Historic Arlington Park could close this year as owners put track up for sale

Top US trainer Chad Brown has expressed his disappointment that the owners of Arlington Park – one of the most historic and storied tracks in America – have put the Chicago venue up for sale.

Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) on Tuesday launched a process to sell the 326-acre site in Illinois that has hosted racing since 1927 and welcomed some of the sport's biggest names, including legendary Triple Crown hero Secretariat, who followed his record-breaking Belmont Stakes win in 1973 by romping to victory in the track's Arlington Invitational.

Citation, Cigar and John Henry are other equine superstars to have graced the course, which came under the control of CDI in 2000.

The company is committed to staging racing at the track from April 30 to September 25, but its chief executive, Bill Carstanjen, said: "Arlington's ideal location in Chicago's north-west suburbs, together with direct access to downtown Chicago via an onsite Metra rail station, presents a unique redevelopment opportunity. We expect to see robust interest in the site and look forward to working with potential buyers, in collaboration with the village of Arlington Heights, to transition this storied location to its next phase."

Chad Brown: trainer left disappointed by CDI decision

Carstanjen added CDI was "committed to pursuing the relocation of Arlington's racing licence to another community in the Chicagoland area or elsewhere in the state", but Brown described the news as a blow.

The trainer, a four-time winner of the Arlington Million, which was inaugurated in 1981 and framed as the first race to offer a purse of that size, posted on Twitter: "So incredibly sad.

"Not only is Arlington one of the most beautiful tracks in the world, it also has an amazing team of employees who are passionate about racing. I've experienced many special moments here … another avoidable ending to a treasured track."

Arlington, which lost its showpiece meeting last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2002 and has been a profitable destination for European raiders with Aidan O'Brien, John Gosden and Sir Michael Stoute among those to have enjoyed top-level success there.

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