This wasn't easy. Since Hawthorne last ran a Thoroughbred race, checks have bounced to harness horsemen, the Illinois Racing Board pulled the plug on last year's Standardbred meet, the owners have declared bankruptcy, and there still has been no concrete news on when or how a casino might be built at the track. Way back in 2019, legislation was approved that allowed Illinois racetracks to operate casinos. Hawthorne's casino project has remained in limbo ever since.Hawthorne filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 27, a move that actually helped pave the way to having a 2026 Thoroughbred meet. It allowed Hawthorne to distance itself from some of its creditors and allowed the track to secure temporary funding of around $16 million from JDI Loans.Racing will resume Sunday, three weeks later than the meet was supposed to begin, and the total number of racing dates has been cut from 63 to 57. If the opening-day card is any indication, filling races might be a serious problem. Hawthorne was able to schedule just seven races on a card that attracted just 42 horses. According to Chris Block, the president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, there are between 400 and 410 horses on the grounds. He also said that the daily average purses will drop from about $130,000 to $110,000.Block, who has expressed numerous times his fears that Hawthorne will not be able to continue to operate, is at least pleased to see that racing is set to return to the Chicago area.“To get racing going again will definitely help our horsemen, who have been waiting for quite some time with so much uncertainty,” Block said. “At least we have something to look forward to here, getting the meet started.”Will the meet continue through the scheduled closing day, Nov. 1?“I have guarded optimism,” Block said.He is wary. Block believes that the best chance Hawthorne has is for the Carey family, which has operated the track for more than 117 years, to step aside and sell the track to a company or an individual who has the financing and the wherewithal to fast-track the casino project.“I think you need to find a buyer for Hawthorne Park to keep it as a racetrack and a racino, or it's going to be closed,” Block said. “There's an avenue where an entity comes in, doesn't want the Carey family involved, and buys it outright and takes it forward as a track, and builds a casino and makes it a racino operation. I go to bed every night and I wake up and go 24 hours a day hoping and praying that there's going to be an entity that comes in here and buys Hawthorne, keeps it as a racetrack, builds a racino, and helps rebuild Northern Illinois racing over the next few years. ”That's one scenario. Another is that the Careys take on a partner that can finally get the project going and a casino open within a reasonable period of time.Appearing before the Illinois Racing Board in January, Hawthorne Assistant General Manager John Walsh expressed optimism that a deal would soon be reached.“We're working with a new partner, someone nearby, someone interested in Illinois and Illinois racing, who really wants all of this to succeed and move quickly,” Walsh said.But Hawthorne ownership and management have not issued an update in months regarding their pursuit of a casino partner in months.Still another scenario that Block envisions is perhaps the most dire one. He believes the track could be sold to a company interested only in its value as land and, therefore, will not pursue a future that includes horse racing.“There's the possibility that it just gets sold outright for its ground and only for the ground,” Block said. “And, therefore, the track would close and be demolished. And that would mean the end of Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing in Northern Illinois. That would be the scenario that would be the end for us.”Block doesn't try to hide his frustration.“I've sugarcoated a lot of stuff over the last seven years, kept my mouth shut and just tried to march forward to give the Careys the room to be able to do what they can do,” he said. “But we should never have been in this position. We should not. And we are. Hawthorne is still a very good location for a racino. It's just whether or not somebody's willing to come in and take the risk seven years after the gaming bill was approved and the license was granted, with there now being more competition for the gaming dollar than ever. That's the question. This is basically just a dead industry, and we're just trying to hope that within the next 60 days there's a savior that comes in and saves us all. That's the bottom line.”The first race of the 2026 Hawthorne meet, one that consists of just four horses, kicks off Sunday at 2:40 p.m. Central time. Will it mark the beginning of the end or the start of a new and better era for Hawthorne, the last remaining racetrack in the Chicago area? It shouldn't take long to find out.The post Hawthorne Set to Re-Open But Horsemen Still Skeptical About Its Future appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.