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Fair Grounds increases purse

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Fair Grounds Race Course today announced a 10 percent increase on overnight purses beginning with the card of Thursday, January 18.

Beginning Thursday, overnight purses will be increased by $3,000 per race. The increase does not affect stakes races.

The purse enhancements were implemented due to continued better-than-expected simulcast and video poker business levels at Fair Grounds and its eight affiliated off-track betting ("OTB") facilities in the New Orleans area.

The changes will increase average daily purses at Fair Grounds to approximately $370,000, the highest ever awarded for a meet in New Orleans.

Fair Grounds Race Course, the nation's third-oldest Thoroughbred racing facility, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, Fair Grounds is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) and also operates off-track betting parlors throughout southeast Louisiana. Fair Grounds' 135th season, the first live racing in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, continues through March 25, 2007, and is headlined by the 94th running of the $600,000 Grade II Louisiana Derby on March 10, 2007.

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