Major US horseraces to be beamed to Ireland

Rival US racetrack operators Churchill Downs and Magna Entertainment have paired up for a simulcast agreement to beam their thoroughbred races to Ireland and Britain.

The racing companies announced yesterday that they will offer simulcasts of races from their tracks for race fans in Ireland, Britain, Austria and Germany.

The package will feature more than 230 graded stakes races for simulcasting through an Austrian-based subsidiary of Magna.

Churchill Downs, based in Louisville, owns seven tracks from coast to coast, and is the home of the Kentucky Derby.

Magna Entertainment’s racing operations also stretch nationwide, and it owns Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, home of the Preakness Stakes – the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Thomas Meeker, president and chief executive officer of Churchill Downs, said the agreement was a first step by the companies to work together in reaching out to racing fans around the world.

“By combining our racing content into one offering, we believe we have created a North American simulcast product with a level of quality and scale never before presented to European race fans,” Meeker said.

Jim McAlpine, president and chief executive of Magna Entertainment, said the deal would enhance the stature of US horse racing around the world.

He said he didn’t expect a “material financial impact in the immediate future”, but predicted that European race fans will follow a line-up of races highlighted by the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Arlington Million, Florida Derby, Hollywood Gold Cup and Santa Anita Derby.

Besides its namesake track in Louisville, Churchill Downs owns Arlington Park near Chicago; Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California; Calder Race Course in Miami; the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans; Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky; and Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana.

Besides Pimlico, Magna’s stable of tracks includes Santa Anita Park in California, Gulfstream Park in Florida and Lone Star Park in Texas, host of this year’s Breeders’ Cup.