Once called the Arlington Park Jockey Club, it was located adjacent to the Illinois Route 53 expressway and serviced by the Chicago and North Western Railway.

On February 15, 2023, the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) completed their purchase of the Arlington Park property.

Owner Churchill Downs Inc. announced plans in February 2021 to sell all 326 acres of Arlington Park property for redevelopment.

Jockey Joe Bollero, who later became a successful trainer, rode Luxembourg to victory in the first race ever run at Arlington.

Kerner was eventually convicted of mail fraud, but Everett denied at trial that she intended to bribe him, and the government never identified her as a briber.

Arlington entered a new era in 1983 when Richard L. Duchossois led an Illinois investment group consisting of himself, Joyce, Sheldon Robbins, and Ralph Ross, to purchase the track from its former owners and made a pledge to continue presenting championship racing; that was tested on July 31, 1985, when a small fire spread quickly out of control and completely destroyed the grandstand and clubhouse.

Three years after Joyce resigned over disagreements with Duchossois,[11] the track was fully reopened as a new name, Arlington International Racecourse in 1989.

In 2000, reopening after a two-year shutdown caused by contractual disputes preventing racing, Arlington was purchased in September by Churchill Downs Inc.

On May 14, 2010, Lee DeWyze, a citizen of Mount Prospect, Illinois, and a contestant on American Idol, performed a concert at Arlington Park for approximately 41,000 fans.

Arlington was the first track to install a public-address system and employed the pioneering race caller Clem McCarthy to describe the action.

with the introduction of trifecta wagering in 1971, the New York Racing Association first offered the bet a year earlier as "The Triple".

In August 2019, track owner Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) announced that it would consider options to transfer racing away from Arlington Park after 2021.

However, CDI – which had acquired a majority stake of Rivers Casino in nearby Des Plaines earlier that year and had already announced plans to expand it – argued that the installation of gaming positions at Arlington would result in higher tax payments of up to 20% compared to nearby casinos because of contributions needed to fund horse racing purses.

[15] In June 2021, the Chicago Bears announced they had submitted a bid to purchase the land for a potential new stadium to replace their longtime home of Soldier Field (where they have played since 1971).

[16] Later in June 2021, the Village of Arlington Heights formally approved overlay zoning district for a large-scale football stadium at the site.

[18] If a stadium is approved and built, it would be the second horse racing course to be replaced with an NFL venue in recent years, as Inglewood, California's Hollywood Park (once owned by CDI) was replaced by SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams.