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Hawthorne Race Course
Contact : (708)
780-3700
For Immediate
Release
High Expectations for Hawthorne Spring Meet
Larger Purses, More Horses, Better Wagering
Options for Meet Opening Friday
STICKNEY,
IL – Opening Day entries were taken for the
start of the Hawthorne spring
thoroughbred meet and the full entry box for the opener is a
good sign of the high expectations for the meet which begins
Friday at 1:40 PM. A total of 95 horses were entered to
comprise the nine-race opening day card with 91 in the body of
the races which includes a solid Illinois-bred maiden allowance
field, an Illinois-bred allowance contest, and the featured
$35,000 optional claiming allowance race as part of the Friday
card.
Prior to the start of last fall’s Hawthorne meet, impact fee
monies that had been held up in the court system for years were
released and Hawthorne and horsemen saw a boost to purses along
with a return to five day a week racing that produced a solid
8.6 starters per race. This spring, the increased purses
continue and additional incentives for larger fields will be
offered for all races.
The
increase in purses, in addition to a mild winter, has allowed
for horsemen to continue training through the break and the
horsemen have shown their support. When the spring meet opened
in 2011, only 950 horses were stabled at
Hawthorne and many were behind on training due to the
largest snowfall in years, including a blizzard that dropped
more than two feet of snow just a week before the meet. This
year, the count on the backstretch is already over 1,300 horses
with more arriving daily. Inquiries for stalls are still coming
in and, with only two days of training missed the entire winter
many more horses are fit and ready to run.
The
strong horse population can be seen throughout the backside.
Mainstays Frank Kirby (60 stalls), Mike Reavis (35 stalls),
Brian Williamson (37 stalls), Chris Block (35 stalls), Joel
Berndt (40 stalls), Chris Dorris (40 stalls), Tom Dorris (33
stalls) and fall meet leading trainer Roger Brueggemann (60
stalls) are all fully loaded and ready to run.
The
spike in horses has come from barns that left horses here
instead of turning runners out to farms or shipping to other
tracks during the winter dark period. Those trainers include
Dale Bennett (30 stalls), Tammy Domenosky (25 stalls), Christine
Janks (30 stalls), Wayne Catalano (25 stalls), Moises Yanez (35
stalls), Jimmy Divito (40 stalls) and Larry Rivelli (30
stalls).
In addition, the nation’s leading
owner in victories in 2011 and Hawthorne’s
fall meet leading owner, Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc., is fully
loaded this spring after only having a handful of runners at
Hawthorne
in the spring meet of 2011. We also expect a good showing from
trainers John Haran (48 stalls), Manny Perez (60 stalls), Scott
Becker (40 stalls), and Hugh Robertson (40 stalls) this spring
at Hawthorne.
The
jockey colony will be loaded as well with a room headed by past
meet champions Florent Geroux and Tim Thornton. Returning to
the Hawthorne jocks room this
spring are past champs Chris Emigh, Tanner Riggs (brief
retirement), and Inez Karlsson (pregnant in spring ’11). Riders
that made an impact last fall, such as Francisco Torres, Julio
Felix, Eddie Perez and Constantino Roman will also be back. New
faces to the jocks room for the 2012 spring meet include Harry
Vega, Chris Russell, and Luis Medina.
The
Hawthorne spring stakes schedule has gotten an
upgrade. The purse for the Grade 3 Illinois Derby returns to
$500,000 after being reduced to $300,000 in 2011. Ninety one
runners had already been nominated at the early closing on
February 3rd and more are expected to nominate before
late closing on March 21. The Illinois Derby, which will be run
on Saturday, April 7 will be accompanied by the return of the
$60,000 Cryptoclearance Stakes for older horses.
The Grade 3, $200,000 Sixty Sails
Handicap, after a year’s absence, is back. Fillies and mares
will be competing at 1 1/8 miles on the real dirt track. In
2010, the Sixty Sails included a pair of Grade 1 winners in Life
at Ten and Jessica is Back. Nominations for this storied race
close on April 11th and the amount of early interest
suggests a terrific field will once again manifest.
On Saturday, April 28 the focus will
be on Illinois-bred stars on Illinois Champions Day. Nearly
$750,000 in total purses will be handed out over six $125,000
added stakes races.
For
the comfort and convenience of racing fans at
Hawthorne, additional finish line boxes are being
constructed and will be available for players early in the
spring meet. On the wagering menu,
Hawthorne continues with the lowered takeout rates on
the Pick 6, Place Pick 9 and High 5 which have been reduced from
25% to 20%. The $.50 Pick 5 will be back this spring with a low
takeout of 14%. The popular Pick 4 wager will debut with a new
low $.50 minimum wager this spring. With the projected full
fields, the chances of large payoffs haven’t diminished.
For
those fans that can’t make it to the track, upgrades have been
made to further enhance the Hawthorne
racing signal nationwide. Hawthorne’s
great partnership with TVG will only expand in 2012 as new
television lines have been installed to allow a clean feed to
TVG, leading to additional coverage, interviews and handicapping
analysis of Hawthorne’s races. Hawthorne
continues to be visible via social media on twitter with
Hawthorne info (@ClubHawthorne) and racing and
handicapping analysis daily from Jim Miller (@HawthorneJim). Hawthorne
also has a pair of Facebook pages with the Hawthorne Race Course
friend page approaching 5,000 friends. Players can also visit
the Hawthorne Race Course Fan Page.
For those who can view races via
mobile phone, a new mobile app for Hawthorne
will be debuting this spring. The mobile app will show entries
and results, changes and selections, and will also allow fans to
view races and replays and even make wagers if on-site at
Hawthorne. The app is expected to launch early in
the spring meet.
“This spring, between what we have done in-house and through the
great support of our horsemen, we have really teed ourselves up
for a great meet,” said Hawthorne Assistant General Manager Jim
Miller. “Much of our success lies in the hands of Mother Nature
now. Last year everything worked against us weather-wise as we
had a very rough winter full of cold temps and large amounts of
snowfall. Then we had the wettest April in 50 years which
meant we could not run a single race on the turf during the
entire spring meet. This winter has been very mild and the
track has been in tremendous shape for training. Our horsemen
have responded with more horses in training and many more horses
ready for the start of the meet. The response to our increased
purses and incentives offered for larger fields has been very
well received and horsemen know they can make a lot of money at
Hawthorne.”
Live racing returns to
Hawthorne on Friday, February 17 and concludes
Sunday, April 29. In February, live racing will be conducted
Friday-Sunday. Beginning February 29, racing on Wednesday will
be added. First post daily for the spring is 1:40 PM. Hawthorne
race course is located in Stickney
IL at 3501 S. Laramie Ave.
For information on live racing or groups at Hawthorne Race
Course, contact Hawthorne at
708-780-3700 or visit Hawthorne
online at
www.Hawthorneracecourse.com
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