Hawthorne to run 10 more dates in 2024

Hawthorne Race Course will run 78 race dates next year, running from late March to mid-October, as the Chicago-area track once again fills in the summer hole left by the closing of Arlington Park.

The Illinois Racing Board approved the 78 dates at a meeting on Thursday. The Hawthorne schedule next year will include 10 more dates than this year, when the track held 68 live racing programs, concluding on Sept. 4.

The track will race on Saturdays and Sundays from March 23 until June 1, then pick up Thursday cards after that date. The Thursday cards will be conducted at night, with a 6:30 p.m. first post. The meet will run through Oct. 13.

The Thursday cards are a minor tweak for Hawthorne, which this year ran on Wednesdays nights during the summer and fall.

Hawthorne is the sole remaining track in the Chicago area. Arlington Park ran its last meet in 2021. The property was sold by Churchill Downs Inc. to the Chicago Bears, which planned to construct a stadium at the site. Those plans are currently in limbo.

The racing board also approved 62 dates for Fairmount Park, known as FanDuel Racing, in downstate Illinois, across the river from St. Louis, running on Tuesdays and Saturdays from April 16 to Nov. 16. That’s the same number of dates approved for this year for the track.

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