When did Mr. D get into bed with Churchill? Seems to me nothing good has happened under their leadership.
He sold the track to Churchill almost immediately after the 1999 Assembly had given him big tax breaks and a promise of the cut of the Rosemont casino in an effort to "save Illinois racing" by getting Arlington open again. Boy was my State Senator livid about that.
It also seems that Mr. D has maybe lost some passion for the sport. Arlington attracted some real nice horses back in the 80's & 90's.
He's certainly presided over a decline in the prestige of the Arlington meet over the years, that's for sure, but horse racing is declining almost everywhere. It sure hasn't seemed to carry the same weight as before he closed it for the two year snit fit, though. And the continual efforts to extend the meet primarily to control simulcast dates has cheapened it, too. It's sort of the Calder of the north, now.
Everything about Churchill as a horse racing company kind of went south when Meeker left and Evans took over. Meeker saw the horse racing industry as an integrated whole where all the parts depended on each other for survival, and did his best to work with the other tracks and segments. Evans is just out to screw everyone else in the name of higher profits for Churchill.
