A motion filed Wednesday by the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) in Hawthorne Racetrack's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings seeks to revoke the track's operational and wagering licenses. With that would go Hawthorne's authority to operate its network of approximately ten Off-Track-Betting (OTB) locations.“It is not possible for Debtor to carry on with its OTB and ADW licenses while the organization license is noncompliant and not in good standing,” the board wrote in the motion.Revocation of Hawthorne's license to operate its network of Northern Illinois-based OTBs could have a profound impact on the finances of Fairmount Park, however, with the state's lone remaining racetrack currently prohibited by statute from sending its signal further than 160-miles away from its location.During Wednesday's IRB meeting, Fairmount Park general manager, Vince Gabbert, estimated the loss of that network could translate to $2.5 million to $3 million in lost tax revenue. On top of that are potentially significant losses to Fairmount's bottom line.“We get a significant amount of handle [from the Northen Illinois OTBs]. On average, about 21% or 22% of the total handle here comes through the OTBs. The vast majority of that, about 97% of that 22%, is from up north,” said Gabbert during Wednesday's meeting.“Yes, we get a fair amount of handle out of the north,” Gabbert confirmed on Friday.Gabbert said he was unable to pin a hard figure on potential revenue losses at Fairmount, though indicated it could be well over the $1 million mark. “It would be a significant decline in our all sources handle and our ability to continue to push the product,” he added.As to a potential fix, the IRB, said Gabbert, has “broad discretionary authority” to remove the 160-mile statutory prohibition to allow Fairmount's signal to play within the Northern Illinois OTBs.“The argument that we've made to the racing board is that if we're the only licensee in the state, then it essentially registers the statute null and void from our standpoint because there's no agreed party and there's no need for protection from a signal standpoint,” said Gabbert.“The racing board has yet to really opine. [But] we feel like they have the discretionary authority to do that and to basically put us in charge of that OTB network so there's no loss of signal,” Gabbert added.TDN reached out to the IRB for comment. The story will be updated as necessary.Fairmount has also been pursuing a legislative fix to the problem.Last year, the state Senate passed SB 1473 which removes the 160-mile limit given the necessary written approval from all necessary licences.The companion bill, HB 1852, is currently in the House.The next legislative window to potentially pass that legislation, Gabbert explained, is a short two-week session called the veto session, which runs Nov. 17 to Dec. 3.“We would pursue that [House bill] and hopefully get it done during that session if we have to,” said Gabbert.“All the legislators that we've talked to and, from all the work that we've done, everybody seems like that makes sense and is supportive of us removing that 160-mile prohibition,” Gabbert added.The next hearing in Hawthorne's bankruptcy case is scheduled for Sept. 23.The post Fairmount Seeking Racing Board Or Legislative Fix To Northern Illinois OTB Quandary appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.