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Originally Posted by ubercapper
Andy, you are 100% correct about both Colonial and Ellis Park.
In Virginia every 100 HHR machines added requires an additional race day per year. They are inextricably tied together and can't be decoupled per the law. That is why CDI has stated they will be looking to add dates to Colonial (likely as a second meeting) in the future as they will have to as they add more HHR facilities/machines in other parts of the state.
Ellis Park had already planned a big HHR satellite facility with simulcast wagering in Owensboro and CDI is going to make that happen as well as expand at Ellis Park. HHR is tied to racing in Kentucky and again, no decoupling, so with casinos in the state highly unlikely because of moral opposition by a number of rural senators/representatives, HHR is the future for making money in this state. A good chunk of that goes to purses, so that benefits the future of Ellis Park.
I've seen a lot of people opining on social media about Arlington, Hollywood Park and Calder and believing that is the play here. There is ZERO relationship because the real estate value of those in major metro areas was tremendous as compared to the value (for shareholders) of racing, and Arlington was never going to get a casino the ownership wanted in order to be competitive and add to purses.
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Right. You can add Bay Meadows to your list- in urban areas where the real estate is super-valuable, if you see a big acquisition, it's totally appropriate to ask questions about whether the track is long for this world. But if it happens in a place with lower real estate values and lower population, and the buyer is a racing operation like CD, it's far more likely that the plans include racing.
