Fairmount set to resume racing; Arlington canceling events

Fairmount Park in southern Illinois is set to resume racing spectator-free following a break of more than two months necessitated by governmental restrictions enacted during March as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hawthorne Racecourse just outside Chicago also announced Wednesday it was set to resume its interrupted Standardbred meet next week.

Jim Watkins, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, the representative horsemen’s group at Fairmount, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday that Fairmount would resume racing sometime next week. The track has a card scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, but isn’t certain to race that day. Watkins said that Fairmount plans to run seven-race cards twice a week. Fairmount lost 21 racing days after closing following a spectator-free card on March 17.

Illinois coronavirus cases have dropped to the extent that the state is moving into new reopening phases outlined in a plan set forth by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. While Fairmount and Hawthorne are seizing on the chance to begin racing without fans, Arlington, one of the Midwest’s signature tracks, has publicly stated that spectator-free racing isn’t financially viable for the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned track.

Arlington on Wednesday said it was refunding tickets purchased for its Father’s Day card on June 21 and an annual Fourth of July Fireworks display. A message posted on Twitter by the Arlington International Racecourse account said the track had “made the decision to suspend the opening of our race meet, which will extend beyond our next two premium events,” referring to Father’s Day and the fireworks display.

Arlington hasn’t yet opened its stables, and given the state and more local regulations governing gathering of large groups, it’s all but impossible to see Arlington being permitted to host any meaningful crowds this summer. The track figures to be pressured by the Illinois Racing Board during a June meeting to conduct spectator-free racing, and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association has increasingly aligned itself with Hawthorne, which already has pledged to run a fall-winter Thoroughbred season.