Illinois Night of Champions moving to the State Fairgrounds
by Neil Milbert
The Illinois Department of Agriculture is taking over the Night of Champions and is planning to move the main event in Illinois harness racing from bankrupt Hawthorne Race Course in the Chicago metropolitan area in November to the State Fairgrounds in downstate Springfield in late September.
The Night of Champions consists of 12 races for Illinois-bred pacers and trotters. Last year’s purses totaled $1.1 million.
However, Hawthorne then began bouncing checks and freezing purse account funds. As a consequence, all 14 of the programs scheduled to be conducted by Hawthorne’s Suburban Downs during January and February were canceled.
The Illinois Racing Board suspended the Suburban Downs racing license on Jan. 26 because of Hawthorne’s massive stack of unpaid bills and the track declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 27.
Responding to unrelenting prodding by the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association’s executive director, Tony Somone, late last month U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Timothy Barnes issued an order enabling owners, trainers, and drivers to collect the $1,345,382 owed for bounced and uncashed checks and the $1,560,073 in frozen purse account funds.
In March, the judge had approved payments of $1.1 million in overdue purse money and $281,000 in bounced checks owed members of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. The thoroughbred meeting that was to begin on March 29 finally got underway on April 19.
The money members of the IHHA and ITHA and out-of-state simulcast creditors are getting is coming from a $20 million line of credit Hawthorne has received from JDI loans to deal with its bankruptcy situation. This line of credit will expire on Aug. 1, putting the duration of the thoroughbred meeting that is scheduled to run through Nov. 1 and the Nov. 6-Dec. 27 Suburban Downs harness meeting on shaky financial footing.
This has prompted the Department of Agriculture to make plans to perpetuate the Night of Champions. It became the state’s marquee standardbred event in 2016 after Hawthorne joined forces with its previous adversary (now-defunct) Arlington International Racecourse to force the sister harness tracks Balmoral Park and Maywood Park out of business after they went into bankruptcy because of a successful $77 million lawsuit brought by the northern Illinois casinos.
The lawsuit stemmed from a bill passed by the state legislature to renew the impact fee assessed to compensate Illinois racetracks for a downturn in handle because of casino competition. When then-Governor Rod Blagojevich didn’t sign the renewal bill Balmoral president John Johnston called one of Blagojevich’s aides, asking what the problem was.
The aide tried to shake him down for a political contribution and Johnston implied that it was forthcoming. The contribution was never made and Blagojevich signed the bill but the phone call had been taped by the FBI. Blagojevich went to prison, the casinos sued charging bribery, and when they were successful Balmoral and Maywood were forced into bankruptcy.
When the Racing Board approved the 2016 schedule consolidation jointly proposed by Arlington and Hawthorne, Balmoral and Maywood had to liquidate.
The schedule consolidation brought harness racing back to Hawthorne for the first time since 2008 but the end of racing at the sister tracks also marked the end of races of national importance in Illinois such as the American-National series at Balmoral and the Windy City Pace at Maywood.
The Night of Champions replaced Super Night at Balmoral — which was inaugurated in 1989 at now-defunct Sportsman’s Park — as the biggest event on the calendar for Illinois-breds.
At present, details of the move from Hawthorne to Springfield haven’t been solidified, according to Scott Halpin, who oversees the county fairs and horse racing for the Department of Agriculture.
“We want to use the funds [from the department] that normally go to Hawthorne to conduct that program,” Halpin said. “Our hope is to make it pari-mutuel.”
Unfortunately for IHHA members there no longer is Hawthorne purse account money available to fund weekly non-betting races during spring and summer months as has been done the past few years at Springfield and DuQuoin. Thus, for trainers and drivers who choose to remain in Illinois the only racing opportunities will be 28 programs at the county fairs.
The first pari-mutuel harness racing in the state this year won’t take place until the State Fairs. There will be pari-mutuel programs at Springfield on Aug. 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20 and at DuQuoin on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, and 2.
It remains to be seen if a buyer emerges before the July 13 target date to continue racing at Hawthorne and add casino gambling under the terms of the 2018 gambling expansion legislation.
The other option for the track that has been owned by Carey family members since 1909 is to sell the land for development as was done with Sportsman’s Park located one block from Hawthorne.
