May 27, 2016
5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
Suburbs / Daily Southtown / Southtown News
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue
Company that produces horse jumping events around the country buys Balmoral Park, plans major improvements with eye toward May 2017 reopening for competitive shows
By Mike Nolan Daily Southtown MAY 27, 2016, 11:27 AM
A
lthough Balmoral Park hosted its last harness races at the end of last year, horses will again take center stage at the storied track as a new owner plans to hold horse jumping events there starting
next spring. A New York company, Horse Shows in the Sun, or HITS, on Thursday closed on its purchase of the 200 acre site, with plans to make a significant investment in preparing the grounds for competition starting next May. ADVERTISING
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
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5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
HITS produces showjumping events at sites around the United States, including at properties it owns near Ocala, Fla.; in Thermal, Calif., near Palm Springs; Culpeper, Va. and its home base in Saugerties, N.Y. HITS plans to hold up to 14 shows a year during the spring and summer, according to Tom Struzzieri, the company's president and chief executive. HITS is partnering with Pat Boyle of Showplace Productions, which organizes similar show jumping events in the Chicago area and Midwest, to coordinate shows at Balmoral, Struzzieri said Thursday. Balmoral was purchased for $1.6 million, and while not disclosing a dollar investment, HITS will soon begin work on remodeling the park's permanent stables and construction of six competition rings. The main ring, which will be called the Grand Prix stadium, will incorporate Balmoral's original tote board and finish line to lend it historic flavor, Struzzieri said. "It's going to be a project people are going to come to from around the world," Struzzieri said, noting that other competitions HITS produces draw riders from around the globe. "I think we're going to make some hay there." Struzzieri, who established HITS in 1982, said the company awards a total of about $15 million in prize money at its shows annually, and that the events give a significant financial boost to the areas where they are held while not putting undue stress on the local infrastructure or municipal services. "There's a very low impact on the community yet a terrific impact on the economics of a community," he http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
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5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
said. "Clients come and leave quite a bit of money in the community." The company previously retained the Sport Management Research Institute to gauge HITS' impact during its horse show series held from January through March 2014, with direct spending by participants and spectators tallied at $63 million over the 10 weeks, and total economic benefits of $90 million. Struzzieri said it may take some time, perhaps a year, before the full benefits are realized but, "There's every reason to believe this will be as impactful on the community as some of our other shows." Jim Garrett, president and CEO of the Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Thursday that based on what HITS is planning, "This will create a premier, very unique and very special visitor destination for our region, and it will have a strong economic impact on the Chicago Southland." Work on preparing the competition rings is very involved and costly, and preparing the grounds means creating conditions for horses so that "it's firm enough to take care of a horse's ligaments and tendons, but soft enough" so as not to damage the horse's bones, he said. With horses weighing some 1,200 pounds leaping over obstacles and landing, "You want the ground to give, but not too much," Struzzieri said. Allowing the new ground to settle over the fall and winter will also help, he said. Shows at Balmoral will be held from May through August and perhaps into September, with about 100 or so employees at work at the park while events are taking place, Struzzieri said. While the company has placed its name on other facilities it owns, such as its 500acre HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Struzzieri said the Balmoral name will remain at the park, 26435 S. Dixie Highway, Crete. "We're in love with tradition," he said. Although it has been well known for years as a venue for harness racing, much of Balmoral's early history centered around thoroughbred racing. Over the years, the list of the track's owners have included highprofile names such as the late shopping mall magnate Edward DeBartolo Sr., and the family of late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, according to Balmoral and public records. The park opened in 1926 as Lincoln Fields, and changed to Balmoral in 1955 under new ownership. Balmoral's owners, who also operated Maywood Park in Melrose Park, filed for bankruptcy in December 2014, shortly after a federal appeals court ordered them to pay nearly $79 million to casinos in Aurora, Elgin and Joliet. The filing was meant to stay that judgment and give the owners breathing room to http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
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5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
reorganize, although they are also appealing the decision. Maywood closed last fall, while Balmoral held its final races the day after Christmas of last year, after an extended sale process and extensive marketing efforts failed to produce a bidder acceptable to the debtors who would keep Balmoral running. Struzzieri said that he and Boyle, whom he described as a "premier coordinator" of showjumping competitions, "had discussed a strategy to do some horse shows together for a couple of years," with Struzzieri looking at properties "all over Illinois" before the Balmoral property came on the market. He said that Balmoral will also become the new home for a number of Boyle's current Midwest shows. Initially, it appeared that a higher offer from another buyer, Balmoral Holdings, was going to be accepted by the park's owners for the real estate and other property. However, it was later rejected by the owners' creditors, according to a court filing. Struzzieri produced local horse shows in New York in the 1970s before organizing his first show out of state, in Florida, in 1982, according to HITS' website. He said that he was a competitive rider, but that "I rode kind of poorly" and he quickly realized, "I wasn't going to make a living at that." Apart from its Ocala property, HITS owns and operates a 250acre facility in Saugerties, a 230acre site in Thermal and a 100acre property in Culpeper, he said. [email protected] Copyright © 2016, Daily Southtown
This article is related to: George Steinbrenner
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Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
Suburbs / Daily Southtown / Southtown News
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue
Company that produces horse jumping events around the country buys Balmoral Park, plans major improvements with eye toward May 2017 reopening for competitive shows
By Mike Nolan Daily Southtown MAY 27, 2016, 11:27 AM
A
lthough Balmoral Park hosted its last harness races at the end of last year, horses will again take center stage at the storied track as a new owner plans to hold horse jumping events there starting
next spring. A New York company, Horse Shows in the Sun, or HITS, on Thursday closed on its purchase of the 200 acre site, with plans to make a significant investment in preparing the grounds for competition starting next May. ADVERTISING
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
1/4
5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
HITS produces showjumping events at sites around the United States, including at properties it owns near Ocala, Fla.; in Thermal, Calif., near Palm Springs; Culpeper, Va. and its home base in Saugerties, N.Y. HITS plans to hold up to 14 shows a year during the spring and summer, according to Tom Struzzieri, the company's president and chief executive. HITS is partnering with Pat Boyle of Showplace Productions, which organizes similar show jumping events in the Chicago area and Midwest, to coordinate shows at Balmoral, Struzzieri said Thursday. Balmoral was purchased for $1.6 million, and while not disclosing a dollar investment, HITS will soon begin work on remodeling the park's permanent stables and construction of six competition rings. The main ring, which will be called the Grand Prix stadium, will incorporate Balmoral's original tote board and finish line to lend it historic flavor, Struzzieri said. "It's going to be a project people are going to come to from around the world," Struzzieri said, noting that other competitions HITS produces draw riders from around the globe. "I think we're going to make some hay there." Struzzieri, who established HITS in 1982, said the company awards a total of about $15 million in prize money at its shows annually, and that the events give a significant financial boost to the areas where they are held while not putting undue stress on the local infrastructure or municipal services. "There's a very low impact on the community yet a terrific impact on the economics of a community," he http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
2/4
5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
said. "Clients come and leave quite a bit of money in the community." The company previously retained the Sport Management Research Institute to gauge HITS' impact during its horse show series held from January through March 2014, with direct spending by participants and spectators tallied at $63 million over the 10 weeks, and total economic benefits of $90 million. Struzzieri said it may take some time, perhaps a year, before the full benefits are realized but, "There's every reason to believe this will be as impactful on the community as some of our other shows." Jim Garrett, president and CEO of the Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Thursday that based on what HITS is planning, "This will create a premier, very unique and very special visitor destination for our region, and it will have a strong economic impact on the Chicago Southland." Work on preparing the competition rings is very involved and costly, and preparing the grounds means creating conditions for horses so that "it's firm enough to take care of a horse's ligaments and tendons, but soft enough" so as not to damage the horse's bones, he said. With horses weighing some 1,200 pounds leaping over obstacles and landing, "You want the ground to give, but not too much," Struzzieri said. Allowing the new ground to settle over the fall and winter will also help, he said. Shows at Balmoral will be held from May through August and perhaps into September, with about 100 or so employees at work at the park while events are taking place, Struzzieri said. While the company has placed its name on other facilities it owns, such as its 500acre HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Struzzieri said the Balmoral name will remain at the park, 26435 S. Dixie Highway, Crete. "We're in love with tradition," he said. Although it has been well known for years as a venue for harness racing, much of Balmoral's early history centered around thoroughbred racing. Over the years, the list of the track's owners have included highprofile names such as the late shopping mall magnate Edward DeBartolo Sr., and the family of late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, according to Balmoral and public records. The park opened in 1926 as Lincoln Fields, and changed to Balmoral in 1955 under new ownership. Balmoral's owners, who also operated Maywood Park in Melrose Park, filed for bankruptcy in December 2014, shortly after a federal appeals court ordered them to pay nearly $79 million to casinos in Aurora, Elgin and Joliet. The filing was meant to stay that judgment and give the owners breathing room to http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
3/4
5/31/2016
Balmoral Park to reopen as horsejumping venue Daily Southtown
reorganize, although they are also appealing the decision. Maywood closed last fall, while Balmoral held its final races the day after Christmas of last year, after an extended sale process and extensive marketing efforts failed to produce a bidder acceptable to the debtors who would keep Balmoral running. Struzzieri said that he and Boyle, whom he described as a "premier coordinator" of showjumping competitions, "had discussed a strategy to do some horse shows together for a couple of years," with Struzzieri looking at properties "all over Illinois" before the Balmoral property came on the market. He said that Balmoral will also become the new home for a number of Boyle's current Midwest shows. Initially, it appeared that a higher offer from another buyer, Balmoral Holdings, was going to be accepted by the park's owners for the real estate and other property. However, it was later rejected by the owners' creditors, according to a court filing. Struzzieri produced local horse shows in New York in the 1970s before organizing his first show out of state, in Florida, in 1982, according to HITS' website. He said that he was a competitive rider, but that "I rode kind of poorly" and he quickly realized, "I wasn't going to make a living at that." Apart from its Ocala property, HITS owns and operates a 250acre facility in Saugerties, a 230acre site in Thermal and a 100acre property in Culpeper, he said. [email protected] Copyright © 2016, Daily Southtown
This article is related to: George Steinbrenner
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/dailysouthtown/news/ctstabalmoralhorseshowsst052720160526story.html
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