Thursday, January 22 Update
Hawthorne Racecourse has again requested approval from the Illinois Racing Board to vacate the Jan. 24–25 race dates, as its banking issues remain unresolved.
This marks yet another weekend where racing cannot proceed because horsemen cannot be paid. We have formally asked the Illinois Racing Board to begin discussing alternative options, as repeating this same outcome week after week is not workable for horsemen or the industry.
Our position remains unchanged: racing should not resume until horsemen have reliable access to their earned funds. We will provide further updates as soon as they are available.
Sincerely,
Jeff Davis
President
Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association
Friday, January 16 Update
Hawthorne has informed the Illinois Racing Board that it will vacate this weekend’s race dates due to its unresolved banking issue. The IHHA has agreed with this decision. However, there will be purse distribution this week: Hawthorne has committed to distributing the purse money equally among all horses entered in each race that was scheduled for this weekend. These funds will be reflected in horsemen’s accounts in the coming days and will be available once the banking issue is resolved. Hawthorne has stated it is confident the situation will be resolved in the upcoming week and intends to resume racing next weekend.
Entries for the January 24–25 race dates will be taken through Thursday at 9:00 a.m.
We appreciate your patience as we continue working to ensure every horseman receives the money they are owed.
Thursday, January 15, Update 6:00pm
As of this evening, Hawthorne’s banking issue remains unresolved, though they believe it could be resolved by tomorrow morning (Friday). We have been informed that no definitive answer will be available until Friday morning, at which time we will make a final decision regarding racing this weekend. We understand this delay is frustrating, but we expect to have clear guidance by midday Friday at the latest.
Our top priority is ensuring that all horsemen receive the funds they are owed. This means making sure any checks that were returned for non-sufficient funds are reissued and honored, and that every horseman has full access to the money in their account. We will only proceed with racing if horsemen have access to all of their funds, including those reissued checks, and Hawthorne’s management agrees with this stance. We don’t like postponing decisions, but we are putting your access to your earnings first. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this issue.
Wednesday, January 14, Update 6:00pm
As of Wednesday, January 14 at 6:00pm, we have not gotten a definitive commitment from Hawthorne regarding this weekend's races. There are ongoing conversations between Hawthorne and their bank that will continue tomorrow morning. The draw will remain at 9am tomorrow. You should enter your horse and assume we will race. An official decision will be made regarding the weekend races tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon. We will let you know soon after that. Thanks.
Friday, January 9, 7:30pm
Hawthorne racetrack and the IHHA have mutually agreed that during this difficult situation it would be best to vacate our races this weekend. These postponed days will be made up going forward. We are hopeful this issue will be resolved soon.
Monday, January 5th Update:
We have been told that Hawthorne and it's OTB's have been allowed to reopen. We have not been officially told yet that we are good to race for this weekend, January 9 and 10. We hope to hear some good news soon but as of now, we have not. You should enter your horse, assuming we will race. And hopefully we learn more. Stay tuned.
Here a few national stories on the last few days.
https://paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/illinois-racing-board-shuts-down-hawthorne-harness-meet-otb-network
https://harnessracingupdate.com/2026/01/04/racing-halted-in-chicago-as-hawthorne-bounces-checks-to-horsepeople/
10:00 p.m. Update:
Racing now cancelled this weekend January 3-4 due to Illinois Racing Board mandate. We will update everyone when we learn more.
11:00 a.m. IHHA Update On Recent Bounced Checks.
Dear Members,
For the second time in a matter of weeks, the Illinois Harness Horsemen’s Association (IHHA) has been made aware that checks issued by Hawthorne Race Course have been returned unpaid by banks. This is another embarrassing failure of Hawthorne Race Course.
To that end, we are publicly calling on Hawthorne to provide a letter from their bank TODAY stating that these returned payments are indeed a glitch in their system and not a lack of available funds in their account.
We cannot take Hawthorne's word that this second round of bounced checks is an anomaly. Horsemen's livelihoods depend on this money and we are well beyond the point where we can trust what Hawthorne tells us.
Sincerely,
Jeff Davis
President
Illinois Harness Horsemen's Association
Updated at 8pm
As of tonight, Hawthorne has not provided the requested letter from its bank regarding the returned horsemen’s payments.
Tim Carey has assured both the IHHA and the Illinois Racing Board that the funds are available and that everyone will be paid. We are insisting this be resolved immediately and handled consistently for every horseman.
The IHHA has notified and discussed this matter with legislative leaders, and we will continue working directly with the Illinois Racing Board to ensure these payments are made properly and that horsemen are made whole.
Racing will go on as scheduled this weekend. ”
Racing now cancelled this weekend January 3-4 due to Illinois Racing Board mandate