Strong action at entry box for first two days of fall meet
STICKNEY, Ill. – Fresh off a successful Illinois Racing Board 2016 dates-award meeting Tuesday, Hawthorne Race Course starts its 51-day fall-winter race meet Friday. Hawthorne will host more harness racing than flat racing in 2016 as the only Illinois track allotted harness dates, but until then, the focus is Thoroughbreds, as has long been the case at this time of year in Chicago.
The traditional Chicago racing calendar before the industry here began fragmenting was Sportsman’s in the spring, Arlington in the summer, followed by Hawthorne in the fall, and the Hawthorne fall meet has a relatively rich history.
Moreover, it has managed to maintain decent field size despite Illinois tracks paying unsubsidized purses generated only through betting handle. Overnight purses are projected at $120,000 per day this fall; maiden special weight races are worth $20,000. But fall racing at Hawthorne usually draws decent fields. Last fall, Hawthorne averaged a respectable 8.21 starters per race, including 8.08 on dirt and 9.2 in 51 grass races.
Entries were strong for Friday’s card, 86 in nine races. Saturday’s nine-race card drew 72 horses.
“We’re excited about this meet, hopefully just trying to move it forward a little bit,” said Hawthorne president Tim Carey. “The industry in Illinois has just been so brutal.”
There are just two open stakes during the meet, the Grade 2, $250,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup on Nov. 28 and the Grade 3, $150,000 Hawthorne Derby on Oct. 17. Five $50,000 stakes are scattered across cards between Oct. 24 and Dec. 12.
Hawthorne benefited last fall from an influx of horsemen who summered at Canterbury Park, and Carey expects them to play a key role in filling races again. The Hawthorne horse population is comparable to last year’s, down slightly as the meet starts.
Local horsemen by now are accustomed to the autumnal shift from Arlington Polytrack to Hawthorne dirt; some barns handle it better than others. Jim DiVito won with three of his first eight starters last year and six of his first 12 in 2013. Hugh Robertson also started strong the first two weeks during the last two falls.
Larry Rivelli, who runs hard at Arlington, began 2 for 15 last year and 3 for 12 in 2013. Scott Becker, another Arlington heavyweight, was 2 for 19 after two weeks last year and 2 for 25 after the first two weeks in 2013.
When freezing weather comes, the main track can turn fast and speed-favoring, but both the dirt and turf courses played fair the last two Octobers. Post position lent no clear advantage in sprints or routes on turf or dirt in 2014, but inside posts held a decided edge in dirt races during the fall of 2013.
Hawthorne has changed its racing week, hosting cards on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Regular post time through the end of November is 2:10 p.m. Central before moving to 12:50 in December.
