Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
Posted: Sept. 21, 2024
Hawthorne Race Course requested and was approved for 80 Thoroughbred racing programs in 2025, an increase from 68 for 2024. The Illinois Racing Board approved its dates order for next year at its Sept. 19 meeting.
The Hawthorne meet is scheduled to run from March 20-Nov. 3. From March through July, racing is mostly scheduled for Sundays and Thursdays, with three Saturday cards on the Triple Crown days. From August until closing day, racing is planned for three days a week: Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
Three-day weeks are contingent on there being enough horses to fill the programs. Hawthorne this year had to cut back from three days a week to two because of an insufficient number of horses.
The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association in a release said it “continues to advocate effectively for the expansion of our racing meets. As a result, the 2025 racing schedule as approved by the Illinois Racing Board will be extended by three weeks compared to 2024—and by nine weeks compared to 2023.”
“It’s disappointing for the sport and industry of Thoroughbred racing, as well as for everyone whose livelihoods depend on better purses, that we’re still waiting for Hawthorne to begin its casino project,” ITHA President Chris Block said in the release. “However, we’re continuing to do everything we can as an association to enhance the quality of racing in Illinois, and the 2025 racing schedule reflects those efforts.”
During the Sept. 19 meeting, Block thanked the entities that worked on the schedule given “difficult water to navigate.” He noted there are roughly 700 horses on the grounds at Hawthorne—a number that by now probably would have been much higher had the casino, approved via legislation in 2020, was in operation.
“I need to let the board know the (racetrack casino) was needed a long time ago,” Block said. “You can’t imagine the pressure (the ITHA) is under. This can’t come soon enough. You’re talking to a guy who is losing owners each year. Time is getting tight.”
ITHA Executive Director David McCaffrey described the situation as a “thick black line between racing and the casino” at Hawthorne. He said the ITHA has very productive relationship with Hawthorne management on the racing side, but not with those handling the casino development project, which has been stalled for years.
In that regard, Hawthorne President Tim Carey said track officials have updated the IRB on the status of the project, but that he could not discuss it at the public meeting. He said confidentiality is needed as the process nears an end. “We can’t answer questions in great detail right now but we remain steadfast in our efforts.”
Carey also said Hawthorne is committed to constructing a second racetrack casino that would be dedicated to Standardbred racing, but “Hawthorne must come first. We did preliminary due diligence for a second location. We look forward to when we can share details of that project.”
Hawthorne over the last several years has accommodated both breeds due to the closure of other tracks in Illinois. Though the Standardbred foal crop jumped 300% a year after the racetrack gaming legislation passed, it will offer only 40 nights of live pari-mutuel racing at Hawthorne in 2025 under the IRB dates order. The industry is making efforts to make the changes necessary to offer more pari-mutuel dates at Springfield.