Illinois Racing Board approved a 2026 racing calendar for the state’s two Thoroughbred tracks Thursday after stakeholders reached a compromise following extensive negotiations.
Hawthorne Race Course will host 63 race dates between Mar. 29 and Nov. 1, with 2:40 p.m. post times on Sundays and Thursdays. The Stickney track’s schedule represents a reduction from its original 80-date allocation for 2025, from which it had already eliminated 15 programs.
Fairmount Park, located 280 miles southwest of Chicago near St. Louis, will conduct 57 dates between Apr. 14 and Oct. 27, with 1:30 p.m. post times on Tuesdays and Saturdays. This marks a slight increase from its 55-date schedule in 2025.
The IRB unanimously approved the calendar after track representatives took more than an hour’s recess during the meeting to finalize details.
Illinois racing continues to navigate challenges following the 2021 closure of Arlington International Racecourse and delays in implementing racino plans at both surviving Thoroughbred venues.
Tim Carey, Hawthorne’s president and general manager, addressed the status of the track’s long-delayed racino project during the meeting.
“We came in here last year with the hope of announcing our project,” Carey said. “We had an internal issue to Hawthorne that we weren’t able to overcome with our investor. We unfortunately had to go back out to the [financing] market.”
Carey expressed optimism about the project’s future, stating they are “in a very, very good position” and anticipate making an announcement in the fourth quarter regarding construction plans, with a targeted opening in late 2027.
Fairmount Park appears further along in its gaming expansion. Track officials reported to the Illinois Gaming Board last month that owner Accel Entertainment has contracts in place to begin construction in November, with additional gaming space expected to be ready for the 2026 racing season. The track already operates a temporary casino in its grandstand.
David McCaffrey, executive director of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, highlighted the financial challenges facing Hawthorne.
“In 2022 at Hawthorne, we raced for $14 million on the Thoroughbred side,” McCaffrey said, noting the track currently houses about 650 horses. “In 2023 we raced for $13 million. In 2024 we raced for $11.5 million. This year… we’ll have raced for $9 million.”
McCaffrey emphasized the urgent need for racino development: “There is a readily available, legal, proven, dramatically effective antidote to our problems. It’s a racino… There has to be a deal that gets the casino built, or we’re going to disappear.”
ITHA president Chris Block echoed these concerns, describing 2026 as “absolutely pivotal” for the industry’s survival.
“The term ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ is pretty rampant on our backstretch. Guys are really struggling to pay the bills. Owners are really struggling to stay in the game,” Block said.
At Fairmount, the situation appears marginally better. Illinois Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association president Jim Watkins characterized their position: “We’re not on life support. We’re in the ICU. We’re still growing.” However, he added, “Our ecosystem is still quite fragile.”
Vince Gabbert, Fairmount Park’s general manager, acknowledged the compromises made in finalizing the 2026 schedule: “There’s things that we’re giving up on our end, knowing that everybody’s got a little pain in this as we work through this and try to solve some of the problems.”
The calendar negotiations were complicated by several factors, including Illinois’ limited Thoroughbred population and Hawthorne’s need to convert its racing surface twice annually to accommodate Standardbred meets.
