The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority has reached an agreement with Churchill Downs regarding the track's unpaid HISA dues, according to an order posted on HISA's website Tuesday.
No specific details of the agreement were made public Tuesday other than that the case has been stayed “until notification from the parties that the conditions of the agreement have been satisfied,” according to a joint motion dated March 24, and signed by Charles Scheeler, chair of HISA's board of directors.
In that motion, it is also written that “[t]he parties have reached an agreement to resolve these four enforcement actions. . . [and] jointly move for the Board to stay the March 16, 2026, decision of the Board panel and related appeal proceedings until the conditions of the agreement have been satisfied. Upon the satisfaction of the conditions of the agreement, the parties will jointly move for the Board to dismiss these four enforcement actions.”
“We have no further comment beyond what is in the Board order,” said HISA spokesperson, Mackenzie Kirker-Head.
TDN reached out to Churchill Downs and were told that they could not comment further at the time.
The news is the latest update in a weeks-long battle between the entities dating back to February 18 when HISA served Churchill Downs “four notices for non-payment of its 2025 fees related to federal regulatory oversight of its Churchill Downs, Turfway Park, Ellis Park and Presque Isle Downs racetracks.”
The unpaid dues, which were listed in excess of $2.4-million, were to be paid within “10 days of any order by the HISA board that results from the just-scheduled Mar. 11 hearing.”
If left unpaid, according the Feb. 18 notice of hearing, “for each day the payment is late, Churchill [will] be prohibited from conducting any Covered Horserace, to be applied immediately on the next scheduled race day(s) at Churchill.”
Churchill Downs issued a strong rebuttal of the allegations via a statement Feb. 20 which included in part, “While we do not comment on pending legal proceedings, we will not accept HISA's mischaracterization of our actions. The Authority's recent escalation reflects a troubling pattern of overreach that is harmful to the industry and inconsistent with the collaborative approach necessary to strengthen the sport.”
The ongoing battle continued into March with HISA threatening to revoke the track's simulcasting signal due to continued unpaid balances.
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