Can New Orleans’ profile football and basketball team owners add racetracks to her billion-dollar empire?
Questions were frequently asked about Gale Benson’s continued News that Churchill Downs Inc. can waive its race license Greg Bensel, Senior Vice President of the Saints and Pelican, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“To our knowledge, it’s not sold, which is very limited compared to fair reasons operations,” Bencel said in a statement. “[Mrs. Benson’s]hope is that horse racing continues on a fair site in New Orleans, thriving and sustainable.”
Benson owns Saints and Pelican along with her husband Tom Benson, and was already the CEO in March 2018 when she envisioned that her husband’s death would bring full control of both franchises.
“The recent news created by Churchill, which continues to race on fair grounds, has led to many calls regarding interest in purchasing (tracks),” the statement continues. “Mrs. Benson continues to support the horse racing industry not only in Kentucky but more importantly in Louisiana. She has always maintained a great relationship with Churchill’s leadership and has certainly been monitoring the situation for fair reasons.”
In a letter dated June 9th, Churchill CEO Bill Custergen told Louisiana’s Race Commission and the state legislature that the Louisville-based company would be “no choice” but would waive the race license at the next board of supervisory meeting, and the Stephen Laundry Committee told NOLA.com could do it within the next 30 days.
