While there is a great deal of work that lies ahead, harness racing in Illinois may finally have found the light at the end of the tunnel that it has been seeking for many years as expanded gaming legislation, including sports betting and a slots-at-racetracks program, passed through the Illinois General Assembly and is expected to be signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker. "We've been waiting so long.  The stars aligned this year for us, and I'm thrilled to death,” said Tony Somone, Executive Director of the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association.  “Looking forward to the future. "I went from being ecstatic to feeling a little overwhelmed to feeling that all the hard work over all the years finally had paid off.  The range of emotions was all over the place. I was choked up, quite frankly, because I care so much. I know what it means to so many people.  Horse racing gets into your blood, and you just love it. We've got these folks in Illinois who, for whatever reason, decided to stay home, stick it out, work hard, and not make a whole lot of money because they love the game.  For me, to be a part of something, to get this thing headed back in the right direction, is everything. It's very, very meaningful. I'm thrilled to death, and I just can't wait to restore the pride in Illinois." Obviously, things in the industry in Illinois took a major downturn in recent years as horses and horsepeople fled the state in search of greener and more lucrative pastures. Racetracks Maywood Park and Balmoral Park were both closed, leaving harness racing with a presence just at Hawthorne Racecourse around their Thoroughbred meets, in addition to the fair circuit.  However, if everything goes according to how it was outlined in the legislation, a new Standardbred-only track will be built in the Chicago suburbs, allowing a return to an expanded calendar of perhaps 200 dates. "I think anything can only help, just for the fact that you want to create that circuit.  When we start a meet here at Hawthorne now in the summer, you're really kind of scrounging to find horses early on - from other tracks, horses that are coming off farms, and/or horses that are looking to get ready,” remarked Jim Miller, Director of Publicity at Hawthorne.  “It can only help the industry as a whole and can only help our summer meet too if you can have that year-round consistent racing here in the State of Illinois. “There is wording in the language of the bill that the other track can't be within 35 miles of Hawthorne, but there's a lot of room out here in Illinois, and a lot of horsemen stabled throughout the area.  It's one of those things where if we can draw in extra horses that are ready at the start of our meet, and then just get a nice and consistent racing schedule going year after year after year, it really does stabilize the industry as a whole here in Illinois, and that's something that we're all for." Somone concurred with Miller’s assessment of what having a two-track circuit in the Land of Lincoln means, saying, “We needed another racetrack to go along with Hawthorne, and to be able to race year-round.  That's our goal in Illinois, that's what we've always been. We like to have our families make a living here, pay their taxes here, and send their kids to school here so they don't have to be traveling on different circuits.”   According to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times, the leading candidate to obtain the license for the new track is Rick Heidner, a commercial real estate developer who also tried to buy Balmoral Park out of bankruptcy back in 2016.  Heidner is also a part owner of Gold Rush Gaming, which is one of Illinois’s biggest video gambling terminal operators. The Sun-Times also added that Heidner is interested in building the track in Orland Township, which is about 25 miles to the southwest of Chicago. “A gentleman came in and started campaigning hard to get this place in the south suburbs and build a racino,” Somone said of Heidner.  “While there's no guarantee that the racetrack will be his, he is certainly the leading candidate, and we'll see how it all shakes out.  It's very exciting; he said he would build a seven-eighths or one-mile track, and he was going to do things the right way. I certainly believe him. "He tried to buy Balmoral, but he felt that he was not treated well, so then he decided he was going to do the next thing.  He truly believes in saving jobs and giving back. I'm looking forward to working with him if, fortunately enough, he's the one who ends up with that racetrack." While the prospect of a second track is, of course, exciting, harness racing does have a strong presence currently at Hawthorne, and Miller said that will not change. If anything, it will only become more solid. “By all means, we are going to continue racing a Standardbred meet here at Hawthorne.  We want to race here, we love having the harness meet here at Hawthorne, we love having a summer harness meet,” he offered.  “It's something that you definitely want to continue to grow with. On the purse end of things, you're hoping to see your purses somewhere between triple and quadruple, and that is a goal, while at the same time maintaining and building upon on the stakes program.   “You also want to put a little influx of that money back into it for these Illinois horsemen who have stuck it out through the hard times through the years.  The breeding operations have really gone down over the course of recent years, and you need to build from the start. You need to build on the farms here in the state, start the breeding up once again here in Illinois, and build that Illinois-bred program.  That is going to take years to get back, but at least this is something where you have that boost, knowing that in the future these horses are going to be able to race for more money, and you're going to be able to bring horses back into the state.” The two State Fairs in Springfield and Du Quoin are also in line to receive some benefit from the legislation as well, with some machines put in at beer tents there to help jolt purses for Illinois Conceived and Foaled (ICF) races, along with money coming from the casino proceeds they will split with the county fairs for those ICF events. "In Springfield right now, we race four days down there during the summer, and you want to build that back up, make it a five, six, seven-day racing fair down at Springfield because it's a great facility, and Du Quoin is an excellent facility as well,” said Miller.  “You want to be able to build down there also because a lot of our horsemen that are racing here at Hawthorne are stabled down at Springfield, and life would be much easier for them if they do have that opportunity, even if it is for a shorter time, to race for good, competitive purses, and that is the goal." One other major benefit that will come as soon as slots are operational is the elimination of the controversial recapture provision, which allowed racetracks to divert funds from the purse accounts for operating costs. "Recapture goes away the day the first slot gets pulled, so you're still looking at that same amount of timing, but at the same time, it is boost,” stated Miller.  “Any given day, you're talking just taking 30-40 percent of your purses and putting that right back into the purse fund, so it's a rather large boost on that end. In the State of Illinois, it's been something that's been a battle and been discussed for many years because it's something the tracks have needed as a necessity to be able to operate, but of course, you want to be able to maintain as good of purses as you can.   “Discussions will start as soon as possible to see what we can do to start increasing purses at even an earlier time, but really for the full elimination of that, that'll begin with the opening of the casino." Harness racing in the Chicago market and in Illinois has always been important to the vitality of the sport, and while a return to the halcyon days there may be difficult to achieve, certainly the industry is on much better footing than it was, and Illinoisans anxiously await to see what comes in the following days, weeks, months, and years to come.