Closure of Arlington Park only accelerated the local horse racing industry s decline, where there are now fewer equines being bred on downstate farms, many have left to race in other states, and a long-anticipated racino project at Hawthorne is stalled amid financing woes.
For a group of local horseplayers, the back patio at a Prospect Heights sports bar/OTB has become their regular meeting spot since the closure of Arlington Park in 2021. It s where they still get together to play the ponies, share memories, and debate all that went wrong and what could have happened differently to keep their favorite racetrack open.