Chicago, IL – An official with Hawthorne Race Course told the Illinois Racing Board at its Jan. 28 meeting that the Carey family, which owns the track, has a new local partner for development of a casino that was approved by the Illinois General Assembly in June 2019.
Hawthorne president and general manager Tim Carey had been scheduled to attend the meeting to provide various updates, but did not. John Walsh, the assistant general manager, did attend and provided a statement that indicated progress is being made on the project.
Walsh, who acknowledged he did not have details, said Hawthorne “is working with a new local partner who wants all of this to succeed. We’re working on something. I haven’t been so optimistic in four years.” IRB member Patricia Saccone responded: “Your optimism is honorable, but the statement should be coming from (Carey).” Walsh said Carey at the time was meeting with partners to move the project forward.
The primary focus of the first portion of the IRB meeting was comments from representatives of the Standardbred and Thoroughbred industries who expressed concerns about unpaid purse money, loss of racing dates, and frozen horsemen’s accounts. The IRB on Jan. 26 issued a statement that it had suspended the organization license of Suburban Downs—Hawthorne’s harness racing licensee—for failure to provide documentation demonstrating its financial integrity, and proof that it can meet the minimum standards outlined in the Illinois Horse Racing Act and rules contained in Title 11 of the Illinois Administrative Code.
The actions followed an IRB decision to cancel the harness races scheduled for Jan. 3-4 for failure by Suburban Downs to submit $500,000 in required surety bonds. That situation was rectified, but racing was canceled on three subsequent weekends in January. As of Jan. 28, the first eight programs of the 2026 harness meet had not been run, and it appears no racing will be held Jan, 31-Feb. 1 in light of the most recent action.
Tony Somone, executive director of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, told the IRB his office had been contact by 66 individuals who had a total of $580,000 in bounced checks—and he said there could be more. The money by legislation goes to the horsemen’s purse account, and Hawthorne serves as the custodian.
Somone noted that about $267,000 in funds came from the Illinois Department of Agriculture for stakes. There also was about $423,000 in stakes payments made by Illinois harness horsemen. In addition, he said Hawthorne owes the IHHA about $312,000 for its operations, which by legislation is paid through the purse account.
“We’re at our breaking point,” Somone said. “That money is (the horsemen’s) paychecks. We’re simply trying to get access to our own legislated money.”
IHHA president Jeff Davis said 10 of the first 14 days of the 2026 Standardbred meet have been lost—the meet officially ends Feb. 15—and he said those lost dates should be made up. Davis noted that a bill that would authorize a casino with harness racing in Macon County and remove Hawthorne’s veto of another harness casino within 35 miles of its Stickney location is under consideration by the Illinois House of Representatives, and he urged the IRB to reach out to legislators and support it.
“We need clarity and a viable path forward,” Davis said.
The harness industry was awarded only 34 racing programs at Hawthorne for 2026. Racing will be held at Springfield and DuQuoin throughout the spring and summer, but those dates have not been determined.
The Thoroughbred meet at Hawthorne is scheduled to begin late March. Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association President Chris Block said it would be “catastrophic” if the situation with the Standardbred meet carried over to the Thoroughbred meet given the fact horsemen already committed to come to Chicagoland. Block told the IRB the ITHA needs clarity, truth, and assurance that the upcoming meet will not be interrupted by Hawthorne’s financial situation.
Block also said that Hawthorne owes Thoroughbred horsemen about $572,000.
Walsh in his comments said Hawthorne ownership and employees are “disgusted” by the longtime delay in the opening of a casino of the financial issues with its bank. “We need all of this solved as soon as possible,” he said. “I think we’ll come out of this in a short amount of time, maybe two or three weeks.”