Photograph: Hawthorn Racecourse
The horse racing and off-track betting licenses at Hawthorne have been renewed in 2026 after Hawthorne canceled Saturday and Sunday harness racing resulting from points with the Illinois Horse Racing Fee.
Hawthorne has corrected a compliance subject that induced the Horse Racing Fee to not subject an working license for 2026, based on a Monday information launch from the Illinois Thoroughbred Jockeys Affiliation. The fee has presently issued a 2026 license to Hawthorne for each Thoroughbred and Equestrian racing. Moreover, the observe has been issued a license for the Membership Hawthorn Superior Deposit Betting Platform in addition to a license for simulcasting at each the observe and OTB places.
The Illinois Harness Affiliation introduced on its web site Monday that though Hawthorne and its OTB have been cleared to reopen, the racetrack has not made any official bulletins about races scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Even with the 2026 license issued, Illinois jockeys stay involved concerning the current and way forward for Hawthorne racing. Twice within the final month, the Illinois Harness Affiliation expressed concern that members’ checks from horse tracks had been returned unpaid, which was described in December as a processing subject. The IHHA requested a letter from the financial institution to substantiate that the cost subject was actually a glitch and never an absence of funds, however mentioned solely that it acquired assurances from racetrack president and basic supervisor Tim Carey that it had the funds to pay the test.
A on line casino challenge introduced in 2019 after Illinois handed a legislation permitting playing at racetracks within the state additionally stays stalled. After the announcement, the observe closed most of its grandstand in preparation for development, however development on the on line casino has not but begun. Carey mentioned on the Illinois Horse Racing Fee’s September assembly that he anticipated to announce the standing of the on line casino plan someday within the fourth quarter of 2025, however that point has handed with none such announcement.
