Hawthorne Race Course officials Wednesday said again they were close to a financing deal for a new casino, despite a recent financial crisis that has led to bounced checks and suspension of its harness racing license.
Assistant General Manager John Walsh told the Illinois Racing Board that Hawthorne President and General Manager Tim Carey was in Chicago working on the deal, though the track has had six years of failed promises to open a combination racetrack and casino, or “racino.”
“We’re working with a new partner,” Walsh said. “Someone who’s nearby and has been trusted in Illinois and in racing … (who) wants to move quickly. It’s not going to be the same old, same old. We’re actually working on something that’s going to happen.”
His announcement came after the board suspended the harness racing license at Hawthorne due to its financial difficulties. The board had canceled racing at the track Jan. 3 and 4 because of its failure to get required surety bonds. Since then, the track has canceled all its races this year.
Horsemen also disclosed at the meeting the revelation that a “judgment by confession,” typically meaning the defendant admits liability, was entered against Hawthorne Dec. 30 for $1.6 million in favor of Churchill Downs Inc.
Churchill Downs, which runs the Kentucky Derby, racing’s biggest event, had a dispute with Hawthorne over fees that caused a stop to simulcasting races, which is an important source of revenue for tracks.
Walsh said there hasn’t been a final settlement in the case, and the amount involved was actually “much lower.”
Horse owners, trainers, and breeders were extremely worried about the judgment because Hawthorne’s checks to them from past races have been rejected due to insufficient funds.
The Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association has been contacted by 66 people regarding more than $582,000 in bounced checks, said Tony Somone, executive director of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association.
“This money … is how we pay our bills,” Somone said. “Not only the feed man and the vet but how we pay our mortgages, how we make our car payments. This is what we use to live on.”
In addition, Somone claimed that Hawthorne owes the horse operators almost $700,000 in racing entry fees and a state grant that the track keeps in an account for the horsemen.
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“It’s not Hawthorne’s money,” he said. “It is the horsemen’s money.”
“We’ve tried so hard to give them the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “That time is just about out. Were just about at our breaking point if they don’t come out with something in days, something radical is going to happen.”
Board members expressed disappointment that Carey was not at the meeting.
When state lawmakers expanded gambling in 2019, they gave Hawthorne the exclusive opportunity to open a racino at its current track in west suburban Stickney, and another racino in the south suburbs, with veto power over any other proposal in the area.
In response to Hawthorne’s failure to open a racino, the state Senate in November gave bipartisan support for a bill to rescind Hawthorne’s veto power, and to allow a new track in downstate Decatur as well. The House may take up that bill in its current session.
Jeff Davis, the harness horsemen president, called on the board to lobby lawmakers to pass the bill.
“Horsemen have heard promises before,” he said. “We need evidence. We need a credible partner, not assurances.”
The track is scheduled to switch from harness racing to thoroughbred racing in March. The greatest fear of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association board President Chris Block is that they would start the meet only for Hawthorne to go bankrupt and close. That, he said, would be a “catastrophe,” because it would be too late for owners to race elsewhere this year.
On Monday, the racing board board cited Suburban Downs, which operates harness racing at Hawthorne, for “failure to provide documentation demonstrating its financial integrity,” and proof that it can meet the minimum standards of the state Horse Racing Act.
Domenic DiCera, the board’s executive director, called the decision “very difficult.”
“On January 15th, IRB requested bank statements that reflect the operating fund, and any fund related to racing operations at Suburban Downs,” DiCera said in a written statement. “Unfortunately, their financial difficulties, including failure to provide financial documents showing their ability to operate assigned 2026 race dates, have led us to suspend their license.”