While the long-range Illinois harness racing forecast appears to be very favorable, suddenly there’s an air of uncertainty swirling around the 2020 dates. The Illinois Racing Board held its annual dates hearings on Tuesday (Sept. 17). Traditionally, the schedule is voted on and drafted the same day, but this time the hearings were continued until the following Tuesday (Sept. 24) because of a controversy involving Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), parent company of the thoroughbred track Arlington International Racecourse. The fate of the 2020 harness schedule at Hawthorne Race Course and the timing of the opening of the proposed new harness track in Chicago’s far south suburb of Tinley Park hinge on whether or not the board decides to grant Arlington dates.