Churchill, HISA settle their dispute over $6.3 million in fees

What looked like a messy and protracted court fight featuring high-powered lawyers for Churchill Downs Inc. and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority was headed off Tuesday with a settlement of their dispute over $6.3 million in fees and interest for three racetracks in Kentucky and one in Pennsylvania.

“We’ve reached an agreement to resolve the recent enforcement action,” HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said in a text message Tuesday night to Horse Racing Nation.

Flashback: Court hears arguments from Churchill, HISA.

“We write to let you know that there will be no need for (temporary restraining order) litigation as the parties have resolved the dispute over the 2025 assessments that gave rise to the second enforcement proceeding,” Churchill attorney Thomas Dupree said in paperwork filed in Louisville, Ky., federal court Tuesday.

Churchill spokesperson Jeanna Cunningham said, “CDI is not commenting on the settlement.”

The terms, which Lazarus said were “confidential,” apparently were agreed to by lawyers from both sides since their showdown in federal court last week.

“The parties have reached an agreement to resolve these four enforcement actions ... and jointly move for the board to stay the March 16 decision of the Board panel and related appeal proceedings until the conditions of the agreement have been satisfied,” said a HISA document, which was signed by board chairperson Charles Scheeler. “Upon the satisfaction of the conditions of the agreement, the parties will jointly move for the board to dismiss these four enforcement actions.”

The actions covered CDI-owned racetracks Churchill Downs, Turfway Park, Ellis Park and Presque Isle Downs. There were no outstanding fees for Fair Grounds, CDI’s track in New Orleans, because Louisiana is in the midst of a five-year-old federal case that for now puts it outside of HISA jurisdiction.

One person with knowledge of the dispute dismissed the estimate of a source who said, “my guess is that HISA will get one-half” of the $6.3 million.

After the HISA board sent what essentially was a bill last Monday, CDI objected and refused to pay. HISA had threatened to cut off track signals from CDI-owned tracks if it were not paid what it was owed.

The two sides landed in federal court in Louisville on Wednesday. Judge Benjamin Beaton heard two hours of debate from lawyers for both sides and, according to BloodHorse, hoped that “cooler heads would prevail.” 

Churchill argued that the fee schedule was tilted against tracks with bigger purses such as those offered at its three Kentucky racecourses. HISA and its government overlord, the Federal Trade Commission, changed the fee system to be more dependent on total starts rather than purses, but that did not satisfy CDI.

Beaton said he did not know why Churchill “would poke its regulator in the eye over a dollar amount that is negligible on its own balance sheet.” CDI reported revenue of $2.93 billion in 2025 with net income of $383 million.

HISA had threatened to cut off track signals from CDI-owned tracks if it were not paid what it was owed.

If there is no public reporting of Tuesday’s settlement, other racetrack operators who are under HISA’s aegis may be more than curious about the terms. One such track manager who asked for anonymity told HRN on Tuesday night, “If HISA is going to publish disputes, they should also publish resolutions. After all it is a governmental entity subject to open records.”

HISA has argued that, even though it reports to the FTC, it is an independent operator that is not bound by open-government laws.