With 2025 drawing to a close and the beleaguered Chicago racing community having gone two months since the last public update from Hawthorne Race Course regarding its long-promised but still unbuilt racino, you'd think the focus of Thursday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting might have involved some sort of formal request to know where Hawthorne stood on the oft-delayed project that the state legalized back in 2019 and is considered imperative for the future of racing in Illinois.
At the IRB's Sept. 18 meeting, Tim Carey, Hawthorne's president and general manager, had referenced in general terms “an issue” that Hawthorne wasn't “able to overcome with our investor,” plus a bridge loan that was coming due in October, and also a search for a new partner to help with getting a racino up and running by 2027.
Fairmount Park, the only other Thoroughbred track in Illinois, opened a temporary gaming area in its grandstand earlier this year and is working on building out the next phase of its racino in time for the start of its 2026 meet.
But Hawthorne's racino has been plagued by setbacks and financial difficulties, and the track's historic grandstand hulks half-demolished from a teardown that began in 2020 for a large-scale reconstruction project that has repeatedly stalled.
Although Hawthorne over the last several years has been praised by horsemen and regulators for being willing to shoulder the burden of a split schedule to accommodate both Thoroughbred and harness racing in greater Chicago after all other tracks vacated the market, Thoroughbreds there have been running for purses that have declined markedly since the 2021 closure of Arlington International Racecourse splintered the circuit.
Considering all that, somewhat surprisingly, the Nov. 20 IRB meeting opened with no public commentary from any stakeholders in the Thoroughbred community. (Anyone who wished to discuss any relevant racing issue had a chance to sign up to speak.)
This included the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA), which at past meetings has been quite vocal about underscoring the dire future for Chicago-area racing in the absence of a racino at Hawthorne.
Two months ago, ITHA president Chris Block had testified before the IRB that, “This upcoming year is absolutely pivotal…. Guys are really struggling to pay the bills. Owners are really struggling to stay in the game. I told this to Tim [Carey]: 'I just hope there's an industry left here to save.'”
On Thursday, it wasn't until the eight commissioners were discussing the routine approval of intertrack wagering licenses for '26 that commissioner Patricia Saccone began to prod Hawthorne about its simulcasting, which has been limited for the past year because of Hawthorne's unsettled financial obligations to signal providers.
“We're in the middle of doing some interim financing as part of our overall project,” Carey said by way of explaining repayment plans aimed at getting signals restored. “The overall [racino] project, I think I committed at the [Sept. 18] dates hearing, that there'd be an announcement, certainly in the fourth quarter. We're still planning on doing that.”
But no other commissioner followed up by asking any specifics about the racino, and an update on it wasn't a formal agenda item.
Back at the July IRB meeting, Saccone had gone on record as asking for exactly that–a standing agenda item that mandated Hawthorne to give monthly updates to the board.
But at the time Saccone made her request four months ago, IRB chairman Daniel Beiser never committed to adding the Hawthorne update as a standing agenda item, despite acknowledging Saccone's request and calling what was going on at Hawthorne an “emergency.”
So on Thursday, Saccone waited until near the end of the meeting to use the “commissioner comments” section of the agenda to once again call on Carey.
In a nearly two-minute preamble that stressed the words “transparency” (three times) and “accountability” (four times), Saccone worked her way toward asking Carey for an update on the Hawthorne racino.
“Your dedication, resilience and commitment is awe-inspiring,” Saccone said. “And you continued racing here in northern Illinois when all the others have left. But today I do have an important question that I think deserves the clarity as well as accountability.”
Carey said, “Sure,” to Saccone's request for a racino update. He then kept his remarks brief.
“We are actively moving forward with our plans. I believe we're in a good position right now. I'm not in a position to make that announcement here today. But we feel that we're in a very, very good position,” Carey said.
“So are you on track for the fourth quarter?” Saccone asked.
“Yes,” Carey said. “Yes, we're on track to make that announcement.”
Neither Saccone nor any other IRB commissioners followed up any further, and Carey offered no other details.
For the better part of the last five years, the IRB's regulatory approach toward looming existential threats has been decidedly hands-off.
As far back as 2021, TDN reported on the stunningly silent “elephant in the room” syndrome that seemed to grip the IRB.
For example, in the first six months of '21 after Churchill Downs, Inc., declared its industry-devastating intention to sell Arlington International Racecourse for “non-horse racing” purposes, the IRB did not undertake any form of action that might have staved off Arlington's closure, and board members largely avoided the topic during public meetings.
Despite the pleas for help by horsemen as Arlington neared its final days, nor did the IRB publicly pursue any endeavor that might have ensured a fair bidding process that could have helped a different operator gain control of Arlington before it got sold and demolished.
Beyond the brief dialogue that Saccone attempted to spark, the Nov. 20, 2025, meeting followed the familiar IRB playbook of not delving too deeply into controversial issues.
Minutes after Saccone's questioning of Carey, Beiser, who has chaired the IRB since April 2020, closed the meeting with a brief bit of holiday commentary that seemed disconnected from the hardships that both Hawthorne and the horsemen are facing.
“Happy Thanksgiving to everyone,” Beiser said. “Great efforts so far this year, and let's hope that [in] 2026, we can build on what we've been doing, especially the spirit of cooperation between all entities regarding healthy, prosperous horse racing in Illinois.”
The post Lone IRB Commissioner Prods Hawthorne, but Elicits Only Very General Update on Long-Overdue Racino appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
