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CHICAGO – The Illinois Racing Board approved a stakes schedule for Hawthorne’s 2012 fall meet during a meeting Tuesday while also briefly addressing that track’s spring-meet centerpiece, the Illinois Derby, which made news when it was excluded from Churchill Downs Inc.’s revamped Kentucky Derby qualifying system.
Hawthorne’s fall-stakes centerpiece, the Grade 2, $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup will be contested Oct. 6, 2012, and Hawthorne hosts just one other graded stakes in the fall, the Grade 3 Carey on Oct. 13. But the Illinois Derby’s fate in spring 2013 is of greater immediate concern to Hawthorne, and, evidently, state racing board members. The new Kentucky Derby qualifying system allots the Derby’s maximum 20 berths to horses earning points in designated races, but horses won’t earn any points for placing in the Grade 3, $500,000 Illinois Derby, run one month before the Kentucky Derby. Arlington Park is a Churchill Downs Inc.-owned track and its chairman, Richard Duchossois, the largest Churchill stockholder. Duchossois does not have a formal operational role in the corporation, but several commissioners directed comments toward him and Arlington president Tony Petrillo on Tuesday.
Commissioner Alan Monat called Churchill’s slight of Hawthorne’s race “a terrible oversight and a big mistake,” adding that he hoped Churchill would “revisit” the qualifying system before its implementation.
“It’s our job to enhance Illinois racing,” chairman William Berry said, following similar remarks by Monat and commissioner Angelo Ciambrone. “All these matters are taken into account in coming years.”
In other racing board action:
◗ The board announced its lab would start testing for the painkilling drug dermorphin in coming days. A recently developed test for dermorphin uncovered positives in several states.
◗ Arlington received permission to institute mandatory carryover-pool payouts for its high five (pentafecta) wager before the end of its meet. The bet recently paid more than $1 million, and Arlington now can institute a mandatory payout day if the carryover pool grows similarly large again.
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No more rubber stamping stakes, etc. for Arlington from the racing board. One commosioner said "all these things are taken into account in coming years" In the long run, spitting on the face of Illinois racing is going to come back and hurt Arlington and help Illinois racing
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This is EXACTLY the reason why horseracing is a DYING sport! Everyone in horseracing should be pulling together and circling the wagons, not acting petty by stiffing Hawthorne, and Chicago racing fans, of a chance to enjoy an important Illinois Derby. Once again, as always, no concern is given to the racing fans. You know, the exact people who make the sport possible in the first place! That's OK, Mr. D, racing at Arlington sucks anyway. You may have won the battle, but you are going to lose the war.
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Mr. Duchossois is Churchill's largest stockholder. Mr. Duchossois and the interests at Hawthorn have been squabbling for awhile. Thus, Churchill squeezes out Hawthorn's Illinois Derby. How self serving. I'm glad none of this was lost on Mr. Monat. I hope Hawthorn can hold out and continue to run the Illinois Derby for another year or so, because Churchill is going to have to reconsider and revise the system they have installed as it stands today. There are far too many inequities involved in it, and far too much self-interest being catered to.
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duchossois acts like a spoiled mafia godfather. the arlington million isnt nearly as good as it use to be. now he wants to cut out the illinois derby. chicago horsemen dont want to share the casino money with the racing fan (lower the takeout). chicago horse racing is going down the tubes. synthetic track racing is boring.
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MONCLOVA galloped out strongly after closing belatedly in her second trip postward May 26, from which the runner-up exited to graduate with a 68 Beyer. The daughter of Queen's Plate winner Niigon is bred to run long, and can break through with the stretchout from six and a half furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth. BE MIND PHIL is returning on short rest off a closing second in her debut, going a mile around one turn on the grass. She has a blend of speed and stamina in her pedigree.
