Cicero, IL – Horsemen in Illinois, both Standardbred and Thoroughbred, are continuing to await word on the status of Hawthorne Race Course, whose harness racing license was suspended by the Illinois Racing Board on January 26.
Suburban Downs was awarded 34 live racing programs for 2026. The 14 scheduled for January and February were vacated given ongoing financial issues with the Hawthorne operation, leaving 20 programs from November 6 through December 27.
The IRB awarded Hawthorne 63 Thoroughbred dates for this year from March 29 through November 1. The suspension order did not include the Thoroughbred license, but the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association again has expressed concern as the scheduled meet approaches.
The ITHA on February 16 said the track crew has started conversion of the main track to accommodate training and racing, a process that takes about a week. But the organization in a release said Hawthorne “has yet to provide the ITHA with any assurance that it has the financial means” to begin and sustain the meet.
“ITHA leaders want to be clear to our members: If you intend to stable and race at Hawthorne for the 2026 meet, once the track is ready for training, come at your own risk and with the knowledge that Hawthorne may be unable to start the meet and sustain it through its entirety,” the organization said. “We await communication from Hawthorne that it will be able to prove it can conduct a 2026 meet and meet its financial obligations. Until we have that information in our possession, we will continue to advise our members to proceed with caution.”
The condition book for the upcoming meet has been posted on Equibase. The listed purses are comparable to those of 2025.
During the January 28 IRB meeting, stakeholders discussed a host of issues related to Hawthorne’s finances. A track official told the IRB the issues should be resolved in two or three weeks, and that Hawthorne was in negotiations with a new local partner for development of a long-stalled casino at the Stickney property.
The track has not made an announcement since that meeting, and the IRB is not scheduled to meet again until March 18, the week before the next meet is scheduled to commence.
The 2026 dates order approved by the IRB notes that Suburban Downs applied for additional dates (there would be no pari-mutuel wagering) at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield but was unable to reach a lease agreement with the state Department of Agriculture. The Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association has said races will be held at Springfield and DuQuoin in June, July, September and October as was the case in 2025.
On the legislative front, two bills are currently in the Illinois House Rules Committee.
House Bill 2724, which passed the Senate 49-8 during the 2025 veto session but wasn’t voted on by the House, would require the IRB to issue a license for a Standardbred track in Macon County, home of the city of Decatur. Revolutionary Racing earlier in 2025 announced plans for a harness track in Decatur that would have up to 900 gaming positions (slot machines).
House Bill 5469, introduced this year, would amend current legislation so the entity in control of a racetrack in Cook County—Hawthorne is the only one left, pending future developments— would pay $17,500 per gaming position, rather than $30,000, for the initial 720 gaming positions.