Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
When One Race Track closes, does another one open?
7/20/2026
By Laurie Ross
Hawthorne Race Course, a staple in Illinois racing, had many firsts: the oldest continually run family-owned racetrack in North America and the oldest racetrack in Illinois.
For over a century, the 4th-generation Carey family operated the historic 1-mile dirt track. Following financial difficulties, the 119-acre property was sold at a bankruptcy auction to a non-racing entity in July 2026. With four closed tracks in the state, Fairmount Park is the lone holdout. When one door closes, sometimes another opens.
The future elsewhere may be sunnier. Tech entrepreneur Chip Meyers wants to invest in a new horse racing plan. He proposed a $550 million thoroughbred race track on the Las Vegas Strip, to be called "Las Vegas Downs" to cater to the high rollers.
Vegas tried this before. Las Vegas Park lasted 13 days in 1953 before the money ran out and the promoter faced embezzlement charges. Thunderbird Downs limped through the mid-60s behind a hotel of the same name before folding under ownership squabbles, then a Henderson track died in a month in the early 80s. Three swings, three misses.
Meyer has spent the better part of a year crisscrossing the globe, from Hong Kong to Dubai to Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya project, building a case for what he calls Las Vegas Downs, a $550 million, 1 1/4-mile dirt and 1 1/8-mile turf facility proposed for 55 acres on Las Vegas Boulevard, wedged between Mandalay Bay and the M Resort.
What he's selling is a membership model, Hong Kong Jockey Club style, with accredited investors chipping in for ownership access rather than one billionaire writing the whole check.
The numbers are ambitious. A 60-day meet, Thursday through Saturday, November through April, when the desert cools off. Average daily purses around $1.5 million, funded largely by casinos chasing "heads in beds" rather than betting handle. Horses would ship in on race day from a training center an hour out, possibly in Pahrump or Mesquite, doubling as a retirement sanctuary when their racing days are through.
The catch, and there's always a catch, is Nevada's Pari-Mutuel Wagering Act, which has required a 200-room hotel attached to any gaming license since 1992. Meyers needs the legislature to carve out an exception, and he's targeting a 2027 session to make it happen, with a first post hoped for November 2029.
On a positive note, some fans note that the racebooks/sportsbooks in Vegas are standing-room-only every Thursday through Sunday. With Vegas wanting to be the mecca sports capital of the world, it only makes the most sense to bring something like this to life.
Skeptics will point out, correctly, that the Vegas track will directly compete with Southern California racing, especially during the Kentucky Derby prep months, and it will further reduce the already short fields. Meyers frames it as complementary, a winter sister to Santa Anita and Turf Paradise, not competition.
History says bet the field against him. But every so often, somebody holds the hand that cashes.