The first day of entries for the 2024 Hawthorne thoroughbred season were taken as a nine-race card was drawn to open the racing season. Live racing for the spring/summer thoroughbred meet begins on Saturday, March 23 with a 2:40 PM first post. The racing season will extend six weeks longer in comparison to the 2023 year as racing concludes on Sunday, October 23.
Numerous additions and adjustments have been made to the 2024 racing schedule at Hawthorne. Most notably is the return of the $200,000 Illinois Derby on Sunday, April 21, which will serve as an official prep for this year’s Preakness Stakes. Hawthorne Race Course will pay for the Illinois Derby winner’s entry fee into the Preakness if they choose to run in the race. The 1 1/8 miles race on the dirt will also highlight a handicapping contest card which will produce qualifiers for both the 2024 Breeders Cup Betting Challenge and 2024 National Horseplayers Championship.
In addition to the return of the Illinois Derby in the spring, Hawthorne will host four open stakes events on the turf course throughout the meet. A pair of five-furlong turf sprints will be run for a purse of $100,000 apiece as the Lady Carey Turf Sprint will be contested for females on Saturday, July 27, while the boys will run the following day in the Robert S. Molaro Memorial. On Sunday, September 29, the one-mile Carey Memorial returns on the grass with a $150,000 purse. The turf stakes season concludes on Sunday, October 6 with the running of the $150,000 Hawthorne Derby at 1 1/8 miles.
State-breds will have eight stakes races throughout the course of the meet to compete in. Filly and mare dirt sprinters will be able to run in the Third Chance Handicap on May 19 and the Jean Elizabeth Handicap on September 29. Male state-bred dirt sprinters run in the Work All Week Handicap on May 26 and the River Bear Handicap on October 6. Female turf routers will contest the Katie M’Lady Handicap on June 16 and Illini Princess Handicap on August 18. Male turf route horses will compete in the Buck’s Boy Handicap on June 23 and Mystery Giver Handicap on September 29.
Horsemen will also have ample options to be able to race two-year-olds this meet as well as to race on the turf. Two-year-old racing will be offered beginning the second week of May while the turf season is extended by nearly two months on the front and tail end. Turf racing is scheduled to begin the first weekend in May.
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“We were able to learn from last year and made some adjustments to both the racing schedule as well as the races we are offering,” stated Hawthorne Director of Racing Jim Miller. “With this schedule, it provides is good circuit for those horsemen who race in warmer destinations during the winter to be able to have a summer location that fluidly fits their schedule. We have seen a large increase in stalls applied for and have noticed a rise in two-year-olds on the stall applications. We have also added four starter series this meet that will have increasing purses throughout the series. Horsemen who want to protect a good claim will now have an option to race each month for four months straight. When our meet ended last September, our crew conducted all of their turf preparation work before the winter months. This will allow for an earlier grass start the first week of May as well as an additional six weeks of turf racing through the end of the meet compared to last season.”
Horseplayers will welcome the return of the low 12% takeout on Win, Place, and Show wagers this meet as more money will go back to the bettor. Hawthorne has also removed the Jackpot designation from both the Pick 6 and Hi-5 wager as those will payout when there is a winning ticket. Carryovers will again be offered in the Pick 4, Pick 5, Pick 6 and Hi-5 wagers. New to the Hawthorne wagering menu this year is the low 8% Place Pick 8 Wager. This wager will begin on race one every day and will offer a carryover if nobody correctly selects a horse to finish first or second in all eight races of the sequence.
Last year’s meet leading rider Alexis Centeno returns and will be joined in the Hawthorne jockey’s room by Chris Emigh, Julio, Felix, Jareth Loveberry and Orlando Mojica among many others. Larry Rivelli is back with a full contingent of horses and is joined on the Hawthorne backstretch by the likes of Chris Block, Antonio Meraz, Brittany Vanden Berg and Armando Hernandez. Trainer Jon Arnett has 60 horses stabled at Hawthorne to open the meet while Tanner Tracy, Hugh Robertson, Eduardo Rodriguez, Joel Berndt and Coty Rosin will have large stables at Hawthorne as well.
Hawthorne Race Course, Chicago’s Hometown Track, races three live meets in 2024. The winter harness season concluded on February 12. Spring/Summer thoroughbreds begin March 23 with live racing through October 13. Harness racing returns October 19 and races through the end of the year. Hawthorne is open daily for full-card simulcasting as well as for sports wagering in the PointsBet Sportbook. For any information about Hawthorne Race Course visit our website www.HawthorneRaceCourse.com.
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If there are any questions please contact the organization that produced the release.
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