STICKNEY, Ill. – The Chicago horse racing circuit, once a grand hub of the sport, is in tatters. That much already was known. Churchill Downs Inc. closed Arlington Park in 2021. Hawthorne Race Course is Chicago’s last track, hosting both Thoroughbreds and Standardbred racing. At question now is how long even those tatters will exist. Hawthorne on Thursday launches what’s supposed to be a 78-day race meet that runs through late October. Entries for the first day of a race meet, especially one that ends a long hiatus on a circuit, usually are strong, attracting more entrants than will be typical on a day-to-day basis. Only 53 horses were entered when this card was drawn Sunday. Those entrants are spread across just seven races. There’s no racing again until Sunday, and Hawthorne runs two-day weeks through the end of June. Purses on Thursday, excluding Illinois awards, total $99,000. Hawthorne, according to trainer Chris Block, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, has pledged to keep average daily purse payments between $140,000 to $150,000 – down from the roughly $180,000 paid last year – as long as they can. But even those purse levels depend on money sent from Illinois state government. Dispersal of those funds is set to renew – or not renew – July 1. During the summers of 2023 and 2024, the last two Illinois tracks, Hawthorne and FanDuel Sportsbook (the former Fairmount Park) received several million dollars from surpluses in the Illinois state Horse Racing Fund. Last summer, Hawthorne’s Thoroughbred meet got $1.8 million. Another funding mechanism pays Illinois owners awards, which help keep horsemen afloat as well all the purses for Illinois-bred stakes. That funding stream, too, must be renewed this summer. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Absent the state money, purses, Block believes, will tumble again. And the purse account needs all the help it can get. Hawthorne comes into this Thoroughbred racing season with its purse account overpaid by a staggering amount – more than $13 million. The overpayment has swelled for years, and the only mechanism for paying it down centers around a Hawthorne casino. State legislation passed in 2019 allowed racetracks to apply for casino licenses, and in 2020, the Illinois Gaming Board granted Hawthorne preliminary approval to operate a casino. Hawthorne in 2021 began tearing down part of its grandstand, the first step in a casino’s construction, and Hawthorne said they hoped to have the casino open and operational during the first quarter of 2023. But when that time came, construction had long been halted. Still, Hawthorne officials publicly expressed confidence the casino project soon would restart. Two years later – nothing. Rumors have circulated at various times, including this winter, saying that a casino company was on the verge of buying the track, or that an entity would buy Hawthorne, which then would lease the facility back from the new owner. Time is running out for any rescue mission. “I truly believe that if something doesn’t happen this year, this will be it,” Block said. The pace of entries this meet should, theoretically, pick up. Horsemen who winter in warmer climates – those still willing to give Hawthorne a go – are moving their stables north. Locals have gotten only about three weeks of training since a winter harness racing meet ended and the racing surface was turned over. But more obstacles exist. As of Monday, one private veterinarian was practicing on the Hawthorne backstretch, that vet covering some 40 percent of a 400- to 500-horse population that will grow daily. A second vet recently decided to cease practicing at the track. The ITHA early this week was interviewing a Florida-based racetrack vet, hoping to lure him to Chicago. Hawthorne has scheduled four open stakes worth a total of $500,000, but if supplemental purse money doesn’t come through, those are in jeopardy. Thursday’s feature, a first-level dirt allowance (the turf course won’t open for several weeks) for older fillies and mares, drew six entrants. Block has one, as does trainer Wayne Catalano, who won nine Arlington training titles between 2000 and 2010. Arlington has been gone for more than three years. The immense Arlington grandstand was razed last year. Half of Hawthorne’s grandstand was torn down for a lifesaving casino that’s never materialized. The other half stands on shaky ground. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.