The aim is to find a buyer who wants it for a racinoA lawyer representing Hawthorne Race Course in the track's Chapter 11 bankruptcy attempt to restructure between $100 and $500 million in debt told the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) on Wednesday that the track's ownership has asked a federal judge for a time extension that, if granted, could accommodate a potential auction of the property by early August.Both Tim Carey, the president of the family-owned Hawthorne, and his bankruptcy attorney, Barry Chatz, underscored during their update to commissioners at the June 17 meeting that the current ownership's first preference is to sell to a buyer whose priority would be to keep racing alive at the 135-year-old Hawthorne and to follow through on building a racino within the historic track's gutted grandstand.Chatz said numerous buyers have toured the property in recent weeks, but that the current court-ordered bidding deadline of June 26 is coming up too soon for interested parties to perform proper due diligence. He said the request to the court was filed June 16 and that a hearing on the matter has been docketed for June 23.“We have multiple, ongoing, business-concern parties who are very interested in the racino opportunity as well as continuing racing,” Chatz said.“We're asking that we move the bid deadline to July 29, [and] that if there [are] multiple parties, that we have an auction on Aug. 4 or 5,” Chatz said. “[Then] we'd be at a sale hearing on or around Aug. 10.”Chatz said he was not at liberty to divulge specific potential buyers. But he told the IRB that at least one was “from a company that you'd be very aware of.”Chatz continued: “I know our financial advisors met with a very enthusiastic other party [Tuesday] night for dinner [and that this potential buyer has] been working on this for weeks now. So I think this could come about more quickly.“And why I'm saying to [IRB staff to] get ready [is because] these folks need to get their applications in,” Chatz said. “They need to get the data to you all, so you can make the best business decision, and hopefully have approvals, so we can have an active party that makes you all comfortable [with licensing].”Dates requests for 2027 race meets in Illinois are due July 31.“We will know, in later July, what the outcome likely looks like,” Chatz said.Illinois legalized casinos at racetracks back in 2019. But Hawthorne's attempt to turn its track into a racino has been plagued by setbacks, financial difficulties, missed deadlines and empty promises. The grandstand now hulks half-demolished from a teardown that began in 2020 for a large-scale reconstruction project that never truly began.Early in 2026, Hawthorne's Standardbred meet was suspended by the IRB because of “failure to provide documentation demonstrating its financial integrity, and proof that they can meet the minimum standards” as outlined in state law.Hawthorne and its related companies filed for a Chapter 11 reorganization on Feb. 27, and the start of the Thoroughbred meet scheduled for Mar. 29-Nov. 1 got delayed until Apr. 19.“We have tours of the track pretty much daily right now. with respect to parties who are interested in the business operations and the assets,” Chatz said. “Racing is vigorous. Attendance is pretty darn good. We'd like revenues to be better. The revenues in our OTBs are not as strong as we'd like them to be.”Carey acknowledged that while Hawthorne's abandoned grandstand might look like the cutting edge of urban decay to some, he envisions it–and is pitching it–as a “green field” of opportunity to potential investors.“The number one thing is they can't believe how much we've done, the fact that we've gutted it,” Carey said. “I know from a racing perspective [or] from watching it on TV [the site doesn't look appealing]. I feel for the horsemen, because they see from the barn area to the building that's gutted. I don't ever see that. I see from where I'm at to the barn area [and the view beyond]. I mean, it's just a spectacular skyline [of] the city.”Carey continued: “People are very excited about when they see the building, when they see the opportunity, and they stand on the third floor of the grandstand and they look out to the racetrack. And we have all our permitted drawings that we already have approved by the town of Stickney.“They see the drawings, and then they walk the building, and they get it, you know?” Carey said. “It's nice to see people that truly want to see horse racing survive.”Carey added that existing–but similarly unfulfilled–business plans that his company has for a separate Standardbred racino at another regional location are also under consideration for purchase by at least some of the potential buyers.“So it's not going to be just Hawthorne,” Carey said. “They really are honing in on that second location and helping out the harness guys.”Chatz described the overall feeling as “a kind of tempered excitement.” He then detailed how the process has evolved recently and how it might play out in the near term.“We came to the conclusion with our advisors that what we had was a very short process, and this isn't the sale of a house,” Chatz said. “This is potentially [an] over-$100 million sale of an opportunity to build a casino, which requires potentially tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. And because of that, the parties that are interested need some more time.“So I think [Hawthorne's deadline extension] request is very fair,” Chatz said. “It's going to cost more money in the process. That's what we have to negotiate with the creditors. We're hopeful that we can do that and get their approvals.”“Here's what we're hoping for, if I'm going to 'game plan,'” Chatz said. “We may have what's called a 'stalking horse' bidder who sets a baseline price, and then other parties have a right to bid in increments above it. Or we just have multiple parties who make themselves eligible to bid, which means putting down a pretty substantial deposit, and then participating in an auction that could go on for a very lengthy period of time.“Why we need [the IRB's] support, assuming these are four, five, or more parties who are interested in the racino and horse racing opportunities, [is] we need them cleared, because we don't want to have people participating if they can't be licensed, or at least get beyond that first check-off box,” Chatz said.“So it's hopeful that we will have a very fertile caution. If there's one bidder, or just others that we don't believe are qualified because they put contingencies into their agreements, we will agree to that and submit that to the court,” Chatz said.Prodded by one commissioner to disclose potential pitfalls, Chatz said this:“I could go for over 20 minutes on the things that could come at us this way or that way. But we're communicating with everybody. We would have hoped that [a deal] had come to fruition more quickly. However, as I said, it's a lot of money, and I respect that people need to do their fair diligence in order to get comfortable with this opportunity.“[And] now that we're kind of 'focusing on the focus,' [rather] than just trying to make sure the past things are remedied, we will be putting together a [contingency] plan” in case the auction to use the property for a racino doesn't work out.“You know, this is a lovely real estate play,” Chatz said. “There is a no place [in greater Chicago] for industrial [development] like this. It's a hundred acres. We have a lot of people looking at it.”Carey told the IRB that he believes Hawthorne has at least one thing going for it in bankruptcy court: the judge handling the case is a Thoroughbred racing fan.“The judge that we have, he's been extremely understanding,” Carey said. “The last hearing that we had, he mentioned that he was at the [GI] Belmont [Stakes] at Saratoga. It certainly helps to have a guy like that, and he recognizes the significance of this business in terms of keeping this business going.“And I can assure you, that's the true intent, what we're doing here,” said Carey.The post Hawthorne Bankruptcy Auction Could Happen By August appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.