No bidders step forward to keep Hawthorne racing alive

No bidder stepped forward to keep racing alive at Hawthorne, putting the Stickney track’s future in the hands of a July 20 sale hearing before Judge Timothy A. Barnes. The Chicago-area venue has been Illinois’ last operating Thoroughbred track since Arlington International Racecourse closed in September 2021, so the fallout reaches far beyond one property.

For horsemen, the immediate concern is calendar space. Hawthorne already reduced its remaining Thoroughbred schedule from three days a week to two, after horsemen reluctantly approved the cut and blasted the track and the Illinois Racing Board over delays in the promised racino project. Fewer racing dates mean fewer opportunities to earn purses, keep horses in condition, and stay based in Illinois rather than ship out to other circuits.

The bankruptcy timeline has only tightened the pressure. The court set July 17 as the sale objection deadline, and a bankruptcy judge extended the term of a loan supporting Hawthorne’s operations to Aug. 1, but that extension depends on a buyer committed to racing. The case is in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and if no racing operator emerges, the path opens toward a sale to a non-racing buyer or developer.

That would hit every layer of the local product. Trainers and grooms would lose stall space at the state’s key Chicago-area base, jockeys would have fewer mounts, and ship-in horsemen would have one less place to point horses for live racing. Bettors would also lose a familiar stop on the Illinois calendar, which matters because Hawthorne has carried much of the region’s wagering attention since Arlington went dark.

The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association has already warned that continued cancellations are deeply troubling and could cast doubt on the industry’s future. The bigger problem is structural: Illinois racing has leaned on a small number of venues for purse support, stabling, and a viable circuit, and Hawthorne has sat at the center of that network. Without a racing-committed buyer, the state’s Thoroughbred game faces a sharper contraction in dates, purses, and opportunities for state-bred horses to stay in training.