It's for Real - Arlington is Officially For Sale

[cutchemist42]

Sad to hear, heard it was a great facility.

[westernmassbob]

Originally Posted by cutchemist42

Sad to hear, heard it was a great facility.

I know a lot of horse players who have visited AP and say the facility was top notch. They also stated it is one of the most boring tracks out there. I guess similar to an Emerald Downs product with a lot of merry go round type of races. Nonetheless another track gone forever is never a good thing. I wish anyone involved with that track the best.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by cj

Bay Meadows couldn 't afford to put in a synthetic track, petitioned to run on dirt, but it was denied by the CHRB. They basically forced it to close and of course we know how synthetics in California turned out. Point is they didn't close because it was a dirt track. It was because they weren't allowed to remain a dirt track.

That’s a huge difference looking back.

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by westernmassbob

I know a lot of horse players who have visited AP and say the facility was top notch. They also stated it is one of the most boring tracks out there. I guess similar to an Emerald Downs product with a lot of merry go round type of races. Nonetheless another track gone forever is never a good thing. I wish anyone involved with that track the best.

Gorgeous track, top-notch customer service, spotless, food is great, just fantastic. Was there once in 2014 and again in 2018.

Even this mediocre horseplayer (me) was surprised by how underwhelming the racing quality was.

[elhelmete]

2014.

The first time I visited, I was in CHI for work and I was supposed to meet up with someone I knew from another track (names being left out to protect the innocent LOL).

Turned out he couldn't make it, but he left tickets to his family box at will call for me.

Well, Chicago being Chicago...his family was pretty well...ummm...known. I kinda had heard rumors but whatever...

I sat in the box for the day, alone, as a "friend of _____"

I got REALLY good service that day, and a few sideways glances.

[olddaddy]

The synthetic track also hurt grass racing at Arlington. They take races off the grass if someone spits. Maybe this wouldnt be the case if it was dirt. The grass course is one of the best in america.

[The_Turf_Monster]

There was no way around this and every party is to blame from the track to CDI to the horsemen to our dysfunctional leadership in Springfield

Then again, I’ll believe it’s closed when I see it torn down. We are talking about a track that gave up its racing dates for a summer out of a temper tantrum

[Parkview_Pirate]

As an on-again, off-again resident of the Land of Lincoln, it's my opinion that the Illinois Horseman's Association, or more accurately the ITHA has had a lot to do with the decline of racing in the state. Their greed and ignorance of competing gambling dollars has been present, early and often, in the negotiation of dates and simulcasting signals, and led to a number of us (at least myself) to boycott Illinois racing.

AP is a top-notch facility, but but certainly the AWT surface made it a much tougher bet, and wasn't necessary considering the summertime racing dates. As a player who cut his teeth on Illinois racing back in the 80's at Fairmount, the Quad Cities, Balmoral, Hawthorne, Maywood, Arlington and even the fair circuit, it's amazing to me how far the sport has declined - and at times seemingly pushed down the stairs by quite a few of the insiders.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised - just a reflection of the political machines in the state.

[The_Turf_Monster]

The ITHA played a lot into the decline in the product but let’s not forget that recapture played a big role in this. Not only is it non standard in the industry, it became yet another way for Hawthorne to side with the horsemen while AP threw the many of its temper tantrums. On the other hand, AP legitimately tried multiple times to make the horsemen that routinely shipped their horses out of state to run to run where they trained.....and we aren’t talking about shipping out for stakes races. AP still has the best training track in the Midwest and it was exploited at AP’s expense so horses can ship to CBY, IND, and PRM to get the slots purses. They’ll all feel the ripple effect of this

At the end of the day, Illinois Racing is better without CDI and worse without AP. The horsemen are going to be sorely disappointed when HAW’s casino complex isn’t putting the amount of money into the purse account as expected because if we aren’t already over saturated with gaming in Illinois, we will be when Chicago works out whatever dysfunction is causing a casino to not be open there yet. I already probably drive by 1,000 slot machines on my trip to Hawthorne and it’s only 10 minutes away

[Redbullsnation]

Oh boy. We're in trouble...

[tbwinner]

Originally Posted by Parkview_Pirate

As an on-again, off-again resident of the Land of Lincoln, it's my opinion that the Illinois Horseman's Association, or more accurately the ITHA has had a lot to do with the decline of racing in the state. Their greed and ignorance of competing gambling dollars has been present, early and often, in the negotiation of dates and simulcasting signals, and led to a number of us (at least myself) to boycott Illinois racing.

AP is a top-notch facility, but but certainly the AWT surface made it a much tougher bet, and wasn't necessary considering the summertime racing dates. As a player who cut his teeth on Illinois racing back in the 80's at Fairmount, the Quad Cities, Balmoral, Hawthorne, Maywood, Arlington and even the fair circuit, it's amazing to me how far the sport has declined - and at times seemingly pushed down the stairs by quite a few of the insiders.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised - just a reflection of the political machines in the state.

AGREE!!! And the ITHA leadership was quick to cave in all circumstances (like the 2012 signal dispute) and couldn't rally the base!!! Mike Campbell has also been a blowhard mouthpiece who loved being a David versus Goliath. They could've used some real leadership in there and maybe done much better. I know CDI is easy to hate but this is sad, sad, sad --- and maybe could've been prevented.

[tbwinner]

It is kinda comical the trainers that never could adapt to the AP polytrack. Some trainers year over year like Rivelli made FOOLS of everyone else by utilizing tactics over the polytrack correctly. It is amazing how many jockeys used the "Stranglehold" method on their horses there...and it never worked out for them.

One trainer told a friend of mine, "The damn polytrack F**KED up all my horses" the first or second year he was there...and he never thought to do anything else to improve his stock.

[tbwinner]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

While I don't doubt there's truth to this, it's also a bit weird. Handicappers should welcome things that make the game more difficult, because these are the sorts of things that produce betting angles.

Agree. There were always some horses that had a preference for polytrack and "popped" coming off the dirt. Of course you just need to find one that is fit, and against a false favorite to extract any value. Hard to do sometimes in 6 horse fields.

[The_Turf_Monster]

Originally Posted by tbwinner

It is kinda comical the trainers that never could adapt to the AP polytrack. Some trainers year over year like Rivelli made FOOLS of everyone else by utilizing tactics over the polytrack correctly. It is amazing how many jockeys used the "Stranglehold" method on their horses there...and it never worked out for them.

One trainer told a friend of mine, "The damn polytrack F**KED up all my horses" the first or second year he was there...and he never thought to do anything else to improve his stock.

I really wouldn’t use Rivelli as a shining example of adaptation but to each his own. His horses would fire on any surface

[wisconsin]

I never heard, but guy at work said Barstool Sports reported the Penn Gaming showing interest.