No more Chicago area racing

by Neil Milbert

The horse and buggy era has ended in the Chicago metropolitan area.

This year, for the first time since 1945, there will be no pari-mutuel harness racing in the area.

And Chicagoland thoroughbred racing apparently hit the finish line for the last time when the final race at bankrupt Hawthorne Race Course was run on July 19, ending a continuous run for the thoroughbreds dating back to 1922 at the southwest suburban Stickney location.

The only bidder, a Delaware-based company named Allimac 23 LLC, purchased the 119-acre property earlier this month for $90 million with the intention of tearing it down and developing the land for commercial purposes.

Harness racing made its Hawthorne debut in 1970 — 24 years after the state’s inaugural pari-mutuel meeting at Maywood Park in 1946 — but since then there have been interludes with no racing.

This year, all 14 of the harness programs under the auspices of Hawthorne’s Suburban Downs subsidiary scheduled for January and February, were canceled as a consequence of the track’s bounced checks and rapidly escalating financial dilemma.

Now, because of the sale to Allimac, the meet scheduled for Nov. 6-Dec. 27 will not be held.

Thoroughbred racing began on April 19 and was scheduled to run through Nov. 1. Due to a lack of money to fund the purses, racing shriveled to Sunday only. But the thoroughbred horsemen haven’t been paid for the July 5, 12, and 19 programs and no future programs have been scheduled.

All told Hawthorne’s creditors number approximately 250 and the total amount owed by the Carey-family is estimated to be $138 million.

That’s $48 million more than Allimac paid for the property.

Therefore, Judge Timothy Barnes scheduled a hearing today (July 24) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Northern Illinois to determine how the overdue purse funds will be paid, the pecking order of the creditors and the amounts they’ll receive.

Also to be finalized is the fate of 337 adult workers, their 147 children and approximately 447 thoroughbreds in the stable area.

Earlier in the week, Judge Barnes decided to allow the backstretch to stay open through Monday (Aug. 31) to give the workers, children, and horses time to relocate.

“There are a number of moving parts here and I’m trying to stop them from moving,” Judge Barnes said. “I would be very hesitant to use the power of this court to dispossess people.”

The judge emphasized that he has a legal and constitutional obligation to consider “health and the public welfare” in addition to financial matters.

In contrast, Hawthorne attorney Barry Chatz took a calloused approach to the plight of members of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “Take your horses and go!” he told them at the day-long hearing earlier in the week.

Hawthorne president Tim Carey has issued a conciliatory statement, thanking those who have worked and competed at the track during its 117 years of family ownership.

“The outcome of the bidding process is not what we wanted, nor is it what this industry deserves,” he said. “Nevertheless, we are continuing to actively explore options to ease this transition that will affect so many people.

“To the horsemen, bettors, and our employees, please know that we never gave up and, in fact, continue to seek a path forward for Illinois racing.”

Hawthorne was one of America’s oldest racetracks. It was opened by its builder, Edward Corrigan, on May 20, 1891 and he conducted racing there until 1905 when racing was banned in Chicago.

He sold the property to Thomas Carey in 1909 and after a few unsuccessful attempts to revive racing, Carey was successful when the ban was lifted in ١٩٢٢.

Although Thomas’ great grandson, Tim Carey, has often referred to the family’s unwavering 117-year commitment to racing, the track, in fact, was run by the Chicago Business Men’s Racing Association under a lease arrangement from 1924 through 1945.

Since Arlington International Racecourse’s owner Churchill Downs, Inc. terminated racing at the palatial thoroughbred track in 2021 to kill gambling competition for the nearby Rivers Casino that it holds a 62 per cent interest in, Hawthorne has been the only racetrack in Chicagoland.

In harness racing, dual-purpose Hawthorne moved into the void after collaborating with Arlington to put Maywood and Balmoral Park out of business following their 2015 meetings. Balmoral’s American-National series and Maywood’s Windy City Pace and Galt Trot had lured some of North America’s leading harness horses annually but the move to Hawthorne meant the end of Chicago area races of national importance.