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player ready...The call to post will provide the accompaniment as Chicago plays musical racetracks next week.
Thoroughbred racing will shift to Arlington Park after Hawthorne Race Course closes its 23-day spring meet Tuesday. Arlington opens its 75th season at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The much-anticipated 107-day meet culminates with the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 26.
During the switch of venues, the thoroughbreds will race 10 consecutive programs through June 9. Arlington’s dark days will be Monday and Tuesday.
Next Friday harness racing returns to Hawthorne for the first time since 1997. The track will race 37 straight programs through July 13. Racing begins at 7:30 p.m., except for a 6:30 p.m. post on Sundays. Maywood Park runs its last June card Wednesday, and Balmoral Park concludes Thursday before picking up later in the year.
Dip dash: Illinois divisional champion Fan’s Club Mister has done his best racing in distance turf contests. He’ll do a 180-degree turnaround Saturday when he moves to the five-furlong Glassy Dip, the final stakes of the Hawthorne spring meet.
The 4-year-old has not won in four 2002 starts but enters the race off his best effort. That 1 1/2-length runner-up finish came behind Strut The Stage, one of the country’s top turf racers, in a 11/16-mile April grass allowance at Keeneland. Fan’s Club Mister will break from the rail under jockey Frank Lovato Jr.
The top contenders in the Glassy Dip’s nine-horse field include Tom Amoss’ Aloha Bold, a winner of five of six including his turf debut at the distance May 15 at Churchill Downs, and five-furlong specialist Distinctive Mr. B.