Governor Pat Quinn Nov. 9 announced the appointment of Allan Monat to serve as a commissioner of the Illinois Racing Board.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Neil Boyce, a successful Chicago horseman for years, trained such stars as Calestoga, Valid Vixen.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Due to high winds in the Chicago area, Hawthorne Race Course cancelled its Dec. 23 program
Sunday, December 23, 2007
The nation's last horse-slaughtering plant can reopen while it challenges a state law that forced it to close twice in the last two months, an Illinois federal appeals court ruled.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Cosmonaut, who won the Arlington Handicap (gr. IIIT) in 2006, is back for another try in the Arlington Million (gr. IT) prep.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Chicago-area Thoroughbred racing action shifts Sept 15 to Hawthorne Race Course, where officials are encouraged by the number of stall applications--2,400 for 2,050 spots. Last fall, Hawthorne averaged more than nine horses per race.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Trainer H. Graham Motion has a contender in two of the three big races at Arlington Park's International Festival of Racing, so he's in a good spot to assess the relative quality of Saturday's fields.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Joe Agrella, a retired correspondent for
The Blood-Horse and Turf writer for the Chicago
Sun-Times, died March 11 at his home in Elmwood Park, west of Chicago.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Just days after the Illinois Gaming Board revoked the license of Emerald Casino, one-time rival communities once again are preparing to join a prolonged battle for the lucrative riverboat license.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Longtime Chicago trainer Mike Weissman passed away Oct. 20 following a massive heart attack he sustained Oct. 19.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Hawthorne Race Course in Chicago announced an across-the-board purse increase for its meeting that will run Sept. 23 through Dec. 31.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Carl Pollard's grade I winner My Trusty Cat will return to defend her title in Saturday's $175,000 Chicago Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. III) at Arlington Park. Trained by David Vance, My Trusty Cat won last year's seven-furlong event by 1
3/4lengths over Our Josefina. Thursday, June 16, 2005
Thoroughbred racing returns to Arlington Park for its 78th season on Friday at 3 p.m. for the first of 94 days of racing that will continue at the northwestern Chicago oval through Sept. 18.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
A group of 10 3-year-olds passed the entry box for Saturday's Hawthorne Derby (gr. IIIT), one of the season's last major stakes races restricted to sophomores. Al and Saundra Kirkwood's European import Gwaihir is the highweighted entry at 117 pounds.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Ballingarry, well known at Arlington Park because of his two wins in the Stars and Stripes Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IIIT) there, will start as the highweight in Saturday's Arlington Handicap (gr. IIIT).
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Sid Port's Toasted, who ships in from California, figures to be the slight choice Saturday in the $200,000 Arlington Classic (gr. IIT) at suburban Chicago's Arlington Park.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Support is building in the Illinois General Assembly for an end-of-session revision of gaming laws that could include slot machines at race tracks.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Russell Reineman, 86, a titan in both the steel and Thoroughbred industries, died at his home March 23 of natural causes.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Unseasonably warm temperatures in the Chicago area and field sizes that averaged more than nine horses per race helped boost the numbers during the opening weekend of the National Jockey Club meet at Hawthorne Racecourse.
Monday, March 01, 2004
Bid amounts were announced for a dormant Illinois casino license, with Penn National Gaming submiting the highest offer.
Friday, February 06, 2004
Penn National Gaming has submitted a bid to finance and construct a casino in the Chicago area. Penn National was one of seven companies interested in buying the bankrupt Emerald Casino and one of three companies that expressed interest in building a casino in Rosemont, Ill. Financial details of the bid were not disclosed.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Longtime Chicago trainer Jere R. Smith Sr., who trained some 40 stakes winners, died Jan. 14 of pancreatic cancer.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Richard L. "Dick" Duchossois, who brought Arlington Park back from the ashes, and then saw the track become a part of Churchill Downs Inc., has been selected to receive an Eclipse Award of Merit.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
The 104-dayArlington Park meet concluded with a 12.7 % increase in average daily attendance and a 1.9% rise in overall wagering over last year's numbers.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Arlington Park, outside Chicago, has changed its post time to 1:30 p.m., except for Fridays.
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Consolidation came to Illinois racing with a financial question mark on the first day of March as National Jockey Club opened its winter-spring meet at Hawthorne Race Course.
Monday, March 03, 2003
Illinois, which halted pick 4 and pick 6 bets Nov. 9, will again offer the wagers beginning Friday.
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Arlington Park chairman Richard Duchossois says the horse racing industry can attract new patrons, but that it needs to change some of the ways it does business in order to remain competitive.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
There are five horses from this year's Kentucky Derby (gr. I) set to run Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I). That is the most ever, the previous high being three, most recently in 1999.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
There are 91 horses competing in the eight Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races Saturday at Arlington Park. Of them, only three will not run on Salix.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Ivanavinalot, morning-line third choice for Saturday's Long John Silver's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), was scratched Thursday morning. Breeders' Cup officials said the daughter of West Acre, trained by Kathleen O'Connell, had developed a fever and been treated with medication.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
It might take you awhile to name the 2002 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships trainer that has the highest winning percentage this year.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Laura de Seroux barely had time Wedneday morning to train her horses. She was busy doing interviews. De Seroux has three horses running Saturday at Arlington in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
Caeser Kimmel and Ronald Nicholson's Blazing Fury has been declared out of Saturday's John Deere Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT). He suffered a tendon injury after galloping at Belmont Park Tuesday morning.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
The weather report for Saturday at Arlington Park changed again Wednesday morning. The track is the host of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships for the first time on Saturday.
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
The 2002 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships has so many scenarios regarding the Horse of the Year title, it should provide several intriguing subplots as the afternoon of Oct. 26 at Arlington Park progresses.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
As soon as Arlington Park was named site of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, people began talking about the weather. Well, the 10-forecast issued today by the National Weather Service calls for partly cloudy skies and a high of 58 degrees in Chicago on Oct. 26.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
After a lot of sound and fury during a 10-hour meeting, the Illinois Racing Board produced a 2003 racing schedule that honors the status quo and enables a semi-merger between Hawthorne Race Course and Sportsman's Park.
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
The Breeders' Cup Classic will be run at approximately 4:35 p.m. local time in Chicago. The World Thoroughbred Championships will be run for the first time this year at Arlington Park. Chicago is on central time. The post times and wagering menu were released today for the Oct. 26 event.
Friday, August 23, 2002
Penn National Gaming announced Wednesday it will acquire three more casinos for $780 million.
Thursday, August 08, 2002
Hawthorne Race Course's ended its 23-day spring meet with double digit increases in average on-track, full card, and total all-sources handle.
Friday, June 07, 2002
Future wagers will be available for the first time on this year's eight Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championship races.
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Carl Schloessman named vice president of marketing at Arlington Park...WinStar Farm announces Victory Gallop naming contest.
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Elements from Chicago's world-famous skyline take center stage on the 2002 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships logo. The 19th Breeders' Cup is scheduled for its Arlington Park debut Oct. 26.
Thursday, March 07, 2002
Alberto-Culver has agreed to continue as the presenting sponsor of the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (gr. I), the same role it filled on the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program the past two years.
Thursday, March 07, 2002
Beginning May 5, Thoroughbred racing fans in the Chicago area will be able to tune in to the same channel for nightly replays from local tracks.
Tuesday, March 05, 2002
An odd turn of events threatens any chance for construction of a new riverboat casino in Rosemont, Ill., that is designed to pump tens of millions of dollars a year into the state's horse racing industry.
Tuesday, March 05, 2002
The 2002 Sportsman's Park Thoroughbred meet is expected to go on as scheduled even though Chicago Motor Speedway has decided to suspend auto racing this year.
Thursday, February 07, 2002
Arlington Park plans to reschedule and enrich its stakes program this summer to provide a "Preview Weekend at the Park" before the Oct. 26 running of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.
Monday, January 21, 2002
H. Eddie Arroyo has resigned his position as general manager of the National Jockey Club at Sportsman's Park to rejoin the Illinois Racing Board as Senior State Steward at all Chicago-area Thoroughbred tracks.
Friday, January 11, 2002
