Hawthorne Race Course, the horse racing track that has struggled to secure financing for a $400 million racino to be built on its grounds in the south suburbs of Chicago, is in arrears for payments to horsemen for both harness racing and thoroughbred racing.
Some of the details were laid out in an Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting held Wednesday that was at times short on specifics from Hawthorne’s side and potential areas of redress from the board. Representatives for both the Illinois Harness Horsemen Association (IHHA) and Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen Association (ITHA) provided the state agency details of bounced checks totaling six figures’ worth to both associations.
