Hope for "Gushing Wound That Is Illinois Horse Racing"?

There are some glimmers of hope on the horizon for what the executive director of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association describes as the "gushing wound that is Illinois horse racing."

One glimmer, ITHA's David McCaffrey told the Illinois Racing Board during its June 15 meeting, is a $5.1 million windfall for purse accounts approved during the spring session of the legislature. Another came with the promise of movement on long-delayed construction of a racino at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, the former Fairmount Park | BloodHorse.com Track Profile">Fairmount Park, in the southwestern part of the state across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Thanks to a collaborative effort involving horsemen, tracks, and the IRB, McCaffrey said, the Illinois General Assembly has approved the allocation of $5.1 million from a surplus in the Horse Racing Fund to purse accounts. The money will be shared among Thoroughbred horsemen at Hawthorne Race Course, harness horsemen that compete there, and Fairmount.

"This is a terrific Band-Aid," McCaffrey said. "Make no mistake. It's a Band-Aid on a gushing wound that is Illinois racing because things are at their all-time worst right now. But this is a big plus. ... But hopefully it gives us a bridge to get to racinos when they start producing some revenue."

And that comment surfaced another bright spot on the horizon.

The legislature approved racinos at Illinois tracks in 2019 amid expectations gaming revenue would lift the industry back to the top tiers of United States racing. But Churchill Downs Inc. opted first not to apply for a gaming license at Arlington International Racecourse, then to close that track, the state's flagship operation. And plans for racinos at both Hawthorne and Fairmount languished even after they were given preliminary approvals by the Illinois Gaming Board.

Now, Fairmount appears poised to move on construction. President and general manager Melissa Helton said she is awaiting final revisions from the architect and, pending further approvals from the IGB, will be ready to start construction later this year.

"We would be ready to open the doors a year after that," she said.

The advent of racino operations would trigger several funding changes involving tracks beyond additional purse money. It would eliminate a major drain on purse accounts designed to safeguard tracks from loss of revenue due to simulcasting. And it would mandate spending to improve backstretch conditions.

Another major problem facing the Illinois industry remains unresolved. With the demise of Arlington, Hawthorne is the only remaining track in the Chicago area and thus conducts both Thoroughbred and Standardbred meets. The 2019 gaming expansion law authorized the construction of a new harness racino in the south Chicago suburbs, which would free up Hawthorne to concentrate on Thoroughbreds.

An early effort to get that track going fell by the wayside and there are no current plans.

McCaffrey, whose organization through the years has had many adversarial moments with both tracks and the IRB, was nonetheless complimentary about the collaborative effort that produced the $5.1 million windfall from a fund generated through a 1.5% tax on wagers.

"We needed to pass a bill to make this happen," he said. "As the session progressed, we stayed in very close contact with the governor's office, the Illinois Department of Ag. ... (Hawthorne President) Tim Carey and his staff, were all engaged in the process. And, lo and behold, on the final day of the session, half of the surplus of the Horse Racing Fund is directed now to purses."

McCaffrey noted IRB chairman Daniel Beiser "has spoken eloquently of racing being like a wheel and there are all sorts of spokes on the wheel. One of those spokes would be the regulatory group. Another spoke is the horsemen group, made up of jockeys and drivers and trainers and owners and grooms and all the backstretch workers.

"It is on behalf of that spoke that I want to come here and thank you for the collaborative effort."