Churchill Downs and Keeneland Joint Venture Applies to Build $125 Million Racing Facility in Oak Grove, Kentucky
Proposed 2019 Standardbred Meet to be Hosted at old Louisville Downs Venue, with Future Meets to be Held at New Racing Facility in Oak Grove, Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (September 4, 2018) – WKY Development, LLC – a joint venture between Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) and Keeneland Association Inc. (“Keeneland”) – filed an application today with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (“KHRC”) requesting live standardbred racing dates at CDI’s old Louisville Downs racing venue located at Derby City Gaming (DCG) in Louisville for 2019 and in 2020 at its proposed venue in Oak Grove (Christian County).
This historic partnership between CDI and Keeneland is designed to strengthen and grow the standardbred racing circuit in Kentucky following last year’s closure of Thunder Ridge racetrack in Prestonsburg.
The application is for a 10-day standardbred race meet in 2019 at CDI’s old Louisville Downs racing venue located at Derby City Gaming in Louisville. If approved, CDI and Keeneland will solely fund these purses as there has been no prior pari-mutuel activity to generate purse revenue for this meet.
The 2019 meet is a critical, short-term measure to support the standardbred racing circuit and bridge the gap to future races in 2020 at the new Oak Grove racing venue.
If approved by the KHRC, beginning in 2020, live standardbred racing would permanently move to the proposed Oak Grove venue in Christian County raising the profile of the Kentucky circuit and building larger purses in the process.
“Reissuing the Thunder Ridge racetrack license to Churchill Downs and Keeneland for immediate use is the right and responsible thing to do for Kentucky’s horse racing industry,” said Kevin Flanery, President of Churchill Downs Racetrack. “The closure of Thunder Ridge racetrack was a significant hit to horse racing in the Commonwealth, but Churchill Downs and Keeneland are stepping up to address it and ensure the continuation of a strong racing circuit.”
“Bringing standardbred racing to Louisville in 2019 and then to Christian County in 2020 and beyond is critical to maintain Kentucky’s preeminent status as the horse racing capital of the world,” said Vince Gabbert, Vice President and COO of Keeneland. “We are optimistic the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will approve our application to ensure the standardbred horse racing circuit continues to thrive in the Commonwealth.”
The proposed facility in Oak Grove represents a $125MM economic development project for Christian County, creating nearly 400 direct full and part time equivalent positions and an estimated 800 direct construction jobs. Aspects of the project include a historical racing machine facility featuring up to 1,500 machines, a 125-room hotel with event center and food/beverage venues, a 1,200-person capacity grandstand and event space for indoor events, a 3,000-person capacity outdoor amphitheater and stage, and a state-of-the-art equestrian center including indoor and outdoor arenas.
About Keeneland Association Inc.
For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. As the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction company, Keeneland conducts sales every January, September and November. Its sales graduates dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. In 2015, Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses, and it has donated millions of dollars in charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more about Keeneland, visit Keeneland.com.
About Churchill Downs Incorporated
Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event – The Kentucky Derby. We own and operate Derby City Gaming, a historical racing machine facility in Louisville, Kentucky. We also own and operate the largest online horse racing wagering platform in the U.S., TwinSpires.com, and we operate sports betting and iGaming through our BetAmerica platform in multiple states. We are also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.
Information set forth in this news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”), which provides certain “safe harbor” provisions. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are made pursuant to the Act. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit; additional or increased taxes and fees; public perceptions or lack of confidence in the integrity of our business or any deterioration in our reputation; loss of key or highly skilled personnel; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; general risks related to real estate ownership, including fluctuations in market values and environmental regulations; catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches; inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; increases in insurance costs and inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future; inability to identify and complete acquisition, expansion or divestiture projects, on time, on budget or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; costs and uncertainties relating to the development of new venues and expansion of existing facilities; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; inadvertent infringement of the intellectual property of others; inability to protect our own intellectual property rights; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card and debit card use; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or applicable money-laundering regulations; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; inability to negotiate agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; work stoppages and labor issues; changes in consumer preferences with respect to Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; weather and other conditions affecting our ability to conduct live racing; the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks and public health threats, including the ongoing impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 virus); changes in the regulatory environment of our racing operations; increased competition in the horseracing business; difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of horses and trainers for full field horseraces; our inability to utilize and provide totalizator services; changes in regulatory environment of our online horseracing business; number of people wagering on live horse races; increase in competition in our online horseracing; uncertainty and changes in the legal landscape relating to our online wagering business; continued legalization of online sports betting and iGaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization; inability to expand our sports betting operations and effectively compete; failure to manage risks associated with sports betting; failure to comply with laws requiring us to block access to certain individuals could result in penalties or impairment with respect to our mobile and online wagering products; increased competition in our casino business; changes in regulatory environment of our casino business; and concentration and evolution of slot machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; and inability to collect gaming receivables from the customers to whom we extend credit.
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Relations & Risk Management
Phone: (502) 394-1157
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