Here is what has happened regarding the Hawthorne fiasco in the last week.

The attorney for the IHHA sent a letter to the Illinois Racing Board and Hawthorne pointing out the current violations that Hawthorne is committing. The letter urged the IRB to begin revocation proceedings. We have not received a response from that letter yet. We also followed up with a letter, specifically designed for the IRB commissioners explaining the dire situation that horsemen are currently going through. It was done as a reminder to what we had previously testified to. We were told over the weekend that these letters will be forwarded to the commissioners today.

Despite rumors of Hawthorne turning the racetrack surface over to a thoroughbred surface that has been unfounded. The local track crew did pull up pylons and put in the hub rail. However, we don’t believe that Hawthorne has the resources to begin to do much more. Right now, the thoroughbred meet is in jeopardy, although they still have time because they are not scheduled to start until March 29.

We are all frustrated by the recent actions of Hawthorne, including the limited information and missed timelines that we have received. However, late, last Friday afternoon, Hawthorne requested that we meet this Thursday, February 26. We obviously agreed. We hope to learn what their plan is to get the horsemen paid up in full as quickly as possible and how they plan on doing it. Keep in mind, we are unfortunately accustomed to the delaying of these meetings, so things can change. We hope to learn at this meeting if Hawthorne has found a new partner or lender. If they haven’t, we’ll ask again about whether they plan on filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. It seems as though they are running out of choices and time to figure this out. We have been in regular contact with the IRB and we understand they are frustrated as well. We will follow up with more information as we learn it.