Hawthorne meet concluded with no racing, training fatalities

Hawthorne Racecourse concluded a 28-day spring meeting on June 25 during which, the track and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association announced Wednesday, there were no catastrophic breakdowns during racing or training.

That’s the good news. Less positive is the fact the track averaged just 6.67 starters in 247 races while struggling to attract bettors. To be fair, the Hawthorne spring meet always has short fields and during the 2021 winter-spring season average starters per race was even lower, 6.55, in 128 races. Total handle for the meet was $34,802,038, an average of only $1.24 million per day. Many of the meet’s early cards included eight races, but Hawthorne ran 10-race cards the last several weeks during which racing was conducted only on Friday and Saturday. Only one Hawthorne program handled more than $2 million while seven cards attracted less than $1 million in wagers.

With Hawthorne’s meet concluding last weekend, there’s no Thoroughbred racing in Chicago again until late September. Hawthorne hosts a summer Standardbred meet before Thoroughbreds return for a fall and winter meeting. Arlington, the historic home of Chicago summer Thoroughbred racing, did not seek racing dates for 2022 and its parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., reached a purchase agreement for the property with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. The sale doesn’t close until late this year or early in 2023. Earlier this week, a Chicago city government committee floated a proposal to turn Soldier Field, the Bears current home, into a domed stadium attempting to keep the Bears from leaving for Arlington.

The absence of catastrophic breakdowns during a meeting during which horses made 1,648 starts was at least one piece of good news.

“To complete this meet without a single catastrophic breakdown is a tremendous relief and a testament to the vigilance of all of us racing together at Hawthorne,” ITHA president Chris Block said in a news release.

Larry Rivelli was leading trainer during the season with 22 winners, 10 more than Scott Becker, while Jareth Loveberry won the riding title, 41-34 over Orlando Mojica.