Arlington International Racecourse was founded as Arlington Park by
California businessman Harry D. "Curly" Brown, who would later serve as president of
Oriental Park Racetrack in
Havana,
Cuba. The track officially opened in 1927 to 20,000 spectators. Jockey Joe Bollero, who later became a successful trainer, rode Luxembourg to victory in the first race ever run at Arlington.
Benjamin F. Lindheimer acquired Arlington Park in 1940 and owned it until his death in 1960. Long involved with the business, adopted daughter Marje Lindheimer Everett then took over management of the racetrack. Widely respected
Hall of Fame trainer
Jimmy Jones of
Calumet Farm was quoted by
Sports Illustrated as saying that Lindheimer "was the savior of Chicago racing" and that "Arlington Park became the finest track in the world—certainly the finest I've ever been on." In June 1973, Arlington organized a race for three-year-olds, the Arlington Invitational, to lure
Secretariat to the Midwest. Secretariat won easily and Arlington created the
Secretariat Stakes, also for three-year-olds but on the turf, in his honor. In 1981, under the direction of track president Joseph Joyce Jr., Arlington was the home of the world's first million-dollar thoroughbred race: The Arlington Million. The result of that race was noted in bronze at the top of the paddock at Arlington, where a statue of jockey
Bill Shoemaker riding
John Henry to a come-from-behind victory over 40–1 longshot The Bart celebrated the event. Arlington entered a new era in 1983 when
Richard L. Duchossois led an Illinois investment group consisting of himself, Joyce, Sheldon Robbins, and Ralph Ross, to purchase the track from its former owners and made a pledge to continue presenting championship racing; that was tested on July 31, 1985, when a small fire spread quickly out of control and completely destroyed the grandstand and clubhouse. Unsure of the future of Arlington, the meeting was moved to
Hawthorne Race Course, yet it was announced that the Arlington Million would still be held at Arlington International. On August 25, 1985, this was done by bulldozing and paving over the remains of the grandstand, and setting up temporary bleachers. Arlington Park won a Special
Eclipse Award for making the "Miracle Million" happen. In 1989, three years after Joyce resigned over disagreements with Duchossois, the track was fully re-opened with a new name, Arlington International Racecourse. In 1996, 34,000 fans jammed into Arlington to see the two-time
Horse of the Year and future Hall of Famer
Cigar tie the then modern-day record of 16 consecutive wins in the Arlington Citation Challenge (the record Cigar tied had been set by Citation). In September 2000, reopening after a two-year shutdown caused by contractual disputes preventing racing, Arlington was purchased by Churchill Downs Inc. Reverting to its old name of Arlington Park, it hosted the 2002
Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. . In 2007 to promote safer racing, Arlington Park invested $11 million to install a synthetic racing surface called Polytrack, which remained in use until the track's closure. Do the Wave won the first race on the Polytrack on May 4. On May 11, Arlington debuted an alternate finish line at the 1/16 pole. The track once again became Arlington International Racecourse in 2013. In 2016, Arlington debuted the Arlington Racing Club, an ownership group with the goal of garnering interest in thoroughbred ownership.
Reality television On May 14, 2010,
Lee DeWyze, a resident of
Mount Prospect, Illinois, and a contestant on
American Idol, performed a concert at Arlington Park for approximately 41,000 fans. Also that day, the track was featured in an episode of
Undercover Boss where
Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen went to Arlington and
Calder Race Course. A year later, on May 14, 2011,
Haley Reinhart, of
Wheeling, Illinois, also made the top 3 on
American Idol. She, like DeWyze, had a hometown concert at Arlington Park for nearly 30,000 of her own fans and supporters.
Pioneers in racing In addition to hosting the first-ever million-dollar horse race, Arlington was the first track to install a
public-address system and employed the pioneering
race caller Clem McCarthy to describe the action. It added the first electric
totalizator which allowed for a credible tote board and decreased time between races, in 1933. In 1936 it added a photo finish camera. It introduced the first electric starting gate in 1940 and the largest closed-circuit TV system in all of sports in 1967. In 1971, Arlington held the industry's first commercially sponsored race—the $100,000 Pontiac Grand Prix. On July 4, 1976, Arlington hosted the first Sunday horse races in Illinois.
Racetrack closure In August 2019, track owner Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) announced that it would consider options to transfer racing away from Arlington after 2021. The announcement stemmed from the enactment of the Illinois Gaming Act, which provided for the legalization of
sports betting and the construction of new
casinos in Illinois. The law gave CDI the right to install up to 1,200 gaming positions, such as slot machines, at Arlington. However, CDI – which had acquired a majority stake of
Rivers Casino in nearby
Des Plaines earlier that year and had already announced plans to expand it – argued that the installation of gaming positions at Arlington would result in higher tax payments of up to 20% compared to nearby casinos because of contributions needed to fund horse racing purses. In February 2021, CDI announced plans to sell the entire Arlington property for redevelopment. CDI said it would also seek the transfer of Arlington's racing license to another track in the state, but committed to Arlington's race dates for 2021 (April 30 – September 25).
Chicago Bears ownership In June 2021, the Chicago Bears announced they had submitted a bid to purchase the land for a
potential new stadium to replace their longtime home of
Soldier Field (where they have played since 1971). Later that month, the Village of Arlington Heights formally approved an overlay zoning district for a large-scale football stadium at the site. The last race was held on September 25, 2021, with a 9-race event. The winner of the final race held at Arlington (which was named "The Luxembourg" after the winner of the first race at the track), was Sister Ruler. The final day was capped off with a showing of a documentary on the 1985 fire at the track and a fireworks show. On September 29, 2021, the Bears announced they would purchase the property for $197.2 million. If a stadium is approved and built, it would be the second horse racing course to be replaced with an NFL venue in recent years, as
Inglewood, California's
Hollywood Park (once owned by CDI) was replaced by
SoFi Stadium, the home of the
Los Angeles Chargers and
Los Angeles Rams. On October 27, 2021, the Chicago Bears confirmed that they were not pursuing horse racing but had no further details on their plans for the property. On March 16, 2022, the Bears announced that they had selected
MANICA Architecture to help plan the new NFL stadium. The Bears completed the purchase in February 2023. On May 30, 2023, it started demolition of the interior of the main grandstand, offices, and jockey facilities in preparation for their new stadium. Demolition of the grandstand was completed on September 26, 2023. On March 11, 2024, Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren announced that the team had decided to commit $2 billion to build a new stadium in Chicago, leaving the future of the Arlington property uncertain. The Bears had run into issues concerning the value of the Arlington land, which had been contested by the local school districts in Arlington Heights. Despite this, the village of Arlington Heights offered a tax reduction in attempt to lure the team to build new stadium in village. In March 2025 the Bears submitted traffic and financial studies for Arlington Heights stadium site. ==Physical attributes==