The $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup (G2) returns as the marquee race for the
Hawthorne fall Thoroughbred season which begins on October 1.
After being run for $250,000 in 2010, the release of funds from HB 1918 and
HB 4758, two pieces of Illinois state legislation, has allowed an increase in
the Gold Cup purse to the $500,000 level that it has been run at in previous
years. The Hawthorne Gold Cup will be contested on the dirt at 1 1/4 miles on
October 8. In past years, the Hawthorne Gold Cup has produced Breeders’ Cup
winners Buck’s Boy and Awesome Again, and in recent years Grade 1 winners
Student Council, Awesome Gem (Awesome Again) and Giant Oak (Giant’s Causeway)
have all run in the Hawthorne Gold Cup.
A pair of $60,000 overnight stakes will be contested on October 8 with the
running of the Robert F. Carey Memorial and the Indian Maid H. Each race will be
contested on the turf at 1 1/16 miles with the Carey for three-year-olds and up
and the Indian Maid for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up.
One week later, on October 15, the Hawthorne Derby (G3) will be run at 1 1/8
miles on the turf. The race is listed at $175,000, but expected sponsorship of
an additional $25,000 should boost the Derby to $200,000.
On October 22, the Illinois Festival of racing will take place as six
Illinois restricted races will be run. With the additional funds, Hawthorne and
the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association have given a boost to the
Illinois-bred program by increasing the purses of all six stakes on Festival Day
from $100,000 to $125,000.
Closing out the fall meet, a pair of stakes featuring Illinois-bred
two-year-old males and fillies will take place. On December 3, two-year-old
fillies will be featured in the Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante while one week
later the boys take the stage in the Jim Edgar Illinois Futurity. Both races
will be contested for a purse of $100,000.
“The return of the Hawthorne Gold Cup to $500,000 was very important to us
and I was pleased that our horsemen recognized the significance of this race as
well,” Hawthorne Assistant General Manager Jim Miller said. “The Gold Cup is the
richest dirt race in Illinois and consistently sends horses to the Breeders’
Cup. With the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs this year, Hawthorne is a perfect
spot for that final prep for anything from the Dirt Mile (G1) to the Marathon
(G2) to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”