Churchill Downs Incorporated Announces Hiring of General Manager of Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel

OAK GROVE, Ky., Feb. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Churchill Downs Incorporated (“CDI”) (Nasdaq: CHDN) announced today the hiring of Darold Londo as President and General Manager of Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel (“Oak Grove”) in Oak Grove, Kentucky. Londo brings an extensive history in the gaming and entertainment industry to the development. Oak Grove conducted its first live harness racing meet in October and November 2019 and is currently undergoing construction of a state-of-the-art historical racing machine (“HRM”) venue, as well as an equestrian center and hotel in southwestern Kentucky.  

As general manager, Londo will be responsible for providing direction for all of the Oak Grove development and operations, including pre-opening activities, staffing and compliance as well as live racing, the HRM facility, hotel and entertainment venues.

Londo brings a wealth of experience from his past roles at destination casino/resorts. His past leadership roles include COO at San Manuel Indian Casino, SVP of Development Operations at Caesars Entertainment, SVP/Regional General Manager of Caesars Mid-South, SVP/General Manager of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, and Assistant General Manager Harrah’s Atlantic City. Londo has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned the rank of Captain through his service with the U.S. Army Aviation. Londo also earned a Master of Business Administration Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Juris Doctorate from University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

“I am thrilled to join the team here at Oak Grove and have the opportunity to open the next full-service entertainment facility for CDI,” Londo said. “With a career rich in gaming and entertainment experience, I look forward to helping build an environment that will be engaging to team members and entertainment enthusiasts alike. Given my own military background, I’m proud to be neighbors with Fort Campbell and have such distinguished and honorable individuals in our area. Oak Grove is a one-of-a-kind destination within CDI’s portfolio, and I can’t wait to open its doors to Kentucky and beyond.”

Austin Miller, CDI Senior Vice President of Gaming Operations, shared, “I couldn’t be happier that Darold is joining our team at Oak Grove. The combination of his experience opening gaming properties and management of destination resort casinos fits perfectly with a property of this grand scale. This new development will create jobs and entertainment options the likes of which the area has never seen.”

Oak Grove, a joint venture between CDI and Keeneland Association, Inc., is set to open later this year and will boast 128 luxury rooms and suites, a HRM venue with over 1,200 games, best-in-class racing and equine facilities, multiple bars and restaurants including the Garrison Oak Steakhouse featuring hand-cut dry-aged meats, and so much more. It is located just 10 miles from Clarksville, Tennessee, and less than 60 miles from Nashville. The facility represents a $200 million economic development project for Christian County, creating nearly 400 direct full and part time equivalent positions.

Oak Grove’s next live racing meet is scheduled for October and November 2020. Updates and news can be found at .

About Churchill Downs Incorporated

Churchill Downs Incorporated ("CDI") (Nasdaq: CHDN), headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event - The Kentucky Derby. We own and operate Derby City Gaming, a historical racing machine facility in Louisville. We also own and operate the largest online horseracing wagering platform in the U.S., TwinSpires.com, and are a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines / video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. We also operate sports wagering and iGaming through our BetAmerica platform in multiple states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at .

Information set forth in this news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”), which provides certain “safe harbor” provisions. All forward-looking statements made in this presentation are made pursuant to the Act. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the effect of economic conditions on our consumers' confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit; additional or increased taxes and fees; public perceptions or lack of confidence in the integrity of our business; loss of key or highly skilled personnel; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; general risks related to real estate ownership, including fluctuations in market values and environmental regulations; catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches; inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; increases in insurance costs and inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future; inability to identify and complete acquisition, expansion or divestiture projects, on time, on budget or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; number of people attending and wagering on live horse races; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; inadvertent infringement of the intellectual property of others; inability to protect our own intellectual property rights; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card and debit card use; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or applicable money-laundering regulations; work stoppages and labor issues; difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of horses and trainers for full field horseraces; inability to negotiate agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; our inability to utilize and provide totalisator services; weather conditions affecting our ability to conduct live racing; increased competition in the horseracing business; changes in the regulatory environment of our racing operations; changes in regulatory environment of our online horseracing business; increase in competition in our online horseracing; uncertainty and changes in the legal landscape relating to our online wagering business; continued legalization of online sports betting and iGaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization; inability to expand our sports betting operations and effectively compete; failure to comply with laws requiring us to block access to certain individuals could result in penalties or impairment with respect to our mobile and online wagering products; increased competition in our casino business; changes in regulatory environment of our casino business; costs, delays, and other uncertainties relating to the development and expansion of casinos; and concentration and evolution of slot machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs.

Investor Contact: Nick Zangari                                                                                        Media Contact: Tonya Abeln

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