Happy New Year Everyone!

As an old timer from Chicago I feel the need to chime in here. I started playing the horses in the 70’s when racing was thriving in Illinois. The race tracks were packed on weekends. In the winter we’d head to Sportmans Park (Hawthorn had burned down) and then a few years later the beautiful new Hawthorn Race Course for harness racing. Those were fun times. Summers at Arlington Park were a staple here. That was where I learned about Thorograph after attending a seminar that Roger held in 1994. I was hooked.

It didn’t last long after that because the casinos came to town. The race tracks wanted slots, after some years the legislature approved them and Governer Quinn refused to sign it into law. CDI tanked Arlington in favor of their interest in Rivers Casino and now the sport is dying a slow death in Illinois.

A friend of mine predicted that once horse racing was no longer the only game in town, it would die. I think we’re seeing this now. Casual betters would rather throw the dice or double down on 11, than try to beat a 3/5 favorite that a super trainer with special powers sends out.

Sadly, that’s where we are.