With no savior on the horizon to preserve racing at Hawthorne Race Course, the Illinois Racing Board has canceled its July 22 meeting "due to lack of agenda items."
"We had kept the date open in case we would be able to consider preliminary approval of a transfer" of the racing license, Domenic DiCera, IRB executive director, said July 17. "Obviously, that did not happen.
"Now, we're waiting to see what happens at the next hearing."
Hawthorne's impending sale out of bankruptcy is due for a final court hearing July 20. The only bidder for the suburban Chicago track has been identified as a Delaware-registered limited liability company, which plans to redevelop the site for other uses.
The industry had hoped for a sale to an entity that would continue racing and move forward with development of a racino. None emerged from the bidding.
The deal needs the approval of Judge Timothy Barnes, who has been hearing the case since Hawthorne filed for Chapter 11 protections Feb. 27.
Pending that approval, there has been no indication from the buyer or from Hawthorne officials of a timeline for shutdown. The track's accountant earlier indicated existing bankruptcy funding would support purse payments through July 20 and the track drew 76 entries for 11 races July 19.
A motion before the court would allow the use of $1.25 million in last-minute state purse supplements "solely to fund future purses for Hawthorne's races to be held on July 26, 2026, and any future races to be scheduled and held at Hawthorne."
At current purse levels, that funding could stretch toward the end of August. Facing a doomsday scenario, though, maintaining field sizes would be a challenge, as it was during the early weeks of the delayed-start meeting.
Any money not used for purses would be returned to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.
That issue will be part of a likely laundry list to be considered by Barnes at the Monday hearing. A request for an earlier decision was withdrawn.
Left in limbo by the uncertainty are horsemen, employees, and their dependents. According to the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, some 450 people, including more than 150 children, live on the backstretch. The ITHA has been working with local government officials to try to ease a transition.
The ITHA, however, is solely funded through the Hawthorne purse account and likely will be forced to shut down once reserves are exhausted.
Without Hawthorne, Illinois racing would be left with only one operating track—Fairmount Park in Collinsville, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Fairmount officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about any plans to make room for horses from Hawthorne or to expand operations to fill gaps in racing opportunities. Fairmount does not have a turf track, which has been one of Hawthorne's strong attractions for horsemen.
Hawthorne's bankruptcy filing followed a long decline in its fortunes. The woes cascaded from a failed attempt to construct a casino at the track after that option was legalized in 2019. Despite years of negotiations and promises of imminent deals, the track was unable to secure funding for the casino.
Bills piled up and Hawthorne's bank froze its accounts at the end of 2025. That precipitated a rash of bounced checks, including to horsemen, and prompted the IRB to suspend the track's Standardbred license, leaving bankruptcy as the only option.
