Churchill Downs Suspends All Racing
Author:
Jacob McKenzie
The heat is on: racetrack operator Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has suspended all racing activity at its Churchill Downs Racetrack in Kentucky following the deaths of multiple horses stemming from mysterious injuries. Racing was stopped on June 7th, 2023 and remain suspended until July 3rd. The remaining races were moved to Ellis Park on June 10th.
Racetrack operator Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has suspended all racing activity at its Churchill Downs Racetrack in Kentucky following the deaths of multiple horses.
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Internal Review Failed to Identify One Sole Sauce of Horse Deaths
In what is surely a blow to its reputation and bottom line, the world-famous racetrack operator Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) has revealed that it has suspended all racing activity moving forward at its Churchill Downs Racetrack in Kentucky as a result of concerns over the safety of horses at the racetrack.
As of writing, racing was put on complete hold starting from June 7th, 2023 and will remain suspended through the remainder of the Spring Meet until July 3rd. The remaining races that make up the meet were moved over to Ellis Park on June 10th, 2023.
The decision of suspending all races at the CDI Racetrack was arrived at after an unusual number of mysterious horse injuries took place over the previous month, ultimately resulting in the death of 12 horses.
An internal review and investigations by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) was unable to confirm a single causal factor for this sudden spike in horse injuries and fatalities.
Diagnostic testing of the racetrack also failed to find any issues, concluding that the track’s surface was consistent according to prior measurements in previous years. Be that as it may, even though no major issues were flagged, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) still chose to relocate the meet so that it could carry out a full review of all safety and surface protocols and integrity measures.
Churchill Downs is Taking Horse Deaths Very Seriously; Conducting Full Investigation
In a shared statement on the concerning news of equine injuries and deaths at the Churchill Downs Racetrack in Kentucky, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) chief executive Bill Carstanjen stressed how seriously the company takes horse safety and, despite it not finding any causes for the deaths, it would continue to review its practices:
“The team at Churchill Downs takes great pride in our commitment to safety and strives to set the highest standard in racing, consistently going above and beyond the regulations and policies that are required. What has happened at our track is deeply upsetting and absolutely unacceptable. Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent horse injuries, and though no issues have been linked to our racing surfaces or environment at Churchill Downs.”– Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI),Press Release
Carstanjen continued by noting how CDI requires more time and space to thoroughly carry out its review, while also taking pride in the fact that it was able to largely preserve the Ellis Park meet races with little to no disruption:
“We need to take more time to conduct a top-to-bottom review of all of the details and circumstances so that we can further strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols. By relocating the remainder of the meet to Ellis Park, we are able to maintain this industry ecosystem with only minor disruption.”
CDI Building Custom Horse Racing Product for DraftKings as of December 2022
In other recent Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) news, the race track and gaming operator revealed back in December 2022 that it was developing DK Horse for the sports betting giant DraftKings. For those not yet in the loop, DK Horse is an exclusive parimutuel wagering horse racing product designed specifically for DraftKings.
TwinSpires, which is CDI’s B2B subsidiary, was handed the task of building the bulk of the white-label solution for DraftKings. CDI has also provided the sportsbook giant with the parimutuel wagering rights to content it owns or controls, such as the highly recognizable brands Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby.
Speaking on the matter was Jason Robins, CEO and chairman of the board of DraftKings, who sees the partnership between Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) and the sportsbook operator as potentially opening up the path to it winning many new horse racing fans:
“We are excited to collaborate with Churchill Downs Incorporated, not only to give our existing customers an opportunity to engage with parimutuel horse wagering, but also to acquire new customers efficiently during marquee horse racing moments. Due to the structure of the agreement, we expect this new product offering to be immediately profitable.”– Jason Robins, CEO and Chairman of the Board, DraftKings,Press Release
Meanwhile, Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said customers would have a top of the line betting experience awaiting them:
“We believe the depth and quality of our online offering through TwinSpires is unmatched in horse racing,” said CDI CEO. “We are excited to establish this relationship with DraftKings and to deliver a full end-to-end white label ADW solution that will introduce their significant base of sports betting customers to horse racing wagering.”– Bill Carstanjen, CEO, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI),Press Release
Caesars Sportsbook Set Foot into Kentucky in June 2023
Shifting over to more recent news – just recently in June 2023, Caesars Sportsbook announced partnerships with Keeneland and Red Mile racetracks ahead of the launch of sports betting in Kentucky.
The sportsbook operator won access to mobile sports betting in the state as a result of the deals. Retail run brick-and-mortar retail sports betting locations throughout Central Kentucky will also be developed thanks to the agreements.
Eric Hession, president of Caesars Digital, championed the racetracks’ respectable position in the state:
“Keeneland and Red Mile are iconic horse racing venues with an important legacy in the state of Kentucky. Customers in the region have long enjoyed our world-class Caesars destinations and, most recently, our horse racing wagering app, Caesars Racebook. Working with these historic institutions provides an unmatched opportunity to reach sports and racing fans in the state, and we look forward to working with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission as we prepare to launch later this year.”
