Hawthorne Race Course, Illinois' oldest sporting venue, seeks bankruptcy

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The state's oldest sporting venue faced a bankruptcy hearing on Tuesday.

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Hawthorne Race Course filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in an attempt to restructure its debt and attract a new investor.

Hawthorne Park has been around for 134 years. Since Arlington Park closed a few years ago, it is the only horse racetrack left in northern Illinois for both thoroughbreds and harness racing.

They filed for bankruptcy late last week.

The family-owned company has struggled financially for a number of years despite being given a license to have casino gambling on site.

They've had a series of problems that have prevented them from fully operating that license.

They've had to cancel the last two months of the harness racing season.

Hawthorne Park hopes the judge will allow them to run their thoroughbred season starting at the end of March.

Hawthorne is under the gun because the horsemen have to decide quickly this week whether they will race at Hawthorne this season with the thoroughbreds or go to another state.

Hawthorne CEO Tim Carey was on the stand much of Tuesday.

The judge was expected to make a decision about the racing season, possibly Tuesday afternoon at the Dirksen Federal Building.

A lot of people in the horse racing industry are on edge waiting to see what's going to happen here.

There are hundreds of people involved in the horse racing industry who at this point, rely on Hawthorne for their livelihood in Illinois.