Illinois track applications for 2023 leave Chicago-area Thoroughbred dates wide open

CHICAGO – Applications filed by what remains of the Illinois racing industry for 2023 racing dates were released Friday by the Illinois Racing Board.

Hawthorne Racecourse, the lone remaining Chicago track to host Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing, essentially punted on deciding yet how its 2023 racing schedule would look. Hawthorne, which conducts a Standardbred meet as Suburban Downs, applied for 365 days of Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing next year. That just means that Hawthorne, representatives of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association, and the board will hash out a 2023 schedule before the board awards 2023 race dates later this summer.

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Hawthorne in 2022 hosted a harness racing meet during the winter before Thoroughbreds raced from March to mid-June, but, with Churchill Downs Inc. shuttering Arlington Park this year, there is no Thoroughbred racing now in the Chicago area, which once had four Thoroughbred tracks. A summer harness meet at Hawthorne concludes in mid-September at which point Thoroughbred races fill out the rest of this year’s Chicago calendar. Thoroughbred horsemen are seeking a larger uninterrupted block of racing days in 2023 after stables had to find new summer quarters this year.

Fanduel Sportsbook and Horseracing, the rebranded Fairmount Park, applied for 150 days between March 11 and Nov. 19.