At age 78, Richard Duchossois is long past the age when most businessmen retire. Yet the chairman of Arlington International Racecourse, who recently signed a deal to merge Arlington with Churchill Downs Inc., is still planning for the future.

Richard L. Duchossois

Birthdate: October 7, 1921
birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Residence: Barrington Hills, Illinois
Family: Judi McKeage (wife); two sons, (Craig, Bruce); two daughters (Dayle, Kimberly)
Education: Morgan Park Military Academy; Washington and Lee University
Businesses: President, Thrall Car Manufacturing Co.; Chamberlain Manufacturing Corp.; founder, chief executive officer, Duchossois Industries Inc.; Quad City Downs; Hill 'N Dale Farm
Racing position: Chairman, Arlington International Racecourse
Member of: Jockey Club (1987); former president, Illinois Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Foundation
Awards: Purple Heart, Bronze Star; tank commander, major in army; honorary Doctor of Laws, Washington and Lee University (1991); American Jockey Club's Gold Medal (1986); Special Sovereign Award (1988); Lord Derby Award, Horserace Writers and Reporters Association of Great Britain; inducted into Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association Hall of Fame, Chicago Sports Hall of Fame (1989); Man of the Year, Jockeys' Guild; Special Eclipse Award (1989)
Best horses bred and/or raced: Dallas, Explosive Darling, Explosive Kate, Propos (Arg), Seattle Kat, Secretaridge, Southjet, Vernon Castle

Duchossois, who will remain as Arlington's chairman, can envision a day within the next few years when the suburban Chicago track hosts a Breeders' Cup championship day. He also can see Churchill-in which his family's Duchossois Industries Inc. will be the largest shareholder-possibly adding more racetracks to its powerful stable. And Duchossois, a longtime widower who remarried earlier this year, even has his eye on buying Hawthorne Race Course so that it also could serve as a training center when Arlington is running race meetings. An energetic man who has endured two major heart bypass operations, Duchossois rose to the top of his late wife Beverly's family's business at age 30 and propelled it into a $1-billion-a-year conglomerate that makes railroad cars, howitzers, garage doors, and electronic components.

He did not see his first horse race until 1955, when he attended the match between Swaps and Nashua at Chicago's Washington Park. More than ten years later, his son Bruce's interest in horses led him to buy racehorses. He purchased Arlington in 1983.

After the track burned down in 1985, Duchossois said he wished someone else had owned it because he had been ready to retire and play golf. Instead, the fire "whetted my appetite for a challenge," and he rebuilt the track on a grand scale and became more active than ever in lobbying for tax reductions for Illinois racing and for Arlington in particular.

Riverboat casinos came into the area after he spent $200-million to rebuild the track, and believing he needed further tax breaks to compete-and not getting them-he shut Arlington down in 1997. He refused to reopen until he did get a tax relief bill-and permission for a riverboat casino to open in nearby Rosemont that would pump revenue into racing-passed in 1999. That measure now is being challenged in the courts.

While preparing for the Arlington Million Stakes (G1) on August 19, Duchossois held court at the track for racing officials from around the world. Between hosting a reception in the Turf Club and rushing out to his Hill 'N Dale Farm in Barrington, Illinois, to see "that the windows had been washed" for a party the night before the race, Duchossois took a few minutes to talk about racing with Michele MacDonald, Thoroughbred Times news editor.

Thoroughbred Times:this has been a landmark year for you and Arlington, with the reopening of the track, the first $2-million running of the Arlington Million and the first American race as part of the Emirates World Series Racing Championship, the pending merger with Churchill Downs, and your remarriage. What are your feelings about what you and Arlington have been through, where you stand today, and what the future holds?
Richard Duchossois: "We've been through a tremendous amount. We now in Illinois have racing reform, which allows us to be competitive, not necessarily with the riverboats, but to be competitive in our own field of endeavor, be competitive with other racetracks.

"Many things have brought that about, not only the legislation and racing reform but our ability now to work with other tracks through the consolidation that is going on within the industry. The whole industry is very rapidly changing. The electronic revolution has taken about four or five years, but we have seen this thing coming a long time ago. We knew, under the old rules and regulations, there was no way we could compete. We needed racing reform to do it. ...

"This is the third-largest media market in North America, and 80% of all pari-mutuel wagering today is through simulcasting. So how do you develop your product to have the finest racing and then be able to distribute that product? That's only done through consolidation within the industry. We're part of that consolidation.

"The future is going to be limited by our imagination and our ability and willingness to take risks. We think the sky is the limit if we do it in a businesslike basis, but we must stay ahead of the curve; we must know what is happening in the way of the electronic revolution that has come about. If we once let ourselves start slipping, we'll get behind the curve. And once we're behind the curve, we probably will never catch up."

TT: Arlington was closed for two years while you were trying to get the legislation passed. Looking back, was that the best move? Do you have any regrets?
Duchossois: "If we had not closed, we wouldn't be open today. It was something that had to be done. ...

"We don't look back. We can't go back and redo things that already have been done. If we keep looking back long enough, we're going to run into a wall in front of us because we're not going to see it. So, we're looking at the future, which is unlimited."

TT: What is your expectation on the Rosemont casino litigation, and if the casino opens, what do you think its impact will be on racing in Illinois?
Duchossois: "We think it will have a positive impact. Obviously, the casino is going to draw more money away, but the casino (through its revenues for racing) will have a positive impact not just for Arlington but for our entire industry.

"Many people have said 'That's an Arlington law.' It's not an Arlington law. We're going to participate in a very small portion of that. The entire Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries are going to benefit. "I have no crystal ball, but most of these things (in litigation) do work out. We're optimistic. I don't know when (the casino will open), but I believe it will happen."

TT: Some have criticized you and alleged that negotiations occurred between you and Tom Meeker of Churchill Downs beginning in 1998. They have charged that part of the reason you lobbied so hard for the legislation was so that you could get a better price in the deal with Churchill Downs. When did you begin negotiations with Churchill Downs and how did they unfold?
Duchossois: "It was one legislator (who was outspoken in criticism), who was running for reelection this fall, who was completely off base, didn't understand what the overall situation was, and he was wrong. It's an election year; everyone needs an issue.

"We began negotiations, I believe, it was probably October (1999), s