Hawthorne Racecourse, the Chicago-area Thoroughbred track currently undergoing bankruptcy reorganization, opens its live meet Sunday after a roughly three-week delay due to the track’s recent bankruptcy filing. The track has drawn seven races, all of them claiming or maiden claiming, for its opening-day card, attracting a total of 42 horses. The total amount of purses for the seven races is $82,500, or an average of just less than $12,000 per race, far below the overall industry average of $41,517 in 2025. Earlier this year, it was doubtful Hawthorne would hold a Thoroughbred meet at all. In January, the Illinois Racing Board revoked its harness racing license after the track failed to pay out purses owed to Standardbred horsemen. Late in February, the track’s owners – a conglomeration of dozens of individuals descended from its founder, Thomas Carey – filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “I would say I thought at the time that we were maybe 50-50 to hold a meet,” said David McCaffery, executive director of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. “Right now, I’m just glad we’re opening on Sunday.” At the time of the bankruptcy, horsemen hadn’t been paid in months, and existing accounts had been frozen. What’s more, the track hadn’t paid most of its simulcast providers in more than a year, and those companies had all pulled their signals from the track and its 11 Chicago-area offtrack betting parlors, depriving the track of year-round revenue. But since then, the bankruptcy judge presiding over the reorganization has approved the release of approximately $8 million in debtor-in-possession financing, along with conditions requiring the track to pay its simulcast bills and its Thoroughbred purses. The OTBs are back in business, offering simulcasts seven days a week, with the track planning to offer live racing two days a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. However, McCaffery said that little that happens on the track over the next three months will matter to the long-term future of Hawthorne. Instead, he has circled July 4 on his calendar, because that is how long Hawthorne’s current sources of funding can continue to support a live race meet. “What happens on the track between now and then is almost irrelevant,” McCaffery said. In 2019, the Illinois legislature approved a bill allowing racetracks to open casinos on their property. Although the bill didn’t stop Churchill Downs Inc. from selling off Arlington Racecourse in the northwest Chicago suburbs, the Carey family viewed the bill as the only way forward for Hawthorne. Still, none of the owners’ plans to build and open a casino have panned out. On Monday, track officials are scheduled to appear again before the bankruptcy judge, seeking approval for the release of an additional $8 million in debtor-in-possession financing. That would pave the way for a deal to get done. By July 4, McCaffery said, Hawthorne needs to have a deal in place to finally pursue the construction of a casino. Track officials said in their bankruptcy plan that a casino deal or outright sale to a casino developer was their highest priority. “If it happens, we’ll be in tall cotton,” McCaffery said. “If it doesn’t happen, it looks very bleak.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.