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Eric Gutierrez grew up on Hawthorne Race Course’s backstretch, where horses and track workers lived. He and his family crammed into a 12-by-18-foot room with a concrete floor, no bedrooms and no kitchen. His mom cooked on a propane camping stove. At least they had a bathroom, unlike some of their neighbors, who had to share a common bathroom.

The family lived above the stables, where Eric’s father and mother took care of the horses day and night, feeding, watering and cleaning up after them. When Eric stepped out onto the balcony of their dorm in west suburban Stickney, he could smell the straw from the stalls below, but he could see the skyline of Chicago in the distance, and dream of bigger things.

Eric Gutierrez stands with his father, Luis Gutierrez, in the stables on Aug. 25, 2026, where Eric would accompany his father to feed the horses at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Eric Gutierrez stands on Aug. 25, 2026, with his father, Luis Gutierrez, in the stables where Eric would accompany his father to feed the horses at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

After graduating near the top of his class at Morton East High School, Eric was admitted last year into Dartmouth College, where he is now an Ivy League sophomore doing medical research. But this summer, his family’s way of life was upended. As Hawthorne went bankrupt and closed, Eric’s family was among more than 500 residents living on the backstretch who had to find a new place to live and a new way of living.

“It’s been my life, so you get to see a chapter close and a new one open,” Eric, 18, said. “I’m sad this life is ending. But opportunities are coming outside the racetrack. So you have to keep moving forward, fighting through.”

Finding a new life

The Gutierrez family found an apartment in Cicero, not far from the racetrack. Hundreds of others made their way out, but some families weren’t so lucky.

A week before the backstretch was due to close for good, 122 adults and 49 children remained there. Many were Central American immigrants who primarily spoke Spanish and had worked most of their lives taking care of horses.

Some hadn’t found a new job yet, and had no credit history or money for two months’ down payment and a security deposit. Others were old and disabled, or had medical issues. One woman died two weeks earlier while awaiting a kidney transplant.

In response, the charitable arm of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association was working to help the residents find new homes. It held two housing fairs on the backstretch, matching residents with nonprofit groups like Catholic Charities and Rincon Family Services.

Horse stables sit empty at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney on Aug. 25, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Horse stables sit empty at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney on Aug. 25, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

The end comes as the U.S. trustee in the bankruptcy case filed a request to take away the sale proceeds from the control of Hawthorne officials, arguing their actions amounted to a “stunning failure” and “gross mismanagement.”

Hawthorne failed to pay the horsemen more than $1.3 million they say they’re owed for purses, the trustee told the court, and failed to properly plan for the relocation of backstretch workers, despite pledging to do so. Hawthorne also has racked up more than $5.2 million in professional fees this year during the bankruptcy, and won’t be able to pay all their debts even after the sale.

In addition to the residents, the horse owners and trainers had to move their operations out of the backstretch. Many fled to neighboring states where horse racing has successfully paired operations with gaming.

Trainer Larry Rivelli, the winningest trainer at both Hawthorne and Arlington International Racecourse over many recent years, relocated about 100 horses to Turfway Park in Kentucky.

Like many, he remained in disbelief that Hawthorne could not attract a casino.

“It’s an absolute tragedy,” he said. “Everybody’s shocked.”

Racing was a family business for Rivelli, whose grandfather and uncle were trainers, and who’s been around horses since he was able to walk.

While Arlington was a “Taj Mahal” of racing, Hawthorne was valued more for its history, having opened in 1891, and for having a “fantastic” racing surface, Rivelli said.

“It’s just a shame the way it worked out,” Rivelli said. “It’s a major punch in the gut.”

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The starting gate is placed to the side of the track after the last race of the day at Hawthorne Race Course, July 19, 2026, in Stickney. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)
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End of an era

The families were victims of larger forces beyond their control. The closing of Hawthorne was the final, fatal blow to an industry that once dominated the sports world in the Chicago area and nationwide. As Ernest Hemingway once described bankruptcy, it happens two ways: gradually, then suddenly.

Horse racing revenue in Illinois had been dwindling for years due to competition from casinos, the lottery, and video and sports gambling. In 2019, as part of a massive expansion of gambling, state lawmakers granted Hawthorne the authority to open a casino at the track to create a combined “racino.”

Since then, six new casinos have opened in the state, including in Rockford, Danville, Waukegan, Carterville and Chicago. The only remaining track in Illinois, Fairmount Park Casino & Racing, opened its casino in April 2025.

Fairmount found an investor that Hawthorne never did. Accel Entertainment bought Fairmount for $35 million in 2024, started with video gambling, and was spending $3 million to roll out table games this year, while boosting purses by $500,000, attracting more horses and trainers.

Meanwhile, Hawthorne’s CEO of gaming, Kevin Kline, and President Tim Carey, who court records show made a combined $877,000 in 2025 through January 2026, were unable to find a gaming partner, despite years of assurances they would. Hawthorne failed to pay its bills, which prompted a cutoff of simulcast racing from other tracks and led to a death spiral. Hawthorne filed for bankruptcy in February.

A Delaware-based shell company, Allimac 2023 LLC, was the only bidder, and agreed to buy the west suburban Stickney property for $90 million. The Real Deal reported that the actual buyer was an Austin-based company called Digital Realty that has plans to build a data center.

But such a development is far from certain. The Stickney Village Board passed a six-month moratorium on data centers, since concerns have been raised over their energy and water usage, and noise and air pollution. Mayor Mitch Milenkovic told the Tribune he opposed any such development, and trustees in neighboring Cicero also voted to oppose a data center.

In court, Hawthorne’s attorney asked to evict tenants Friday, but U.S. Judge Timothy Barnes, who said he had to look out for the residents’ welfare, kept the 4 p.m. Monday deadline for residents to move out, in advance of an anticipated closing on the sale Sept. 1.

The property has to be empty of tenants to finalize the deal, and residents may face forcible eviction.

As the end approached, families moved out, one at a time, hugging and saying goodbyes to each other outside their dorms. Many were staying in the area, in Cicero and Berwyn, while others were leaving the state.

Some 500 horses, too, had to be moved out, some rearing and fighting as they were pulled into trailers. Many of the animals were heading to out-of-state racetracks, with their trainers and work crews, while some owners were getting out of the business and retiring their livestock to farms.

Staying strong

Despite the bankruptcy, Hawthorne and its harness racing affiliate, Suburban Downs, have applied for racing dates for thoroughbred and harness racing in 2027. How they would conduct racing seems unlikely, and where they would race is a mystery.

Insiders say Tim Carey is trying to keep his license alive on the outside chance that an investor might be able to continue racing. The Illinois Racing Board was scheduled to consider the request at its next meeting in September.

Hawthorne was unusual in allowing whole families with children to live on the backstretch. Most tracks only allow workers to live there. The track provided the housing and paid for the utilities, and by law was required to help fund medical, counseling, and other services to backstretch residents.

Before Arlington International Racecourse closed in 2021, backstretch workers typically lived at one track or the other, moving with each change of the racing season between thoroughbreds generally in spring and summer and harness racing in the fall and winter.

So as residents packed up and said their goodbyes for a final time, they were giving up an entire way of life, but one that was not without its dangers. Horses would sometimes step on workers’ feet when they walked them, or occasionally bite or kick.

As a young boy, Gutierrez wanted to be one of the jockeys, some of whom also lived on the backstretch. His father let him ride on one of the horses, which almost caused Gutierrez to fall when the horse bent his head down to eat.

“I don’t think I ever rode a horse again,” he said.

In high school, Gutierrez got into a University of Illinois Chicago program called the Medicina Academy Apprentice Program to prepare Latino students to work in the medical field, and decided he wanted to be a doctor, not for animals, but for people.

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Eric Gutierrez' mother Hilda Morales, a former horse hot walker, makes chicken tamales on the family's first full-size stove in the new one-bedroom apartment in Cicero on Aug. 25, 2026. Her family used to cook on a portable propane grill in their small apartment above a horse stable at Hawthorne Race Course. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Eric Gutierrez's mother, Hilda Morales, a former horse hot walker, makes chicken tamales on the family's first full-size stove in the new one-bedroom apartment in Cicero on Aug. 25, 2026. Her family used to cook on a portable propane grill in their small apartment above a horse stable at Hawthorne Race Course. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Eric Gutierrez works on his laptop as his father, Luis Gutierrez, a former horse groomer, stands in the bedroom doorway in his family's new one-bedroom apartment in Cicero on Aug. 25, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)
Eric Gutierrez works on his laptop as his father, Luis Gutierrez, a former horse groomer, stands in the bedroom doorway in his family’s new one-bedroom apartment in Cicero on Aug. 25, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

At Dartmouth, he is researching tracking the movement and functioning of transfer RNA, to see if it can be used to treat diseases like cystic fibrosis and cancer.

Other backstretch residents, like 18-year-old Alex Aragon, were taking the farewell a little harder.

He lived with his mother, sister, and younger brother in a single dorm room.  For privacy, or to concentrate on homework, they’d take turns sitting in the bathroom.

Forced to leave, Alex’s family was able to find an apartment they think they can afford.

“It is heartbreaking, not being able to see all these families again,” Aragon said. “We’re  really a strong community, and it’s really sad everybody has to go their own way. Who knows when we’ll see each other again?”