Hawthorne’s Recipe For Perfect Illinois Derby
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Hawthorne Racecourse cooked up the perfect recipe for Chicago civic pride this past Saturday for their Illinois Derby card.
Here are the rough directions, from what I could gather:
Begin with easily the city’s best day of weather on the year—mid 60s and sunny. Add solid fields throughout, headlined by the state’s richest dirt race. Finish off with some local connections in the feature race.
Mike Tice (right), Atlanta Falcons assistant coach and part owner of Midnight Hawk, sat in with Jim Miller of Hawthorne to serve as a guest handicapper. There may have been some conflicts of interests involved here, but we can all look the other way.
Fans in attendance were constantly nudged to pull for Midnight Hawk. Also included in his ownership group are Chicago Blackhawks coaches Joel Quenneville and Mike Kitchen.
Fan favorite female jockeys Rosie Napravnik and Rosemary Homeister Jr. pause for a quick photo on the track. Rosemary looks like she has her “game face” on.
A buzz started to build as the day clipped along. It’s always good to see the Derby spirit is alive and well in my hometown.
Midnight Hawk and the Chicago Blackhawks suffered a similar fate. They both held leads late, yet they ultimately couldn’t hold off their competition in crunch time.
Dynamic Impact stole the show in dramatic, dueling photo-finish fashion. Miguel Mena was aboard the victor and is pictured here displaying an, um, interesting celebratory gesture.
Nothing but good vibes all around at the track all day! Cheers to the fine horse racing fans of Chicagoland.