Churchill sells Ellis
 

Wow....Churchill sells Ellis according to DRF. Ron Geary who is a retired Louisville businessman bought Ellis...I wounder if this will help Ellis Park, since Churchill didn't put as much effort into it as some of their other tracks....People betting with Twin Spires cards looks like they will now be getting 2 points per dollar instead of 4 haha

Could have called this months ago...they took a loss on the place but they have been wanting to sell that joint for YEARS.....

Yeah this was just a matter of time. This will free up some cash for their NYR bid. But Churchill will lobby the state for more racing dates. Churchill wants to go all the way until Turfway starts, then to Keeneland and back to Churchill and then to Turfway.

If this was to happen it would really hurt Arlington....

Please, pray tell, what effort would that be?

I was thinking the same thing. I'd say Arlington might be the next up for sale, but Duchossois is one of the biggest CDI shareholders.

I'm not really sure why Ellis exists. Why not build a track somewhere where its going to be 95 degrees with 90% humidity, right on the Ohio River, in an area where there really isn't a massive population base? The idea really never made sense.

I see in the DRF that both are going to ask for July 4 racing dates (among others). What a nightmare. I hope the Kentucky Racing Commission is smart enough to not have them running simultaneously. They did it around 10 years ago when the meets overlapped and the bettors really got screwed as all of Ellis' fields were small and CD's field sizes were also hurt.

didn't they just rebuild the entire grandstand?

Grandstand hasn't been rebuilt yet.

As for the arrogance of why Ellis exists.....well I guess I won't dive into it, but Kentucky loves their horses.

I don't think its arrogance; just practicality. Its not like the greater Evansville area is a massive metropolis.

You fail to realize that the track was opened in 1922. With very limited transportation, horsemen look for places to move their horses from and to in a local matter. Thats where you have 6 tracks that stretch from Cincinnati to St. Louis. You complain about the 90 degree weather with 95% humidity. I guess CD shouldn't be open then either or Cincy tracks, and Fairmount also. Should I include the Texas and Louisiana tracks also; Colonial Downs in VA? I guess 250,000+ in the area is not good enough to hold a track. Heck less than that use to hold a AAA ball club at one time.

Now for the reported losses. Maybe with this new ownership that Customer Service might actually might exist. Something that doesn't even exist at CD.

Sorry to step on your toes re: the Evansville area, but it is NOT anywhere as big as Cincinnati, St. Louis or Louisville, which house the tracks you said you thought I should've wanted to close.

There's too many damn tracks. Do we need Great Lakes Downs, Indiana Downs, Beulah and Fairmount? For the good of the game, we need less tracks, not more.

I gotta stand up for my home track here. Well, I am going to talk out of both sides of my mouth. We have 3 t-bred tracks in Ohio, one in each of the big 3 cities. Beulah Park is a very depressing place except for the Paddock area which is quite nice. It has been around for close to 100 years, I think the 1920's. I don't know, I just hate to see my home track go away. Improvements are needed no doubt.

This made no sense, what I just said. I just rambled.

"Sorry to step on your toes re: the Evansville area, but it is NOT anywhere as big as Cincinnati, St. Louis or Louisville, which house the tracks you said you thought I should've wanted to close."




Hey, you made the comment about the 95 degree weather with 90% humidity.

Its big enough to house and been doing so since 1922. CD got what they wanted. They got the 4th of July, now they sold it. Too bad the new owners wants to race on the 4th again.

I, myself would prefer 2 weeks of turf racing, and then use it as a training center, along with keeping the simulcast for the rest of the year

Where the f8ck have you been?

Been too busy dude. Work, football ready to start, and golf tournaments.

But we lost are Baseball coach, who now is heading to Notre Dame. bummer!

A city's population has nothing to do with a track these days. Most tracks are barren on race days to begin with. Most of the wagering is from on-line and simulcast people.