By Mike Paradise Illinois’ long reining trotting queen Annas Lucky Star will be back to compete as a seven-year-old during the current Hawthorne meeting. “Over the winter I was thinking about retiring her as a racehorse and starting her new career as a broodmare but I’ve decided to give her one more year […]
By Mike Paradise The initial Saturday night card of the 2021 Hawthorne harness racing meeting pivots to put the emphasis on a pair of Illinois champions knocking heads for the first time this year. You can expect many more in-state matchups likely to follow. Three-time ICF Horse of the Year (2017, 2028 […]
By Mike Paradise The initial Saturday night card of the 2021 Hawthorne harness racing meeting pivots to put the emphasis on a pair of Illinois champions knocking heads for the first time this year. You can expect many more in-state matchups likely to follow. Three-time ICF Horse of the Year (2017, 2028 […]
By Mike Paradise At long last harness racing returns to the Chicago circuit tonight. It has been more than seven months since Hawthorne’s 2020 meeting concluded. The much-anticipated 2021 session gets under way Friday evening with a 7:10 first post after an absence of 229 days and this time with actual patrons at […]
By Mike Paradise You’ve heard the phrase “fly on the wall” on numerous occasions nevertheless I want to borrow it one last time for my final column of the year. In my case I would have loved to be “the fly on the wall” at last weekend’s annual Night of Champions get together at the […]
By Mike Paradise For many ICF pacers and trotters this year’s Illinois racing season isn’t quite over yet. Instead they’ll compete in Saturday’s Fall Classic raced on the State Fairgrounds in Springfield. The Illinois Department of Agriculture Horse Racing Division had allocated $50,000 in purse money for today’s Fall Classic, attracting many of the top […]
By Mike Paradise The leading trainer at the recently concluded Hawthorne meet wasn’t determined until the last race, the 15th, on the final program this past Sunday night. When it was all over Springfield based horseman Mike Brink came away with the trainer title by one scant winner over Steve Searle, 48 to 47. Brink […]