The Hawthorne Racecourse is located in the town of Stickney in the State of Illinois and first held racing in 1891, with the grandstand and other facilities having been completed the previous year. The year before Edward Corrigan had bought a large area of land with the express purpose of constructing a racecourse. That inaugural meeting saw almost 6000 people witness the opening race. Unfortunately in 1902 the grandstand was gutted by fire. Changes in gambling in Chicago in 1905 meant that horse racing suffered and the track closed, but for one short period in 1916, until 1922. Today the 8 furlong track, with a 7 furlong turf track and separate 6 ½ furlong chute, share a 402 metre home straight. The principal races are the Group 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup and Illinois Derby, and the Group 3 Hawthorne Derby.

The photo below shows Tacherone striding to victory on 12th September 1940 when trained by Ben Stutts.

I am grateful to our American Racing Correspondent Richard Gauthier for the rare scan shown below:-

The photo below shows Opalon, trained by Ben Stutts, winning a 6 furlong race on 21st September 1966.

The photo below shows another victory for trainer Ben Stutts as Walter Blum drives Nadecele home in the 6 furlong race on 14th September 1967.