Hawthorne Race Course, in Chicago, Illinois, is the oldest family-owned horse racing track in North America, but its future is very much in doubt after a series of financial setbacks has it on the brink of shuttering its operations.
Photo Finish
The race hasn’t yet ended, but according to reports, it will be a photo finish as to whether the 135-year-old horse track will be allowed to continue after missing several financial obligations, including a reported $1.6 million in unpaid simulcast settlement fees to Churchill Downs. Additionally, Hawthorne assistant general manager John Walsh acknowledged that the track has yet to pay its vendors, horsemen, and various creditors.
Illinois Racing Board Scrutiny
At a recent meeting of the Illinois Racing Board, Walsh and director of racing Jim Miller were grilled by the regulators, while the track’s president and general manager, Tim Carey, was nowhere to be found. Although Carey likely had more information than his underlings concerning the financial status of the track, both Walsh and Miller were tasked with answering those pointed questions, but were ill-equipped to do so.
When asked why Hawthorne’s bank froze its accounts, Walsh was candid, stating, “That’s something I have no idea. What the bank has done, what they’re doing. I don’t understand the whole situation.”
Horsemen Demand Answers
Jeff Davis, president of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, expressed frustration and anger at Carey’s absence. According to Davis, Hawthorne owes members of his association almost $1 million, dating back to last year.
“The horsemen who depend on Hawthorne for their livelihoods, who have not been paid since before Christmas, deserve to hear directly from the person responsible for that,” Davis said of Carey’s absence. “His absence, I think, is disrespectful not only to horsemen, but to you as a board.”
Casino Hail Mary
In a desperate attempt to salvage Hawthorne, Assistant General Manager Walsh attempted to reassure the Board by pointing out that Hawthorne had recently enlisted another partner to build a casino on the property, a project that had stalled since the grandstand’s demolition in 2020. Construction liens remain, and so too do many of the partially demolished structures, leaving a tangible reminder of unfulfilled promises.
New Casino Partner Offers Hope
Walsh views this new partner as a panacea to all that ails the track and attempted to convince the Board that all will be well with a bit more patience.
“We have gone in a different direction in the last month and a half as far as getting the racino up and running,” he said. “We’re working with a new partner, someone nearby, someone that’s trusted in Illinois and in racing, who really wants all of this to succeed.
“So it’s not going to be the same old, same old. We’re actually working on something that is going to happen. I’ve never been so optimistic in the last four years.”
Unfortunately, not much was resolved, and the prospects for racing this year are appearing bleaker by the day. At the end of the meeting, Board Chairman Daniel Beiser expressed his dismay at not getting specific guidance and solutions from Hawthorne to right its sinking financial ship.
“We don’t need empty words; we need specifics,” Beiser said. “We need stuff that can be verified, and we need it in writing from Hawthorne.”
