Hawthorne Backstretch to Open Sunday
On Sunday, September 15, horses will begin arriving at Hawthorne Race Course as the backstretch opens in anticipation for the beginning of the fall thoroughbred meet on Friday, October 4. New Racing Secretary and Director of Racing Allan Plever has received applications for over 2,000 stalls and a full backstretch is expected for the fall thoroughbred meet. With the backstretch to open on the 15th, training on Hawthorne’s real dirt track begins Wednesday, September 18.
Many familiar faces are expected to return to Hawthorne this fall in full force while some new faces will also be arriving for the meet. Past training champs Frank Kirby (55 stalls), Roger Brueggemann (74 stalls), Joel Berndt (30 stalls) and Mike Reavis (37 stalls) are back for the fall at Hawthorne. Additionally, Scott Becker (39 stalls), Chris Block (56 stalls), Chris Dorris (45 stalls), John Haran (60 stalls), Larry Rivelli (51 stalls) and Brian Williamson (35 stalls) are expected to be major players at the fall meet.
The Hawthorne fall meet also sees the return of some trainers that spent the summer outside of Illinois along with some new faces. Clay Brinson (22 stalls), Robert Gorham (15 stalls), Gary Scherer (29 stalls), and Shane Spiess (20 stalls) make their Hawthorne comeback. New to Hawthorne for the fall meet are Nevada Litfin (15 stalls), Paul Pearson (8 stalls), Randy Rarick (12 stalls), and Pavel Vashchenko (20 stalls).
The first Hawthorne condition book is printed and posted online as Allan Plever has provided an excellent mix of claiming, starter, allowance, and optional claiming allowance races to compliment the Hawthorne fall stakes schedule. The condition book can be found at www.Hawthorneracecourse.com or at www.Equibase.com.
Live racing returns to Hawthorne on Friday, October 4 and concludes Sunday, December 29. Live racing will be conducted every Wednesday-Sunday. First post Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday is 2:10 PM. On Fridays through November 29, first post will be 3:10 PM. Saturday, October 5 is a special night racing card with a 5:00 PM first post. Beginning December 4, first post will be 1:20 PM daily. 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.