final 4, its a must. Why not a retractable dome? Likely wouldn't be needed until mid November.
I think they will just go full dome. Hate to be a Arlington Heights taxpayer today.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
Sounds like the Bears can cut that check tomorrow. What is $84 Mil when you will own a stadium?

Agreed, $84 million a drop in the bucket compared to what a new stadium could bring in.

On the field, if they lose at home vs Detroit, will that be Nagy's final game?
 

FairWarning

Bells Beer Connoisseur
Agreed, $84 million a drop in the bucket compared to what a new stadium could bring in.

On the field, if they lose at home vs Detroit, will that be Nagy's final game?
I hope so. I played Detroit +3.5 Sunday night. As bad as his playcalling is, the GM gave him that OL. I would have no problem with Laser calling the plays for Dalton until Fields is ready.
 

blueline

EOG Master
They've never fired a coach im-season...dont think it would happen.
Nothing really gets better till pace is gone.
DaMcNeil says Virginia would have to approve firing pace....he was being serious...who knows if it's true
 

Valuist

EOG Master
I hope so. I played Detroit +3.5 Sunday night. As bad as his playcalling is, the GM gave him that OL. I would have no problem with Laser calling the plays for Dalton until Fields is ready.

If you already have Detroit +3 1/2, don't you have to go for the middle with the Bears at - 2 1/2?
 

blueline

EOG Master


I didn't paste the whole column....obviously the rest is available via the link




The Daily Herald has learned that an extremely well-resourced connection of businessmen has initiated contact with senior management of the Chicago Bears that could keep 'em racing around the local oval at least through 2026.

Most importantly, it is said that the Bears are listening.

The group's plan centers on a four-year proposal to resume live racing on a limited scale in the summer of 2023.

Still, in response to a general inquiry on the matter Wednesday, Scott Hagel -- the Bears senior VP of marketing and communications -- said: "We are in the process of conducting our due diligence on the property and are not pursuing any horse racing opportunities on the site."

But the site is being pursued.

And the pursuers are a seasoned and convincing mix.

ACCORDING TO THE TIMETABLE projected since the Purchase and Sale agreement between the Bears and Churchill Downs Inc. was announced Sept. 29, calendar year 2023 will mark the first summer that the team controls the AP land

If the Bears were to accept the idea -- either to lease the 32-year-old main building and the necessary land or sell the plant and a portion of the 326-acre site -- the consortium would then likely conduct more extended April-through-September live meets in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Then, by the time of the Illinois Racing Board's 2027 dates hearing in September 2026, who knows what could happen on the evolving landscape of sports and gaming in the state of Illinois?

WHILE THE NEW GROUP is reportedly willing to accept operating losses as patrons of the Arlington racing arts, that's not necessarily a financial certainty.

If the bottom line on live racing operations and active ancillaries are the sole criteria, racing at Arlington continues to turn a profit.

That despite the fact the recent AP season was burdened by COVID-related attendance limits, bare-bones staffing and a pervasive sense of doom and farewell.



The emerging association has also developed a plan to operate the racetrack in meticulous synchronization with the probable paths of action needed to construct the new George S. Halas Stadium in time for a summer 2027 opening.

The group's grid is said to include:

• Demolition of the current Arlington backstretch;

• Construction of a smaller, more efficient stable area along Euclid Avenue; and,

• Extinction of the training track which currently occupies the extreme northwest corner of the sprawling AP trapezoid.

HALAS STADIUM IS EXPECTED to be constructed in that northwest section.

The stadium and adjacent "plazas" are expected to require approximately 30 acres. There likely will also be another 60 acres for parking and up to 20 more acres for an enhanced aesthetic.


Optimum acreage for the revitalized Arlington Park is projected to be 125 acres. That would include leaving the main building, the primary synthetic racing oval and the one-mile turf course intact.

But if racing were to continue after the opening of Halas Stadium, the track's land requirement could be reduced, primarily because of shared parking and harmonic scheduling.

The emergent association was not a bidder in the process managed by CBRE for Churchill Inc. earlier this year.

Nor does it have any plans to seek any kind of casino or supplemental gaming at this time if its offer is accepted by the Bears.

Whether by lease or purchase, the group's initiative would represent the Bears' first return on an investment that is expected to touch close to $2.7 billion in stadium costs.

THERE IS NO QUESTION that the latest Arlington racing lifeboat faces some perilous waves.

Foremost is the fact that CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen has repeatedly declared that live racing is dead at AP.

That was one reason that industry analysts very quickly dismissed the formal bid of former AP president Roy Arnold and Endeavor Properties LLC -- the sole announced hopeful that was going to "preserve" racing at the palatial site.

A critical unknown is whether CDI can now implode the main building or whether the option to perform that lamentable task will be contractually passed on to the Bears.

If the main building is demolished, the new group has an adjusted offer to the NFL team. That would include the construction of a temporary grandstand and other transitting facilities, including the relocation of the backstretch.
 
I remember Les doing sports on WLS during the Steve Dahl show and later doing live call ins from Chicago events.

I was a Bellman in 1989/1990 at The Arlington Park Hilton and got some big cash thrown at me from some of these horse owners!!!
 
Also remembered watching CBS local news at night and the y would play the highlights

Phil Georgeffe- here they come spinning out of the turn - great race announcer!!

 

Valuist

EOG Master
I was just thinking how many tracks I've been to that no longer are racing: Arlington, Sportsman's, Beulah, Hialeah, Calder, Hoosier (harness only now) and Bay Meadows. I imagine Blueline has a lot more than that.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
I have a few more shuttered racetracks on my list, VALUIST.

How about Maywood Park and Balmoral Park and Quad City Downs and Ak-sar-ben and Fairplex Park and Hollywood Park?

Ugh.
 

Valuist

EOG Master
I have a few more shuttered racetracks on my list, VALUIST.

How about Maywood Park and Balmoral Park and Quad City Downs and Ak-sar-ben and Fairplex Park and Hollywood Park?

Ugh.

This sounds crazy but in the time I lived in California, I never made it to Del Mar, Santa Anita or Hollywood. But I have been to Los Alamitos, Golden Gate and Pleasanton.
 

Rockfish

EOG Addicted
I was just thinking how many tracks I've been to that no longer are racing: Arlington, Sportsman's, Beulah, Hialeah, Calder, Hoosier (harness only now) and Bay Meadows. I imagine Blueline has a lot more than that.

i believe Hialeah still runs quarter horses. There is a casino there.
 

Rockfish

EOG Addicted
Detroit race course. Muskegon Race Course. Hazel Park. Jackson Raceway. Roosevelt Raceway. Louisville Downs. Audubon Raceway also called Midwest Harness. Pompano Park. Quad City Downs. Arlington Park. Sportsman Park. Washington Park. Maywood Park. Balmoral Park.
i was at Balmoral when they had a half mile, five eights, and the mile track. Don't forget Balmoral for a time use to run the first few races on the mile track then switch to the five eights track when it got dark.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Detroit race course. Muskegon Race Course. Hazel Park. Jackson Raceway. Roosevelt Raceway. Louisville Downs. Audubon Raceway also called Midwest Harness. Pompano Park. Quad City Downs. Arlington Park. Sportsman Park. Washington Park. Maywood Park. Balmoral Park.
i was at Balmoral when they had a half mile, five eights, and the mile track. Don't forget Balmoral for a time use to run the first few races on the mile track then switch to the five eights track when it got dark.

Great list, ROCKFISH.

I should have included Sportsman's Park on my list.

I was unaware of Balmoral's track switch based on sunlight.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
I once served as an Andy Frain usher at Balmoral Park.

The track announcer at the time was Tom Durkin.
 

Rockfish

EOG Addicted
JK, Balmoral went form a half mile to a five eights. Then years later they built a mile track around the five eights but they didn't put lights around the mile track. So they would run on the mile until it got dark and they switched to the five eights. Maybe Blueline could shed some light on this. i am getting old so maybe i got this right.

JK did you ever attend Balmoral when they ran the T-bred meets? It was when it was a five eights track.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Sure.

Those were some slow thoroughbred racehorses.

I was in a winner's circle photo with the Teinowitz clan (owners of Crypoclearance) when they won a $50,000 restricted stakes race in the early to mid-1980's at Balmoral Park.

Danny Teinowitz attended a summer school class at Northwestern in 1983 or thereabouts.

I met him there and he whispered in my ear about a young horse to keep an eye on.

The horse's name: Swale.

Pretty good tip.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
I left Chicago for the West Coast in the mid-1980's and I never got a chance to meet Danny's brother, Harry Teinowitz.

He turned out to be a real character.
 

Rockfish

EOG Addicted
I left Chicago for the West Coast in the mid-1980's and I never got a chance to meet Danny's brother, Harry Teinowitz.

He turned out to be a real character.
Yes he is. Harry had a drinking problem. He is now sober. Wrote a play called "When Harry Met Rehab" that was playing in Chicago. Melissa Gilbert was in it.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Yes he is. Harry had a drinking problem. He is now sober. Wrote a play called "When Harry Met Rehab" that was playing in Chicago. Melissa Gilbert was in it.

Glad to hear Harry is sober.

Dad was rotten rich.

Sometimes privilege pays a price.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Saturday was a sad day for me. i have many good memories of Arlington spanning nearly 50 years. From the annual family trip as a kid in the early 70’s betting Pat Day and Earlie Fires for $2 a race. Driving my 1961 VW Beetle down from Milwaukee in the late 70’s and not having enough money left to pay the tolls on the way home. The First Arlington Million and the EOG days at races. Had some really good times and will miss the opportunity of taking my 3 grandsons for a day at the track. RIP Arlington Park and fuck Churchill Downs.

My comment has little to do with the industry as a whole. Its about CHDN and their attempts to move away from horse racing because it is losing profitability. Whether its dying or not I have an opinion but I'll let others debate it. CHDN saw that they didn't make much off anything but Kentucky Derby weekend and the racetracks that have casinos. They are going to underinvest or sell racetracks going forward, they are putting lipstick on the pig with the investments in Kentucky Derby. Those are just trying to extract more money from corporate types, they don't grow or sustain the racing industry. I would think a lot of you would have figured this out already, but seems people can't resist sending money to CHDN when they are quietly working to screw over most of the industry.

Churchill Downs will host Arlington Million Day on Saturday, August 13.

The password is (in a hushed tone): DISINGENUOUS.
 
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