Summer harness dates and the distribution of out-of-state simulcast betting revenue during the winter months when there is no thoroughbred racing in Chicago are expected to be the biggest bones of contention when the Illinois Racing Board meets Tuesday to draft the 2005 thoroughbred and harness schedules. The 11-member board is sharply divided on both issues.
One faction wants to add 11 nights to the Hawthorne Race Course harness meeting that ran this year from July 15 to Sept. 7. The other faction wants to take away seven Hawthorne dates and restore them to sister tracks Balmoral Park and Maywood Park, which race on alternate nights the rest of the year.
The out-of-state simulcast squabble involves Arlington Park, Hawthorne and the National Jockey Club, which races at Hawthorne. This year during the “dark” period, all of this revenue went to Arlington to bolster purses. Hawthorne and the Jockey Club want a cut of the simulcast money.
