Columbus, OH — Churchill Downs Incorporated and the New York Racing Association are suing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority “saying their costs have gotten out of hand illegally and there has been the threat of a shutdown,” according to a story on horseracingnation.com.
According to writer Ron Flatter, “the 51-page case was filed Wednesday night (Dec. 4) in Western Kentucky federal court and assigned to judge Rebecca Grady Jennings.
“CDI and NYRA believe HISA broke its own rule that says racetracks and their operators would be charged a fee based on the number of starts they host in a given year. The lawsuit said fees actually are based 50% on purses and 50% on starts. Big purses at Churchill and New York tracks then have raised fees illegally, according to the plaintiffs.”
The story reports that with CDI’s refusal to pay nearly $2 million in fees, HISA has threatened to suspend racing at Churchill Downs and Ellis Park in 2025.
“The authority has made clear that it is seeking such extreme coercive relief in this action, stating that it is seeking an order ‘directing CDI to pay $1,905,142 to the authority within twenty days of the order of the board panel, and if payment in full is not received by the authority by the date prescribed in the order, that for each day the payment is late, Churchill Downs and Ellis Park be prohibited from conducting any covered horse race to be applied immediately on the next scheduled race days at Churchill Downs and Ellis Park.”
To read the complete story on horseracingnation.com, click here.