by Frank Angst

Confident that horsemen will support a longer meeting, Arlington Park plans to ask for more racing dates in 2008 when it submits requests to the Illinois Racing Board at the end of the month.

While track officials are meeting with horsemen to determine a specific schedule, Arlington Park President Roy Arnold said the suburban Chicago track could request dates extending from the first week of May into November. Such a schedule would allow the track to start the week of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and continue through the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

“Chicago is a baseball town and people there are used to the rhythm of that season with spring training in March, opening day in April, then the post-season in October,” Arnold said. “We think we could do something similar in starting with the bang of Derby week, have Arlington Million [Stakes (G1)] day in summer, and then some Breeders’ Cup prep races of our own.”

Arnold added that he would like to see more than one season of racing dates awarded at a time, which would allow the track to do more long-term marketing.

“We would like to add some more stakes, even some more Grade 1 races to our summer schedule,” Arnold said. “Chicago is a great racing town and we want to give people something to get excited about.”

Arlington’s scheduled 94-day meeting this year began on May 4 and will continue through September 16. The first six weeks of the meet offered four-day race weeks with five days planned for the rest of the meet.

The Illinois Racing Board will determine race dates in September. Last year the National Jockey Club did not apply for any racing dates. From 2003 to ’06, the National Jockey Club raced at Hawthorne Race Course after its former home, Sportsman’s Park, closed.

In 2006, Duchossois Industries Inc., headed by Arlington Park Chairman Richard Duchossois, purchased the National Jockey Club’s $28-million loan from Chicago’s Harris Bank and demanded repayment. In September, the National Jockey Club withdrew its application for a February 23-May 4 meeting.

With the uncertainty of those dates, Arnold said it is important for Arlington Park to add race dates.

“We have a lot invested in our facility and to get a return, we need a lot of dates. We don’t have a sale like Keeneland [Race Course] or some of the other tracks to build off of,” Arnold said.

Arlington has no plans to request year-round racing. It is meeting with horsemen on the best way to add dates. With horsemen’s support, the track believes it stands a better chance of the board approving more dates.

“We’re going to ask for more, we just don’t know how many more,” Arnold said.

This year, Hawthorne Race Course completed a February 23 to May 3 meeting and will race from September 21-December 31.

Frank Angst is senior writer of Thoroughbred Times