Hawthorne Trims Race Dates, Horsemen Call for Action

The Illinois Racing Board on July 17 approved Hawthorne Race Course's request to reduce the remainder of its Thoroughbred season from three days per week to two, but only after horsemen called out the track and the Board about the long-delayed Hawthorne racino. Hawthorne cited a horse shortage, with only 635 head on the backstretch. The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association agreed with the number and the assessment and "reluctantly" consented to the cutback. "It must be stated in the strongest terms that this situation is a direct consequence of Hawthorne's persistent failure to make meaningful progress on the development of a racino," ITHA president Chris Block and executive director David McCaffrey said in a prepared statement. "The lack of expanded gaming has stymied purse growth and driven horsemen to seek opportunities elsewhere, further exacerbating the horse shortage. The continued delays and lack of transparency regarding the racino project have eroded confidence and placed the future of all Illinois racing in jeopardy." Hawthorne was given authority to build out a racino as part of the 2019 Illinois gaming expansion legislation. Track management gutted the grandstand in preparation for construction, but then work stalled amid funding woes. The skeleton of the facility still looms over the racing surface. During the delay, Hawthorne officials repeatedly have pledged that construction was imminent but have refrained from divulging details. Fairmount Park in downstate Illinois, meanwhile, opened a temporary racino this April under new ownership after years of delay. Arlington International Racecourse declined the racino option and later was shuttered and sold by its owner, Churchill Downs, Inc. "We urge the Illinois Racing Board to hold Hawthorne accountable for its obligations and to demand a clear, actionable timeline for racino development," Block and McCaffrey said. "The future of our industry—and the livelihoods of countless Illinois families—depend on decisive action." Block later added, "It's not only the horse population. There's no purse money, either. It goes hand in hand." Hawthorne director of racing Jim Miller said the dates reduction will help maintain field sizes. And he said a hoped-for increase in the horse population after racing ends in surrounding states could lead to the addition of races on the remaining programs. Miller noted Hawthorne's Thoroughbred meet extends to the first week of November, providing racing and training opportunities for horses which might otherwise be caught between race meetings. The IRB approved the request unanimously, leaving only 31 live racing dates on the remainder of the Hawthorne calendar, but commissioner Patricia Saccone also urged the IRB to start to hold Hawthorne's hooves to the fire on the racino issue. "Years before I joined this board, the promise of a racino at Hawthorne was held up as the cornerstone of a more sustainable future," she said. "Today, we're still waiting. No ground-breaking. No real progress and no transparency. And that prolonged uncertainty isn't just frustrating. It's damaging... "The Board has a duty to hold licensees accountable—not to punish but to stabilize. It's time we stop ignoring the racino and start treating it like the critical issue it is. It must be an agenda item moving forward because its continued absence is affecting everyone in this industry. "So, chairman, I ask that for every meeting moving forward, we have an agenda item on the racino. We ask Hawthorne to be accountable at every meeting. We can't afford another year of delay, distraction, or disconnection." Chairman Daniel Beiser did not commit to a standing agenda item for the casino issue but did agree the situation is dire. "We take note of your request," he told Saccone. "Yes. We are facing, in my opinion, (an) emergency in Illinois." The Board is slated to award 2026 racing dates at its September meeting, and several members said there will be support for coordinating separate dates for Fairmount and Hawthorne, which now overlap for part of the year. That effort is complicated by the fact that Hawthorne has a turf track and Fairmount does not.