A federal bankruptcy judge in Illinois on Tuesday approved a motion that will allow Thoroughbred horsemen to access money in their purse accounts at Hawthorne Racecourse in Stickney, according to officials who attended a hearing on the track’s recent bankruptcy filing.
The approval will give Thoroughbred horsemen access to $1.11 million in purse funds that became inaccessible earlier this year after Hawthorne ran out of money to pay purses during its Standardbred meet, according to David McCaffrey, the executive director of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. Horsemen typically leave money in their purse accounts at tracks to pay bills related to training and racing.
The judge, Timothy Barnes of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, also approved a motion allowing the repayment of funds from checks that bounced late last year and earlier this year, according to McCaffrey. Those checks totaled $281,844.
The Tuesday hearing was the third held in the past eight days to consider motions related to Hawthorne’s attempt to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. The track has secured $16 million in debtor-in-possession financing, and the hearings have focused on the proper use of that money to get Hawthorne back on track.
Last week, the judge approved a motion to pay for the conversion of the track’s racing surface from a Standardbred track to a Thoroughbred track, in anticipation of the track holding a live Thoroughbred meet this spring.
On Monday, McCaffrey said in an interview that the conversion work had barely begun, and he said on Tuesday that track officials told Judge Barnes that the Thoroughbred meet is not likely to start until April 18 at the earliest. Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Hawthorne was scheduled to start its Thoroughbred meet on March 29, and at last week’s hearing the track told the court that a meet might be able to begin in the first week of April.
Track officials also said at the Tuesday hearing that Hawthrone has begun reaching out to other racetrack operators to address its delinquent simulcast bills, and that several companies are close to restoring their signals to the track and the 12 off-track betting parlors that Hawthorne operates in the Chicago area. That would allow Hawthorne to begin building up revenues to support its operations.
Hawthrone said in its bankruptcy filing that it intended to reorganize for the purpose of finding a buyer or partner that would allow the track to build and open a casino. The Illinois legislature passed a bill allowing tracks to operate casinos in 2019, but disagreements among the track’s stakeholders – including dozens of members of the Carey family, which has operated the track continuously for 117 years over four generations – and the track’s deteriorating financial condition have thwarted any casino plans.
McCaffrey said that Judge Barnes has indicated in remarks from the bench that he believes the best path forward for Hawthorne is to start a live Thoroughbred meet so that it has the ability to pursue the casino license. Under the 2019 legislation, Illinois tracks have to host live racing in order to obtain a casino license.
