The Gary Rath trained Illinois bred champion Fox Valley Ozzy (No. 3) was looking to get back on the winning track in Sunday’s ninth race at Hawthorne that was cancelled. (Four Footed Fotos) 

By Mike Paradise for the I.H.A.A.

 Old Man Winter waited a little longer to unload on northern Illinois this harness racing season. Nevertheless, when he did deliver there was no holding back. It was a powerful one-two punch.

 Blizzard like conditions dumped loads of snow this weekend and that was followed by extremely frigid weather conditions.

  Monday’s schedule program was smartly cancelled by Hawthorne management when the entries drawn last Wednesday were sparse because many trainers simply didn’t want their horses drawing in air that is expected to dip between 10 and 20 degrees below zero.

  Sunday’s 13-race card originally was a “go” but Saturday afternoon the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association and Hawthorne wisely negated that card as well, stating: “After careful and thoughtful review, in consideration of the heath and overall safety of horses and horsemen, have decided to cancel racing on Sunday due to dangerous cold and freezing conditions. “

  A decision will be made in the upcoming days whether to carry over this Sunday’s schedule program to next weekend or replace it with a new drawing on Wednesday morning.

  Winter racing in Illinois is awfully hard on the horses and horseman alike. We had a chance to chat with some Illinois based trainers on their concerns of winter harness racing in the Prairie State.

 “It can be rough for both horses and horseman,” said long-time trainer Perry Smith who has a barn of 20-plus horses. “I think the toughest part in winter for a trainer comes in preparation. I wake up in the morning and don’t know how the track is going to be. Am I going to be able to train any horses that day?

 “Bad weather can send a trainer back a day or more,” continued the Crete, Illinois resident with five decades as a horseman. “Sometimes you just don’t have good enough weather to get them ready to be raced. You have to keep a close eye on the upcoming weather forecasts and plan accordingly.”

 Jamaica Patton trains his horses at Springfield, a short distance from his home in Rochester, Illinois.

 “The Springfield crew do a decent job with the track at wintertime but sometimes the weather conditions just make it not possible to get any training done. There’s no use in complaining about it. For me, I just go with the flow and do the best I can when the bad weather arrives.

 “Shipping your horses to Hawthorne can also be a problem at times in the winter. You don’t know how the roads are going to be or if a snowstorm is coming your way.”

  Veteran conditioner Jim Eaton, who trains at the Sawgrass Farms Racing Center in Crete, Illinois (nae Balmoral Park) says his biggest concern regarding winter racing isn’t about horse racing people like himself, but the horses.

 “Sometimes you have a hard track in the winter, and if the weather turns bad it can get slippery out there and a horse can hurt himself. Also, I worry some about horses on Lasix. If it gets too cold, some horses will bleed through the Lasix. I know, I have a few.

 “As far as horses breathing in harsh cold air, I am of the opinion that because of horses’ long noses and long necks, by the time that cold air gets down to their lungs it gets warmed up some. I don’t think it affects them as much as a lot of people think it does.”