Throughout the competitive bidding process, JACK Entertainment held fast to the belief that the new owner of Turfway Park must be dedicated to keeping the historic racing institution a strong part of the Northern Kentucky racing community,\u201d Dunkeson said. \u201cWe know that Churchill Downs has Turfway\u2019s best interests in mind and will ensure that Turfway remains an exceptional facility that is well positioned to carry on the rich history of thoroughbred racing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In a statement to Casino.org<\/em>, Hard Rock, which had planned to invest up to $100 million in the track, said selling to Churchill Downs instead is also in its best interests.<\/p>\n\u201cGiven the market dynamics, coupled with Hard Rock\u2019s unprecedented growth, we believe the best course of action is to sell the property to Churchill Downs,\u201d the company said. \u201cHard Rock wishes Churchill Downs well with Turfway Park and is looking forward to focusing on our multiple casino expansions and openings in Cincinnati, Tampa, Hollywood, Sacramento and others that have been recently announced in Indiana and Illinois.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘First-Class Facility’<\/h2>\n KHRC board members have long been critical of the lack of investment –\u00a0 in particular, the lack of HHR machines – at Turfway Park. The sale to Churchill would resolve those concerns for the track, located in one of Kentucky’s major population centers and part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, with more than 2.1 million people. It’s also a market with three full-fledged casinos and two racinos that compete with Turfway for gaming dollars.<\/p>\n
If the KHRC approves the sale, Turfway would run its December-March meet as usual, according to the Churchill Downs release. After that, workers would demolish the existing grandstand and begin work on the new facility.<\/p>\n
CDI expects the project to create 800 construction jobs and up to 400 jobs at the track once the work is complete.<\/p>\n
Kentucky state Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) told Casino.org<\/em> the deal was a good resolution for all stakeholders. The northern Kentucky lawmaker, whose district includes Turfway, also serves as the chairman for the state House Licensing, Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee that oversees horse racing.<\/p>\n\u201cChurchill has committed to a first-class facility and keep our race dates in northern Kentucky while increasing purses,\u201d Koenig said. “This should make most people in northern Kentucky happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turfway would be the latest in a series of Kentucky projects CDI is undertaking. Earlier this year, Churchill and Keeneland officials broke ground on a $150 million standardbred racing and HHR parlor in western Kentucky. It\u2019s also announced plans to build a hotel and HHR parlor<\/a> at the historic Louisville track, and hopes to open that by the 2021 Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) announced Thursday it reached an agreement with JACK Entertainment and Hard Rock International to purchase Turfway Park, a northern Kentucky horse track, for $46 million in cash. The transaction serves as a peace accord between the gaming companies and avoids what could have been a very contentious Kentucky Horse Racing Commission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":116382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33810,14577],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Churchill Downs to Buy Turfway Park in $46M Deal With JACK, Hard Rock<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n