Hawthorne, Chicago's last racetrack, sold to 'non-racing entity'
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Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Ill., has been sold to a developer who does not intend to continue racing at the property over the long term, according to a text that the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association sent out on Tuesday afternoon.
The text said that the track, which filed for bankruptcy in late February, was sold to a “non-racing entity.”
“At this time, all training and racing will continue as scheduled until further notice,” the text said. “We will provide updates as more information becomes available.”
A bankruptcy auction for the track was held on Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The auction was proceeding under a stalking-horse bidding process in which potential bidders had to submit bids that exceeded a $90 million bid that had already been approved by the court from a company calling itself Allimac.
David McCaffrey, the executive director of the ITHA, said on Tuesday night that he had been told that Allimac was a “land-acquisition company” and that the stalking-horse bid was accepted after no other bidders came forth to match it. McCaffrey attended the Tuesday hearing.
"We don’t know much, to be honest,” McCaffrey said. “We’re just along for the ride. We’re in no way driving the bus. I wish I had more details.”
McCaffrey said that Hawthorne management had told the ITHA to send the text to horsemen so that they would be aware that the track still planned to take entries on Thursday despite the result of the bankruptcy auction. The bid will have to be approved by the court, which has scheduled a hearing to consider the bid for July 20.
McCaffrey said that horsemen had submitted a motion to the court to tap state funding for purses through the end of the current race meet. That motion will also be heard on July 20, McCaffrey said.
The sale of Hawthorne to a developer who does not intend to seek a casino license for the track would mean the end of live racing in the Chicago area, once one of the most prominent circuits in the U.S. In 2023, Churchill Downs Inc. sold Arlington Park in the northwestern suburbs to the NFL's Chicago Bears, leaving Hawthorne as the lone Chicago track.
Hawthorne is currently owned by dozens of descendants of the track’s founder, Thomas Carey. The ownership group had pursued a partnership with a casino company since the state legislature authorized a casino at the track in 2019, but those efforts never bore any fruit.
Following its bankruptcy filing in February, Judge Timothy Barnes approved debtor-in-possession financing for the track that allowed Hawthorne to start a belated live meet in April. But field size at the track has been down considerably, and live betting handle has been roughly half of what it was during last year’s meet.
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