The Illinois Racing Board has denied applications by Hawthorne Race Course and its Suburban Downs harness affiliate for 2027 racing licenses and racing dates, formally leaving downstate Fairmount Park as the only operating track in Illinois.
Hawthorne's property was sold for redevelopment after a bankruptcy auction earlier in 2026. As a licensee for the current year, the track was entitled to apply for licenses and dates for 2027 but, lacking a track, failed to meet the requirements of the Illinois Horse Racing Act.
"The applications were reviewed," IRB executive director Domenic DiCera said at the Sept. 16 dates hearing. "The applicants were advised of the deficiencies in those applications and were each given the same amount of time to submit responses to those deficiencies.
"After reviewing the responses to the deficiencies, the Illinois Racing Board determined that the applications submitted by Hawthorne Race Course Inc. and Suburban Downs Inc. remained deficient and did not comply with the Act or the rules and regulations prescribed by the Board.
"As such, the applications were rejected."
Hawthorne was founded in 1891 and was operated by generations of the Carey family. Beset by mountains of debt and unable to raise financing to build a casino to bail out the racing product, Hawthorne filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 27. The track and creditors failed to find a buyer willing to continue racing and move forward with the casino.
Fairmount, situated in Collinsville, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, was awarded 73 Thoroughbred dates from April 2027 through November 2027, racing Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the first Saturday of each month, starting with Kentucky Derby (G1) Day.
Fairmount general manager Vince Gabbert and Jim Watkins, president of the Illinois Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said the schedule will help maximize the visibility of the track's signal and augment an already loyal fan base.
"Things are going well. We're on an upward trajectory," Watkins said.
Gabbert outlined a series of planned improvements at the facility, including a new paddock and ongoing design work for a permanent casino, barns, and other infrastructure. Much of the longer-term improvements, he said, are contingent on tax credits and other funding.
Gabbert also sounded a warning about the potential closure of Hawthorne's off-track betting shop network in the Chicago area. The federal bankruptcy court is overseeing the revenue flowing from those facilities.
Hawthorne's licenses expire at the end of 2026 unless terminated earlier, which would end authorization to operate OTBs. The Racing Act limits Fairmount's OTB opportunities to within 160 miles of its track.
Fairmount is entitled to operate nine OTBs within that geographic area, but Gabbert said there are few locations with sufficient population to support a facility.
Still, he said, "We hope to have three more open by the time we start racing in 2027."
Gabbert said Fairmount will work with the state legislature to address that and other issues, presumably during lawmakers' brief November veto session.
