Illinois harness racing resumes at Springfield and DuQuoin
by Neil Milbert
Mini meetings at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the DuQuoin State Fair are bringing pari-mutuel betting on harness racing back to Illinois this month for the first time since late February and celebrating the occasion will be appearances by an all-time great, the 10-year-old gelding Fox Valley Gemini, as well as Cash Money Twenty, the state’s 2024 Horse of the Year based on his accomplishments as a freshman.
The Springfield races began Thursday (Aug. 7) and were scheduled to continue today and Saturday of this week followed by programs next Monday and Tuesday for a total of five cards.
The scene will shift to DuQuoin at the end of the month for programs on Aug. 25, 26 and 27.
Thereafter, there will only be non-betting races through October at Springfield and DuQuoin before the resumption of pari-mutuel competition at Hawthorne Race Course on Nov. 7. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday night races at Hawthorne are scheduled to continue through Dec. 30, but the meeting is expected to be extended into 2025 when the Illinois Racing Board drafts next year’s harness and thoroughbred schedules on Sept. 18.
That was the case this year when the Hawthorne continued fall/winter racing through Feb. 23 before the thoroughbreds moved into the Chicagoland track that they time-share with the standardbreds.
Since then, starting in June, the harness horses remaining in the state have been competing in non-betting races at Springfield and DuQuoin funded mainly by the Hawthorne purse account, and at the 27 Illinois county fairs. A significant number of trainers stable year-round at the two fairgrounds. Springfield is 175 miles from Hawthorne and DuQuoin is 313 miles from the only racetrack remaining in the Chicago metropolitan area that once had seven tracks.
Purses for Thursday’s races were a paltry $35,000 but they increased to $78,000 for today and $64,000 on Saturday. There were 13 races on all three programs and the last two programs featured Illinois Colt Stakes competition.
Fox Valley Gemini and Cash Money Twenty both were scheduled to race on Saturday with Hawthorne’s perennial driving champion Casey Leonard in the sulky.
Fox Valley Gemini will have four opponents in the $3,500 fifth race for aged horse and gelding pacers.
His claim to fame is being the most accomplished horse in Hawthorne’s 134-year history of thoroughbred and harness racing (that began in 1970) by virtue of his unprecedented triumphs six years in a row on the Night of Champions, the state’s main event for Illinois-bred pacers and trotters.
Owned by Jim Ballinger and trained by Casey’s father, Terry Leonard, the gelded son of Yankee Skyscraper this year has a five-race record of two wins and one place for earnings of $6,396. His 149-race career composite reads 66-31-18 for a bankroll of $783,171 and his best time is 1:49.2 as a 6-year-old at Hawthorne.
Cash Money Twenty is going against seven horses in the $6,000 ninth race for 3-year-old colt and gelding pacers. The gelded son of Stevensville is owned by William and Sherrie Bycroft and trained by Mike Brink. En route to becoming the 2024 Horse of the Year he had 11 victories and one second in 12 starts and earnings of $229,395. His biggest conquest came in the $206,253 Incredible Finale, richest of the 12 championship races for Illinois-breds.
This year, Cash Money Twenty’s four-race resume shows three triumphs and a second and $23,142 in earnings.
Three other 2024 state champions are scheduled to compete Saturday — older male trotter Niko Man in the $7,000 third race, Thebeautifulthings in the $6,000 sixth race for 3-year-old filly pacers and Fox Valley Tessa in the 13th, a $3,500 race for filly and mare pacers 4 and up.
Kyle Husted trains and drives Thebeautifulthings, winner of nine of 10 starts last year when she was the champion 2-year-old filly pacer, and Fox Valley Tessa, winner of the $189,701 Plum Peachy as an 11-1 longshot and two subsequent races to earn the 3-year-old filly pacer title by virtue of her strong finish.
In addition to Casey Leonard and Husted, included on the list of high profile drivers at the State Fairs are Kyle Wilfong and Marcus Miller, both of whom are based out of state.
After being regulars on the Chicago circuit for years, Wilfong and his trainer/father Brett are now headquartered at Hoosier Park.
According to Kyle, his father has sent some Illinois-breds to Brink in Illinois “to try to make stakes horses out of them.”
He said his trainer/wife, the former Nicole Agosti, gave birth to a baby girl named Parker on June 18 “and that has cut into us being able to head over to Illinois more often.
“I have hopes of showing up on Saturday and driving in some eliminations and coming back next week for the finals and again at the end of the month at DuQuoin. I do miss everybody in Illinois but [under the present conditions] it just wasn’t working economically for us to stay there.”
Leonard has stayed to drive in the non-betting races and at seven of the county fairs.
“Because of all the rainouts at Springfield and DuQuoin, county fair racing has accounted for the lion’s share of our horses’ earnings,” he said. “That shines a light on how bad conditions are here in Illinois.”
Purses at the State Fair races are significantly lower than they were last year as a consequence of losing supplemental money from the Department of Agriculture because of the state’s budget crisis.
After the state approved casino gambling at racetracks in 2019, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI) shut down and sold its world-renowned Chicagoland thoroughbred track, Arlington International Racecourse, with the stipulation that there be no racing, casino gambling or sports betting at the location.
This was a blatant attempt to wipe out competition for the nearby Rivers Casino in which it owns a 62 per cent interest. The palatial track was bought by the Chicago Bears of the NFL who demolished it to lower their real estate tax bill.
Hawthorne, meanwhile, announced plans to build a $400 million casino on its property and began tearing down the clubhouse and grandstand in 2020 but the reconstruction project stalled because of the track’s inability to get financing and it remains in limbo.
Leaders of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association (IHHA) went to the spring session of the legislature , trying to persuade lawmakers to repeal the 35-mile limit that prevents another track from being built inside that boundary from Hawthorne and to support an attempt by Larry Lucas and his son, Connor, to win permission to build a racetrack casino in Decatur.
Neither proposal was voted on.
“I was very disappointed we didn’t get to move our bills,” IHHA President Jeff Davis said.
“Now the big dogs in the gaming industry are the video gaming machines (at convenience stores, bars and restaurants and truck stops). They oppose Decatur (as the site of a racino) because they have a couple hundred video gaming positions we would be competing with.”
Decatur is a medium-sized city located 175 miles south of Hawthorne. It is within driving distance of three prosperous and vibrant metropolitan areas — 39 miles from the state capital in Springfield, 46 miles from Bloomington-Normal (home of Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University) and 49 miles from Champaign-Urbana (home of the University of Illinois).
Davis is hoping that compromises can be worked out at the fall veto session of the legislature that would remove the 35-mile barrier protecting Hawthorne from competition and enable the proposed Decatur racino to become a reality.
“Video gaming is illegal in Chicago and the video gaming industry wants access,” he said. “If they can find a way to get access to Chicago they won’t care about Decatur.”
Meantime, purses at Hawthorne have shriveled and the foal numbers that increased dramatically after casino gambling at Illinois racetracks was legalized in 2019 have declined significantly.
The people who raise and race standardbreds in Illinois are hoping and praying that a casino at Hawthorne finally becomes a reality, that the 35-mile boundary is abolished and Decatur gets its racetrack/casino.
“It’s another year of hanging in there,” IHHA executive director Tony Somone said as he contemplated the status quo going into the eight days of racing at the State Fairs this month.
“It’s a testament to the Illinois horsemen that they are sticking with it during these incredibly difficult times. Hopefully, they will one day be rewarded with more prosperous times.”
