The Hawthorne Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 held annually since 1965 at Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course

Hawthorne Race Course is a race track for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago.The oldest continually-run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for 65 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America...

 in Stickney

Stickney, Illinois

Stickney is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,148 at the 2000 census. It was well known in the 1920s and early 1930s as the home for several bordellos linked to mobster Al Capone's empire....

/Cicero

Cicero, Illinois

Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, near Chicago. Raced in October, it is open to three-year-old horses. It is contested for a purse of $250,000 over a distance of 1⅛ miles on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

.

Inaugurated as the Hawthorne Diamond Jubilee in 1965, it was run on dirt until 1984 when it was switched to the turf course. The John R. Gaines colt Bold Bidder

Bold Bidder

Bold Bidder was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.-Background:Bred by the Wheatley Stable partnership of Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother, Ogden L. Mills, Bold Bidder was sired by their very great stallion Bold Ruler, an eight-time Leading sire in North America and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame...

 won the inaugural race then the following year returned to the Hawthorne Race Course to win the 1966 Hawthorne Gold Cup.

From inception, the Hawthorne Derby has been run at various distances. Since 1989 it has been set at a mile and one eighth. In 1979 the race was run at the now closed Sportsman's Park

Chicago Motor Speedway

The Chicago Motor Speedway at Sportsman's Park located in Cicero, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, was built in 1999 by a group including Chip Ganassi, owner of Chip Ganassi Racing. In 2002 the oval shaped track suspended operations due to financial conditions in the motorsports industry. The...

.

Records

Time record: (at current distance of 1⅛ miles)

• 1:44.60 Rainbows For Life
  Rainbows For Life
  Rainbows For Life is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred and raced by Sam-Son Farm, he was trained by Olympic Gold Medalist and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Day....
  
   (1991)

Winners of the Hawthorne Derby since 1999

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2011	Willcox Inn	Robby Albarado Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 12 at bush tracks in his native Louisiana and after turning professional, earned his first win at Evangeline Downs in 1990...	Michael Stidham	All In Stable	1:48.97
2010	Yankee Fourtune	Victor Santiago	Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran McLaughlin Kiaran P. McLaughlin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He currently has a blog website, at http://kiaranmclaughlin.com where he updates what horses he has racing for that particular day...	Harvey Clark & Andrew Albstein	1:46.28
2009	Proceed Bee	Christopher Emigh Christopher Emigh Christopher Alan Emigh is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He earned his first win as a professional at Evangeline Downs in 1989. The winner of more than 3,000 career races, he has won a riding title at Hawthorne Race Course seven times and at Arlington Park in 2006...	Scott Becker	William Stiritz	1:57.00
2008	Strait of Mewsina	E.T. Baird	Larry Rivelli	Richard Ravin	1:49.48
2007	Bold Hawk	Jean-Luc Samyn Jean-Luc Samyn Jean-Luc Samyn is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.The son of a pastry chef, Jean-Luc Samyn was one of three children. At age thirteen, he went to work for the stable of trainer John Cunnington at Chantilly, a racecourse about north of Paris city center...	James J. Toner James J. Toner James J. "Jimmy" Toner is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.At age nineteen in April 1960 he got his first win as a trainer, making him the youngest to ever win a Thoroughbred horse race in State of New York. He won the 1999 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf with Soaring Softly.-References:*...	Patricia E. Nicholson et al.	1:47.45
2006	Best of Buddies	Eddie M. Martin, Jr.	Michelle Boyce	Barr Three LLC	1:50.59
2005	Gun Salute	Cornelio Velasquez Cornelio Velásquez Cornelio H. Velásquez is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He was introduced to horse racing at age fifteen by trainer Carlos Salazar Guardia in his native Panama and enrolled in the national jockey school...	William I. Mott	Brant M. Laue	1:47.51
2004	Cool Conductor	Jose Santos José Santos Jose Abon Santos is a retired Chilean thoroughbred jockey who has been honored by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in the United States.-Career:...	William I. Mott	David E. Garner	1:47.89
2003	False Promises	Carlos Marquez, Jr.	Tony Granitz	David Maracich	1:48.48
2002	Scooter Roach *	Jesse Campbell Jesse Campbell Jesse Gilbert Campbell, Jr. is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and the New York Giants. He played college football at North Carolina State University and was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 1991...	Terrel Gore	Lizabeth Gore	1:58.88
2001	Kalu	Jose Santos José Santos Jose Abon Santos is a retired Chilean thoroughbred jockey who has been honored by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in the United States.-Career:...	Christophe Clement Christophe Clement Christophe Clement is a Thoroughbred horse trainer in the United States.- Racing background :Christophe Clement initially acquired his training skills from father Miguel, a leading trainer in France, Christophe later worked for the prominent French racing family of trainer Alec Head...	R. Schaedle et al.	1:50.49
2000	Hymn	Laffit Pincay, Jr. Laffit Pincay, Jr. Laffit Alejandro Pincay, Jr. is a flat racing's all-time winningest jockey. He competed primarily in the United States.-Career:...	Richard J. Lundy	R. Nip / S. Goldsher	1:53.79
1999	Minor Wisdom	Ramsey Zimmerman	Richie Scherer	Carolyn Friedberg	1:49.06

*In 2002, Flying Dash won the race but was disqualified for use of medications banned in the state of Illinois