Hawthorne sees small bump in daily handle

A change in schedule, nice weather, and fuller fields all led to an increase

in overall daily handle for the Hawthorne spring Thoroughbred meet which

concluded on Sunday.

Daily average handle for the spring Thoroughbred meet increased 2 percent,

from $1,990,306 per day in 2009 to $2,031,710 in 2010. This year, the racing

schedule changed to shorten the winter dark period, allowing for horsemen to

keep horses in training and have more runners ready to run. Field size increased

by nearly 100 total starters for the meet as Hawthorne averaged 7.36 starters

per race in 2010 compared to 7.10 in 2009.

"I'm pleased to see our increase for the spring meet in handle and field

size," Assistant General Manager Jim Miller said. "We knew that we might face a

slight decrease onsite due to the change in dark days, but we more than made

that up with what we picked up out of state. We also had to take into

consideration that this is our first spring meet where ADW (advance deposit

wagering) in Illinois is legal, and that definitely affected our onsite and

in-state handle. What we did see is that this schedule works and our horsemen

were very happy with it. Looking ahead to next spring, we expect to see further

improvement."

On the racetrack, the fall meet leaders posted repeat performances as jockey

Tanner Riggs and trainer Frank Kirby won their respective titles once again.

Tanner Riggs was a model of consistency this meet grabbing the title over Tim

Thornton and Inez Karlsson. For the meet, Riggs won 57 races, followed by

Thornton and Karlsson who each had 42 wins apiece.

Trainer Frank Kirby won his third consecutive training title as his runners

won at a 20 percent clip for the meet. Kirby posted 45 wins in the spring meet.

Chris Dorris had a breakout meet this spring, finishing second in the standings

with 25 winners while Roger Brueggemann finished third with 24 wins.

Frank and Sharon Kirby's Hondo Ranch topped the owner standings as well,

winning 15 races this spring. William Stiritz had another fine meet with 10 wins

while Chris Dorris finished third with 9 wins as an owner.

Live racing returns to Hawthorne on October 1.