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Location | Prescott Valley, Arizona, United States |
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Coordinates | 34°38′47″N112°16′51″W / 34.646471°N 112.280852°W |
Owned by | Dave Auther Tom Auther Mike Auther |
Operated by | J&J Equine Enterprises LLC |
Date opened | 1959 |
Race type | Thoroughbred Quarter horse |
Course type | Flat |
Official website |
Arizona Downs (formerly known as Yavapai Downs, is a horse racing track in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. Formerly known as Yavapai Downs, it last conducted regular races in 2010 and resumed a shortened season of live racing in 2019. Following the COVID pandemic, Arizona Downs ran a mixed Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred race meet in the summer from 2020-2022 and did not race its typical summer meet in 2023 due to financial difficulties. [1]
The original track, was built on the old Rodeo Grounds in Prescott in 1959. It ran race meetings until 2000. Because the original track had no room for expansion, a new track was built in nearby Prescott Valley. That track was named Yavapai Downs, after the Native American Tribe and the county it was located in. It held race meets from 2000 to 2010 and declared bankruptcy in 2011. [2]
In 2013, Gary Miller of Scottsdale purchased the property for $5.5 Million, after an earlier bid of $3.25 Million was rejected by the USDA. The newly renamed PV Speedway opened for the 2014 season, but the Yavapai Downs horse racing track never resumed operation. In mid-2014, Miller put the property back up for sale for an asking price of $7.45 Million. His attempts to sell were unsuccessful, and in March 2015 Miller filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and all operations at the property ceased.[ citation needed ]
In 2018, the facility was purchased for $3.22 million in bankruptcy court by J&J Equine Enterprises LLC. It was announced on June 20 that the facility would reopen under the new name of Arizona Downs, with the intent to resume simulcasting later in the summer and live racing in the summer of 2019. [1] Arizona Downs has expanded its footprint in Arizona by opening off track betting locations in Flagstaff, Pinetop Lake Havasu City and two OTB sites in Phoenix.
The newly renovated Arizona Downs had its grand opening on May 24, 2019. [3]
Revenues for the reopened track were reduced when the industry's biggest video company Monarch Content Management, refused to sell its simulcasts to Arizona Downs. Monarch officials have said in addition to the Prescott Valley operation not fitting their business plan, and they want no dealings with the track because of a prior legal dispute with former partner Cory Johnson.
Lawmakers passed a bill requiring Monarch and all signal providers to provide equal access or no access to all simulcast signals to all licensed permittee's in the state. That measure, Arizona House Bill 2547 (“HB 2547”) was signed by Gov. Doug Ducey on June 7, and went into effect Aug. 27, 2019.
On August 9, 2019 Monarch filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law from going into effect. [4]
On December 20, 2019, a request for a preliminary injunction filed by Monarch was denied. Monarch failed to show a likelihood that they would succeed on the merits of any of their claims.
On December 19, 2023 the Arizona Racing Commission revoked the live racing permit for Arizona Downs, citing financial difficulties. [5]
Beulah Park was Ohio's first thoroughbred racetrack and premier event center, offering live thoroughbred racing from October through to early May. The track also offered Quarter Horse racing on select days throughout the season, with the most notable races occurring in mid-October with three AQHA graded stakes. Located seven miles outside Columbus, Beulah Park was open seven days a week for simulcast wagering. It was also known for the Beulah Park Twins, who were the simulcast hosts from 1997 to 2009.
Bally's Dover Casino Resort, formerly Dover Downs, is a hotel, casino, and racetrack complex in Dover, Delaware. It has a .625-mile (1.006 km) harness horse racing track, which is surrounded by Dover Motor Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete track used for NASCAR motor racing events. The complex is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Bally's Corporation, excluding the motor racing circuit, which is owned by Speedway Motorsports.
Suffolk Downs is a former Thoroughbred race track in East Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The track opened in 1935 after being built by Joseph A. Tomasello for a cost of $2 million. It was sold in May 2017 to a developer who plans to create housing and a shopping district. The final day of live racing at the track was June 30, 2019, with the facility hosting simulcast race wagering thereafter. The only remaining live horse racing in Massachusetts is at Plainridge Park Casino, which has harness racing.
Canterbury Park, is a horse racing track in Shakopee, Minnesota, United States. Canterbury Park Holding Corporation hosts parimutuel wagering on live thoroughbred and quarter horse racing at its facilities in Shakopee and parimutuel wagering on races held at out-of-state racetracks that are simulcast to the racetrack. In addition, the Canterbury Park Card Casino operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is also regulated by the Minnesota Racing Commission. Casino games include blackjack, baccarat, Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, and poker. Canterbury Park also derives revenue from related services and activities, such as concessions, parking, admissions, and programs, and from other entertainment events held at the racetrack. Furthermore, Canterbury Park is pursuing a strategy to enhance shareholder value by developing approximately 140 acres of underutilized land surrounding the racetrack in a project known as Canterbury Commons. The company is pursuing several mixed-use development opportunities for the underutilized land, directly and through joint ventures.
Kentucky Downs is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, in the city of Franklin, Kentucky, just off Interstate 65. It is unique among American tracks in that it is a European-style course—its surface is all turf (grass) instead of dirt, and it is not oval in shape.
Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located within the city limits of Florence, Kentucky, about 10 miles (16 km) south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), and Winter/Spring —and offers year-round simulcast wagering from tracks across the continent.
Golden Gate Fields is an American horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Eastshore Freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the closing of the Bay Meadows racetrack on May 11, 2008, it became the only major Thoroughbred racetrack in Northern California. It is currently owned by The Stronach Group.
Turf Paradise is a thoroughbred and quarter horse racetrack located at 19th Avenue and Bell Road, in the Deer Valley section of Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. It opened in 1956.
Ellis Park is a thoroughbred racetrack near Henderson, Kentucky, just south of Evansville, Indiana. It is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated. While the track is located north of the Ohio River that forms the border between Kentucky and Indiana, which would put it within Indiana, the border is based on the course of the river at the time Kentucky became a state in 1792.
The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles.
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races is a casino, hotel and thoroughbred horse racing complex located in Charles Town, West Virginia, 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Washington D.C. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn Entertainment.
Stronach Group, doing business as 1/ST, is an entertainment and real estate company in North America with Thoroughbred horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core.
Churchill Downs Incorporated is the parent company of Churchill Downs. The company has evolved from one racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, to a multi American-state-wide, publicly traded company with racetracks, casinos and an online wagering company among its portfolio of businesses.
Belterra Park, formerly known as River Downs, is a racino located in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, just outside the southeast limits of Cincinnati. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Boyd Gaming.
Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino is a racetrack in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, just east of Opelousas. It is owned and operated by Boyd Gaming. With a one-mile oval track, the facility provides close to 1,000 horse stalls for Thoroughbred flat racing and American Quarter Horse racing. The original track opened on April 28, 1966 at Carencro, Louisiana and remained there until 2005 when it moved to Opelousas, Louisiana.
Hazel Park Raceway, located in Hazel Park, Michigan, in the metropolitan Detroit area, was a horse race track. From 1949 it offered live thoroughbred racing every Friday and Saturday night May through mid-September, and also offered harness racing. Beginning in 1996, it offered simulcast wagering seven days a week all year long on thoroughbred and harness races from across the US and Canada. Admission and parking were free. For a period, this was the only track in Michigan to offer live thoroughbred racing.
Rosecroft Raceway, nicknamed the "Raceway by the Beltway" for being close to Interstate 495, is a harness racing track in Fort Washington, Maryland. It first opened in 1949 and was owned by William E. Miller, a horse trainer and breeder. Rosecroft quickly became Prince George's County's political and social center, drawing thousands of people there each racing day. In the early 1950s, average attendance was more than 7,000 per day. After Miller died in 1954, his son John owned Rosecroft until his death in 1969. Rosecroft hosted memorial stake races annually for both William and John until 1995. Following the death of John Miller, Earle Brown controlled operations until he moved to a different position in 1980; William E. Miller II took over following Brown.
Eureka Downs was an American horse racing track located near U.S. Route 54 in Eureka, Greenwood County, Kansas. Run by the Greenwood County Fair Association, the facility hosted Standardbred harness racing, American Quarter Horse, and Thoroughbred flat racing events.
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Retama Park is a class 1 pari-mutuel horse racetrack located in Selma, Texas, United States, that opened in 1995. Live quarter horse races meet July to September. Simulcast racing is shown year-round. The track is owned by the Retama Development Corporation and managed by Penn Entertainment.