Justify Wins the 144th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve in Front of Rain-Soaked Crowd

Highest All-Sources Wagering on Kentucky Derby Day program and Kentucky Derby race 157,813 Endure Wettest Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fans braved a steady all-day rain and the wettest Kentucky Derby ever as Justify captured the 144th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve over a sloppy track. Attendance of 157,813, was the eighth highest attendance figure in track history.

Wagering from all-sources was the highest all-time on both the Kentucky Derby Day program and on the Kentucky Derby race.

Wagering from all-sources on the Kentucky Derby Day program totaled $225.7 million, an 8% increase over the 2017 total and previous record of $209.2 million. Wagering from all-sources on the Kentucky Derby race increased 8% to $149.9 million from the previous record of $139.2 million set last year.

TRACK PRESIDENT COMMENTARY

“Congratulations to the connections of Justify on a very impressive performance to win the 144th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve,” said Kevin Flanery, President of Churchill Downs Racetrack. “We were excited to introduce our latest round of renovations and our investments in the facility continue to pay off as we strive to improve the guest experience every year. A special thanks to the Louisville Metro Police Department for their efforts to deliver our new transportation improvement plan. Thanks and congratulations to our horsemen, employees and volunteers that made this an amazing Derby and a phenomenal opening to our 2018 Spring Meet.”

BUSINESS COMMENTARY

“We are deeply grateful to all of the fans of the Kentucky Derby around the world who once again made this an amazing and memorable experience,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”). “We expect the Kentucky Derby Week Adjusted EBITDA to reflect another record with $11.0-to-$13.0 million of growth over last year.” The Adjusted EBITDA range includes approximately $2.5 million of favorability related to the adoption of the new revenue accounting standard ASC 606.

TWINSPIRES

TwinSpires, the country’s leading online and mobile betting platform and the official betting partner of the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, recorded $39.2 million in handle on Churchill Downs races for the Kentucky Derby Day program, an increase of 15% over the prior year. TwinSpires’ handle on the Kentucky Derby alone race was $24.6 million, up 18% over 2017.

DERBY WEEK

All-sources handle for Opening Night, Saturday, April 28, through Derby Day, Saturday, May 5, rose to a new record of $311.2 million, up 9% from the previous record of $285.1 million set last year. Attendance for those five days was 375,346, up 7% over 2017.

DERBY WINNER

Justify, owned by Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm, LLC, Ah King Teo’s China Horse Club, Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners, LLC, and Jack Wolf and partners’ Starlight Racing, and bred in Kentucky by John Gunther, cruised to win by two and a half lengths as the 5-2 favorite, returning $7.80 for each $2 win wager. Justify earned $1,432,000 for the victory, increasing his lifetime earnings to $2,098,000. The winner covered 1 ¼ miles over a sloppy track in 2:04.20 to remain undefeated with his fourth win in four career starts. Trainer Bob Baffert won the Kentucky Derby for the fifth time. His prior victories were with Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998, War Emblem in 2002, and American Pharoah in 2015. Jockey Mike Smith won the Kentucky Derby for the second time, winning previously on Giacomo in 2005. Justify is by Scat Daddy out of the Ghostzapper mare Stage Magic. Good Magic finished second and Audible finished third.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to the results provided in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), CDI also uses non-GAAP measures, including EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and adjusted EBITDA as described in CDI’s 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Adjusted EBITDA includes CDI's portion of the EBITDA from our equity investments.

Adjusted EBITDA excludes:

Transaction expense, net which includes:
Acquisition and disposition related charges, including fair value adjustments related to earnouts and deferred payments; and
Other transaction expense, including legal, accounting, and other deal-related expense;
Stock-based compensation expense;
Asset impairments;
Gain on Calder land sale;
Calder exit costs;
Loss on extinguishment of debt; and
Other charges, recoveries and expenses
CDI uses adjusted EBITDA as a key performance measure of the results of operations for purposes of evaluating performance internally. The measure facilitates comparison of operating performance between periods and helps investors to better understand the operating results of CDI by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of CDI’s core business or operating results. CDI believes the use of this measure enables management and investors to evaluate and compare, from period to period, CDI’s operating performance in a meaningful and consistent manner. Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental measure of our performance that is not required by, or presented in accordance with GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income (as determined in accordance with GAAP) as a measure of our operating results.

About Churchill Downs Racetrack

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, The Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated(Nasdaq: CHDN) offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 4, 2019. The track’s 2019 Spring Meet is scheduled for April 27 – June 29. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships nine times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found online at www.churchilldowns.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.

Press Contacts

Nick Zangari
Vice President, Treasury, Investor Relations & Risk Management

Tonya Abeln
Vice President, Corporate Communications

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