CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Arlington International Racecourse on Saturday hosted its final Million Day as the suburban racetrack is up for sale. And it’s Illinois politicians who are getting blamed for the end of racing there — not the owners.
Craig Duchossois, a former Churchill Downs director, told that Daily Herald that former Gov. Jim Edgar and former House Speaker Michael Madigan killed horse racing in Illinois. Duchossois is also the son of long-time Arlington Park owner Dick Duchossois.
Duchossois, who spoke from his family’s suite at Arlington Park, called tributes at the final Million Day bittersweet.
He said 2019 legislation that brought slot machines to the park after decades of lobbying was too late.
"If they would've gotten their head out of the sand and done it five or 10 years earlier, whole different ballgame," Duchossois told the Daily Herald.
Churchill Downs put the park up for sale last February. The last day of racing there is Sept. 25.
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