In The Sulky Forum
General Category => General Harness Racing Discussion => Topic started by: Just Saying on April 09, 2012, 06:09:58 PM
-
The grounds of the former Sportsman's Park is going to be a new 190,000 sq/ft Super Wal-Mart. Dang I miss that place. It has also been yet another very expensive boondoggle for the taxpayers of Illinois.
Oh, the thrill of being in that golden winners circle will always be among my best memories. heartluv
-
That is just plain un-Christian, making an historical site into a Walmart. 4pezz2
-
He main signage in the store will be en Espanol.
-
He main signage in the store will be en Espanol.
4pezz2 4pezz2 4pezz2 4pezz2 4pezz2 4pezz2 4pezz2 4pezz2
-
Look on the bright side?
If they ever get slots at Hawthorne, they'll have plenty of penny players close by ;)
-
Look on the bright side?
If they ever get slots at Hawthorne, they'll have plenty of penny players close by ;)
Just for those unfamiliar with the layout: The only thing between Hawthorne & Sportsman's was a single strand of chainlink fence. They would swap back and forth between Harness & T-breds. I loved racing at both venues.
-
Just,
Somebody told me a while back that old Drive-in theater a few blocks south on Cicero Blvd had been converted to a land-fill.
I recall seeing massive land-fills along I-55 and the further west you went out of town.
Portions of the area around Maywood should be considered for land-fill as well ;)
Hoping I'll get back to Chitown someday as I want to visit that museum that has the two lions from the movie "The Ghost and the Darkness".
Also wish to visit the very old track near Maywood that used to have a statue of Cleopatra in the infield lake.
Don
----------
Don't think the URL works anymore, may be accessible via archive.org.
Harlem track, Chicago
After the Chicago Interstate Exposition, Lewis put "Cleopatra" in storage and returned to Rome. Sometime later, the sculpture was sold to the owner of the Harlem Race Track in the suburb of Forest Park, west of Chicago, and placed at the track as a memorial to a racehorse named Cleopatra. It remained in place for nearly 100 years as the property became the site of a golf course and later a munitions factory.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050210102353/http://americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/lewis/fate2.html
end quote
John Tinsley described this area vividly to me as he had explored in the 1960's. RIP John.
-
SO Sad. I practically grew up there!!
-
SO Sad. I practically grew up there!!
Were you that little brat that dumped his frozen custard on me?
rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1
-
Were you that little brat that dumped his frozen custard on me?
rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1
Maybe.......
-
Were you that little brat that dumped his frozen custard on me?
rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1
Sounds like the Pezz I know. rflmao1
I never knew there was a Harlem Race Course. I always learn something from Wilderness... thanks Don.
-
Maybe.......
bowdown bowdown rflmao1 rflmao1
-
I never knew there was a Harlem Race Course. I always learn something from Wilderness... thanks Don.
Just,
There were a few others.
John Tinsley told me there was was a former track (although I've never been able to locate any documentation to the east of the North-South street near the former Washington Park-Homewood.
There was also a former track in the Expo section of the very large Stockyards.
There were 3-4 very early tracks North of the loop. Two were west of I-94 and one was closer to the lake. (I've some sparse info on these locations).
As the city limits began to expand in the early days some of these area were simply gobble up in annexation. Thus when you read all very old materials, caution is necessary around the large metropolitan areas. What may have been considered country and another area in the 1890's could have been a few minutes up the X-way in 1990's.
-
Aurora Downs & Washington Park were racing in my younger years, but I was never at either one. I started racing in Chitown around 1985. My brother raced alot, and raced in a real short harness 'test meet' at Arlington. The handle must have been less than expected 'cause they dropped harness. (of course it could just be IL politics... like refusing to allow Hawthorne to have harness dates even though they want them)
Do you have any names for the "Ghost tracks"? I also never know there was ever one at The Stockyards.
-
Loved that track. I was there the night of my high school graduation,
had $20.00 to win on Stan Banks and Acquittal, he broke stride in the first turn, caught and won the race at 2-1. I thought that night I might become a professional gambler. I am currently on a 33 year losing streak.
-
Rather than duplicate the same material here:
Old Chicago Tracks (http://www.barntowire.com/smf/index.php?topic=18649.0)
Encyclopedia of Chicgao (http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/601.html)
In addition, Kim Rinker did a book on the old Chicago tracks just a few years ago.
Chicago's Horse Racing Venues (http://www.google.com/search?sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=Chicago%27s+Horse+Racing+Venues&btnK=Google+Search)
-
Once a premier racetrack, then a so-so motor speedway in the wrong location, then a vast wasteland and now Wal-Mart? Unbelievable. Maybe instead of Aisle Numbers they can name each Aisle for the name of a great horse that raced there? Like Rambling Willie Road, Albatross Avenue, Nevele Pride Place, things like that.....can you hear it now, you ask where to find the dog food and they say "you'll find it in Rambling Willie Road," or "where's the tidy bowl cleaner" and they tell you it's found on Albatross Avenue, things like that.....
-
Somehow I don't believe Walmart's will adapt the "themed atmosphere's", similar to what some of the McDonald's have done.
They'd be better of "importing" Asian names ;)
-
I've owned some that belonged in the dog food aisle. 4pezz2
-
Arlington wasn't a test meet but instead a substitute after Washington Park burned to the ground. Arlington and Washington were owned by Madison Square Garden Corp. at the time. There were several reasons why Arlington finally moved their meet to Maywood, mostly due to the configuration of the track. First season included many 7-8's and 1-1/8 mile races because the mile marker was in the turn. Arlington was/still is a bedroom community and many people made the trip to the "Land beyond O'Hare", at least until gas prices tripled to around $2 because of what was going on in Iran at the time.
-
Arlington wasn't a test meet but instead a substitute after Washington Park burned to the ground. Arlington and Washington were owned by Madison Square Garden Corp. at the time. There were several reasons why Arlington finally moved their meet to Maywood, mostly due to the configuration of the track. First season included many 7-8's and 1-1/8 mile races because the mile marker was in the turn. Arlington was/still is a bedroom community and many people made the trip to the "Land beyond O'Hare", at least until gas prices tripled to around $2 because of what was going on in Iran at the time.
Thanks for the update. My Brother raced harness there a couple of times, but I've never been there.(I've heard it's gorgeous since the post-fire rebuild) I remember harness not lasting long at Arlington. I always assumed it was a standard mile track.
-
Just what you expect for $200 million.
Old Arlington had a huge grandstand built for summer racing. The harness meets were held in Oct, Nov, and Dec. It wasn't Sportsman's type quality but still very competitive and they had some big events.
I think Governor Skipper made his final start there in a race against Rambling Willie and Silk Stockings, but those 3 got beat by a Canadian horse. Remember who won it?
-
You actually jogged a mile to get to the track(Arlington), You then went into the tunnel under the grandstands and came out next to the Winners circle. It was a very Cold winter that year,if memory serves me right.
Oh yeah, many a horse got spooked in that tunnel.
-
Oh yeah, many a horse got spooked in that tunnel.
Don't think I ever took one through a tunnel, but some got get a little goofy going up or down the paddock ramp under the Hawthorne grandstand.. especially if they had to stop for traffic. Sure was easier when they built the new security/paddock barn on the backstretch.
-
Loved that track. I was there the night of my high school graduation,
had $20.00 to win on Stan Banks and Acquittal, he broke stride in the first turn, caught and won the race at 2-1. I thought that night I might become a professional gambler. I am currently on a 33 year losing streak.
I have complete confidence that 34 years is certainly reachable if you keep taking my live ones rflmao1 rflmao1
-
Remember who won it?
No answers?
OTRA
-
They'd be better of "importing" Asian names ;)
How about one from Peter Pan Stable: Moo Goo Gai Pan.
-
How about one from Peter Pan Stable: Moo Goo Gai Pan.
Chinese checkers,,
-
LeBaron Rouge. Paid a decent price if memory serves.
-
I don't remember many tracks
Maywood, Balmoral, Sportsmans, Hawthorne, Arlington, Quad City Downs
I heard the names(never visited)
Aurora Downs, Washington Park, Fairmont
Just Saying is old as dirt, so I am sure has visited them all. rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1
bowdown bowdown bowdown bowdown
-
Just Saying is old as dirt, so I am sure has visited them all.
I'm sure "Just" visited the original Washington Park (http://www.mi-harness.net/eur/OldWashingtonPark.jpg), that's him in the very middle with the white hat on and talking to the guy on the bench.
They must have pissed everybody off, because nobody is standing close to those two.
-
I don't remember many tracks
Maywood, Balmoral, Sportsmans, Hawthorne, Arlington, Quad City Downs
I heard the names(never visited)
Aurora Downs, Washington Park, Fairmont
Just Saying is old as dirt, so I am sure has visited them all. rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1 rflmao1
bowdown bowdown bowdown bowdown
Hell, I lost a $2 bet when Ben Hur won the chariot race at the colliseum.