The Illinois Racing Board on July 17 approved Hawthorne Race Course’s request to reduce the remainder of its Thoroughbred season from three days per week to two, but only after horsemen called out the track and the Board about the long-delayed Hawthorne racino.
Hawthorne cited a horse shortage, with only 635 head on the backstretch. The Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association agreed with the number and the assessment and “reluctantly” consented to the cutback.
“It must be stated in the strongest terms that this situation is a direct consequence of Hawthorne’s persistent failure to make meaningful progress on the development of a racino,” ITHA president Chris Block and executive director David McCaffrey said in a prepared statement.
