• By Mike Paradise   Can the Steve Searle trained filly trotter Loulita follow in the footsteps, or should I say hoof steps, of her stablemates Louzotic and Lous Abigail and deliver a third consecutive Beulah more

  • By Mike Paradise   The adage “What a Difference a Year Makes” sometimes applies to racehorses and that’s certainly the case of the filly Hart’s Heart, the heavy favorite in tonight’s third leg of the more

  • By Mike Paradise   Leg three of the Night of Champions series for ICF sophomores will have the public’s attention this weekend and it begins with Friday evening’s Robert F. Carey Jr. Memorial stake event. more

  • By Mike Paradise   Sunday’s card at Hawthorne has all the right ingredients for an entertaining evening of harness racing, a quite possibility a program that could do well wagering-wise as well.   A larger more

  • By Mike Paradise   Saturday night’s second leg of the Incredible Finale freshman pacing stake takes us to the half-way point of the Night of Champions series for ICF juvenile pacers.   There’s still a more

  • By Mike Paradise   For the third time in the last four weeks, ICF freshmen pacers and trotters will be in the spotlight. This time around it’s the second leg of the various Night of more

  • By Mike Paradise   One of the drawbacks to not having a longer Illinois harness racing season is that it puts a lot of pressure on trainers to get their “babies” ready to race in more

  • By Mike Paradise   Now that the Cardinal pace divisions for freshman Illinois bred colts and geldings are in the history book, we draw our attention tonight to a couple of $45,000 Violet stake divisions more

  • By Mike Paradise   It’s the week of Illinois Department of Agriculture stake races for ICF two-year-old pacers and trotters of both sexes. Those prominent freshmen events get started with tonight’s Cardinal for juvenile male more

  • By Mike Paradise   Illinois No. 1 driver Casey Leonard didn’t wait long last night to notch his 3,000th career victory. It came in the second race behind the veteran mare Cracklin Rosie, trained by more

  • By Mike Paradise   This weekend the Chicago harness racing circuit’s leading driver Casey Leonard will reach the 3,000 plateau in career wins, a lofty achievement for a horseman who didn’t begin his driving career more

  • By Mike Paradise   Have you been watching “Battle of the Titans?”   Naw, I don’t mean the movie.   I’m referring to the classic battles going on this season in Hawthorne’s Opens between the more

  • By Mike Paradise   Let’s admit it, trying to predict who will come out on top when two-year-old Illinois bred trotters compete for the first time in their racing careers is a very difficult task. more

  • By Mike Paradise   The young ladies take over the spotlight at Hawthorne tonight.   It’s the opening round of the Incredible Tillie Night of Champions stake series and with 14 ICF distaff pacers passing more

  • By Mike Paradise This weekend it’s time to unveil the season’s ICF two-year-old stake pacing and trotting aspirants as Hawthorne’s Night of Champions series gets under way for state-bred juveniles. In addition Hawthorne players will more

  • By Mike Paradise   You might call the veteran trotter Pine Dream the horse that keeps on giving.  As far as the Merv Chupp Stable is concern, the now nine-year-old gelding has delivered in a more

  • By Mike Paradise   Saturday night’s ninth event is the Juneteenth Celebration Race, and it’s a special and unique event for Hawthorne to proudly host.     It’s the first parimutuel harness race in Illinois more

  • By Mike Paradise   During my 48 years of writing about Illinois harness racing I thought I saw all there was to see about our sport.   Wrong.   Tonight, for the first time I’ll more

  • By Mike Paradise   Right on schedule Illinois Trotting Queen returns to the races tonight.   The Nelson Willis stable’s Annas Lucky Star, is back in action in Sunday’s fifth race after about three months more

  • By Mike Paradise   While “the boys” Open division has been grabbing much of the attention thus far at the Hawthorne meeting, there has also been some ding-dong battles going on with “the gals” as more

  • By Mike Paradise   If you are a resident of the Chicagoland area you certainly have noticed a spike lately in the weather. While summer doesn’t official arrive until June 22 it has come about more

  • By Mike Paradise   It is very early in the 2021 Illinois harness racing season nevertheless another Steve Searle trainee could take a major step tonight and follow the hoof steps of two of her more

  •   By Mike Paradise   Tonight’s $44,000 Violet, the first major stake event of the season stake for ICF three-year-old pacing fillies could be a dandy in more ways than one.   The Mike Brink more

  • By Mike Paradise This weekend’s Cardinal and Violet stakes for ICF pacers and trotters have never received the same kind of fanfare of the richer state-bred stakes on Super Nights at Sportsman’s or Balmoral Parks more

  • By Mike Paradise   Next weekend’s Violet and Cardinal stakes races, the first major events for ICF three-year-old trotters and pacers, brought about a unique event on Sunday’s card.   Tonight’s third race will see more

  • By Mike Paradise   With the emphasis last weekend on the opening legs of the three-year-old Night of Champions stake events another series on the Saturday card was probably overlooked by many Chicago circuit harness more

  • By Mike Paradise   With the emphasis last weekend on the opening legs of the three-year-old Night of Champions stake events another series on the Saturday card was probably overlooked by many Chicago circuit harness more

  • By Mike Paradise Hawthorne is rolling out the big guns for its Open Pace as the heavyweight battle between the circuit’s top two ICF pacers heads into round three tonight. You’ll have to wait until more

  • By Mike Paradise   Hawthorne is trotting out a longer than usual Sunday card tonight headed-up by the first round of Night of Champions sophomore diagonally gaited ICF three-year-olds and a good betting Open handicap more

  • By Mike Paradise   The filly Hart’s Heart will get her opportunity to compete in a Night of Champions series and the Mike Brink trained pacer likely will be a heavy favorite to take advantage more