Since Churchill Downs declined to apply for race dates at Arlington Park in 2022, the Illinois Racing Board was not able to assign Arlington dates at it's Thursday meeting, reports the Daily Racing Form. Arlington's final day of racing is scheduled for this Saturday, and though CDI has not made a final decision on the sale of the racetrack, it remains unlikely that live racing will ever return to the Arlington Heights neighborhood.
Hawthorne, the other Chicago area track, will host six months of Thoroughbred dates next year. In total, the number of Thoroughbred race dates in the Chicago area will decline from 124 in 2021 to 76 in 2022.
The schedule is as follows: January through March will offer harness competition, then Thoroughbred racing in April through June. Harness race will resume July through the middle of September, and the Thoroughbred season resumes Sept. 23 through the end of the year.
“That schedule that was put together has a lot of horsemen frustrated,” trainer and Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association board member Chris Block told DRF. “I know all the negatives, but there's no other way around it to allow both breeds to have some sort of schedule. It's the best we can do right now.”
The other dates assigned at Thursday's IRB meeting include a 61-day meet at Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Ill., recently rebranded Fanduel Sportsbook and Horse Racing.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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