Maywood to End Meet Early Amid Troubled Times for Illinois Racing

Illinois has become the Greece of the racing world and a dark cloud of uncertainty hovers over the future of the standardbred sport in the financially devastated state.

The latest in a series of controversial developments with seemingly dire ramifications came Thursday when the Illinois Racing Board by a 5-4 vote granted Maywood Park permission to end its meeting consisting of Thursday and Friday night programs on October 2, 2015.

Thus, for the final three months of the year harness racing on the Chicago circuit will be confined to Friday and Saturday nights at Balmoral Park, Maywood’s sister track.

Depending on what happens Sept. 29 when the Racing Board awards 2016 dates the situation could go from very bad to worse for the two tracks that since December have been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.