American casino operator Churchill Downs Incorporated has announced the completion of its $79 million deal to purchase Ellis Entertainment LLC and this firm’s Ellis Park Racing and Gaming facility in the northern Kentucky city of Henderson.

The Louisville-headquartered firm used an official Monday press release to detail that the Henderson County property will now be integrated into a local portfolio that already included its Turfway Park Racing and Gaming, Newport Racing and Gaming and world-famous Churchill Downs venues. The firm explained that it is also responsible for the TwinSpires-branded online horseracing wagering platform in addition to gambling-friendly venues in seven other states altogether offering a portfolio of over 11,000 slots and approximately 200 gaming tables.

Proximate plans:

Churchill Downs Incorporated first disclosed that it would be buying the operator behind the 100-year-old Ellis Park Racing and Gaming development some two weeks ago and declared that the deal still remains ‘subject to certain working capital and other purchase price adjustments.’ As part of this arrangement and the company proclaimed that it has additionally been granted the right ‘to construct a track extension facility with historical racing machines’ at the Towne Square Mall venue in the nearby Kentucky community of Owensboro.

Conspicuous concern:

Bill Carstanjen serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Churchill Downs Incorporated and he pronounced that his firm’s acquisition of Ellis Entertainment LLC is being funded from ‘cash on hand’ and via the utilization of an ‘existing credit facility’ and comes around a week after the transaction was approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The experienced executive furthermore noted that the 201-acre Ellis Park Racing and Gaming venue already features a portfolio of 300 historical racing machines alongside a restaurant and a 1.125-mile dirt track that regularly hosts a range of thoroughbred meets including the $75,000 Jeff Hall Memorial Stakes and the $100,000 Ellis Park Stakes.

Read a statement from Carstanjen…

“Our team is already hard at work in both Henderson and Owensboro. In the coming days, we look forward to sharing more about our plans to invest in the horseracing infrastructure at Ellis Park Racing and Gaming and to drive significant purse improvement through the Owensboro historical racing opportunity.”

Development desire:

Alongside the purchase and Churchill Downs Incorporated divulged that it will now look to spend upwards of $75 million so as to bring 600 historical racing machines to Owensboro’s Towne Square Mall facility while simultaneously building ‘a simulcast wagering center’ and multiple adjacent food and beverage outlets. Carstanjen asserted that this eventuality will benefit Kentucky’s entire horseracing industry and allow his company to continue ‘attracting top horseracing talent from across the country to ‘The Bluegrass State’ each July and August.’