Having split North America into two distinct countries – United States and Canada – following the review of Canadian racetracks, this is the first of a major series of articles concerning racetracks in the USA. It will not be possible to accord coverage to every single track on which harness racing has been undertaken over the years in USA but it is intended to ensure a large number are covered in this series.
Introduction
Whilst this series focuses on racetracks, it is important to mention the birth and development of harness racing in North America. The Narragansett pacer arrived as early as 1629 when a shipment of twenty five mares and stallions arrived in Boston. The Narragansett pacer reigned for a century and a half as the most wanted saddle horse in America prior to fading away in popularity. Racing was extremely popular prior to the American Revolution especially pacing and running races whilst trotters were frowned upon.
Harness racing evolved in the early 1800’s with races on country roads, village main streets and prominent city avenues. Not unlike Australasia, trotting match races were a feature of early trotting prior to racing commencing on race courses leading to separate harness tracks and ultimately to the formation of Grand Circuit racing in America.
The Grand Circuit was formed in 1873 with the Buffalo, New York track considered the “mother of the Grand Circuit”. In total twenty four sites at different times were members of the Grand Circuit until 1903 – including Cleveland (Ohio), Hampden Park at Springfield (Massachusetts), Buffalo Driving Park and Utica (New York) – these four tracks formed the Quadrilateral Trotting Combination in 1873; later joined by Rochester Driving Park and Poughkeepsie (New York) in 1875; West Hartford’s Charter Oaks (Connecticut), 1876; Pittsburgh’s Homewood Park (Pennsylvania) 1881; Providence (Rhode Island) 1883; Albany’s Island Park (New York), 1884; Detroit (Michigan), 1886; New York 1888, later Empire City Park, now Yonkers Raceway in 1899; Syracuse (New York), Oakley Park (Cincinnati) 1901; Billings Park (North Memphis) 1904; Grand Rapids), Michigan State Fair, Detroit, Michigan State Fairgrounds (Michigan), Goshen’s Historic Track (New York), all in 1911 and very many others over the years.
Beginning the review of USA racetracks with two states in which tracks are now closed :
Arizona –
The one mile Phoenix Fairgrounds track operated as a harness racing facility from 1906 to 1932.
Phoenix Trotting Park
Arizona is noteworthy for the short lived Phoenix Trotting Park, an abandoned and now demolished harness racing track dating from the mid-1960’s lasting only two and a half seasons before going bankrupt. The structure was built outside the edge of Phoenix, twenty miles distant, with the city having developed around the Trotting Park which was ultimately located alongside the interstate 10 in Goodyear, Arizona built twenty years after the tracks opening. In the five decades since its demise the unique structure decayed as a result of vandals, scrappers and graffiti artists, becoming an eyesore to many. Its structure posed a number of hazards including asbestos, dust, pigeon droppings, as well as damaged interior walls. Demolition of the Trotting Park took place in September 2017 with nothing left today there to having been a horse racing facility.
The architect of the Arizona Trotting Park development was James J. “Jimmy” Dunnigan, Sr, a renowned New York horse racing financier who in June 1942 was involved in the development of Buffalo Raceway in Hamburg, New York. He managed this successful track for twenty-five years while in the early 1960s investing heavily in Arizona’s new harness racing track, Phoenix Trotting Park. Dunnigan purchased a 640-acre parcel of land near Cotton Lane Road and McDowell Road for his new harness racing track.
Forming Arizona Harness Raceway, Inc. on 7 June 1961, the land purchased from Karl and Norbert Abel finance provided by Dunnigan and his New York trotting buddies who included Norman S. Woolworth (a relative of the wealthy J.W. Woolworth family and owner of Clearview Stables in Maine) and Delvin Miller, the harness racing Hall of Famer involved with Roosevelt Raceway in Long Island.
Groundbreaking and construction of the track commenced in 1964 which included a glass enclosed temperature controlled grandstand which containing more than 27,000 cubic yards of concrete. Providing seating for 3,600 in the grandstand with 1,200 in the clubhouse and the dining room seating a further 900. Construction from the ground-breaking ceremony to the first race was less than 12 months. Originally costed at approximately $2/3m, the Phoenix Trotting Park development cost $9.5m.
The Arizona Institute of Architects 1983 book ‘A Guide to the Architecture of Metro Phoenix’ credited Ivone Grassetto, head of Impressa Eugenio Grassetto of Padua, Italy as designer of the grandstand and main racing strip. A 1965 Arizona Republic article also lists Eugenio Grassetto as the architect while a 1964 New York Times article and a 1965 Sports Illustrated article both credited the building’s design to Ivone Grassetto.
The projects coordinating architects were Victor Gruen and Associates of Los Angeles, CA with the grandstand construction being a joint venture between main contractors Gilbert & Dolan Enterprises and E.L. Farmer Construction Co., Inc. The grandstand contained several unique features :
- precast concrete poured on site for wall panels, roof slabs, columns, beams, girders. This was considered cutting edge technology in the early 1960s
- high summer temperatures meant special precautions were taken preparing and curing the concrete. Aggregates used in the concrete mix were cooled before mixing by introducing ice into the mixing process to dissipate heat. Trucks transporting the mix to the site were equipped with water spray devices to cool the drums containing the concrete while they were being hauled to the point of use. After pouring, the fresh concrete was covered with black polyethylene plastic sheets to conserve moisture and to simulate steam curing methods
- concrete structural members (except the floor and roof slabs) were post-tensioned using a system called Prescon. The pre-cast pieces had a compressive strength of 6000-psi, approximately three times the normal strength of concrete used in conventional buildings
- grandstand roof was supported by a series of main roof girders. The hollow V-shaped girders measuring 8 by 8 by 105 feet were “lightweight” at 120 tons. They allowed the building to achieve unusually long cantilevers of 39 feet for the seat girders and 32 feet for the roof girders. The cantilever at roof level reached a remarkable 44 feet with the attachment of the front fascia units
- The hollow roof girders were part of the track’s innovative heating system which kept spectators warm during the winter months. As Phoenix Trotting Park was never intended to be a year-round facility it was built without air conditioning although it did house a fully air conditioned restaurant operating year-round
Track Operation
The Phoenix Trotting Park opened its doors on 12 January 1965 with several prominent east coast drivers on hand for the prestigious opening night that drew a track attendance record of 12,223 fans who bet a record $130,984 during the evening. The gleaming new facility received a great deal of press coverage, featured in Sports Illustrated magazine and the New York Times as well as the covers of Harness Horse and Hoof Beats magazines.
After such a promising start the opening night numbers never came close to being matched, the average attendance for the remainder of the year was 2,613 with betting averaging $43,764. The Phoenix Trotting Park would only last into a second season, the incentives such as free parking (5,000 cars) and admission assisted attendance levels especially on opening night but failed to generate crowds thereafter.
Phoenix Trotting Park was a five eights mile lighted, dirt spiral oval (possibly banked) circuit. It could house 1,000 horses in stalls provided. The track’s abbreviation was Phx; its speed rating was 2:03.4 with track record holders being Bosco Rosco (pacer) 2:01.0 and Fralen (trotter) T2:03.1, both set in 1965. The final night of racing at Phoenix Trotting Park was held on 19 March 1966.
Track Closure
Harness Horse Magazine reported that the Phoenix Trotting Park indefinitely suspended racing on 7 December 1966. Among the reasons why the Trotting Park was unsuccessful were :
- Low Attendances – although opening night drew over 12,000 people, the park’s average attendance dwindled to less than 3,000 in 1966. The hot weather of the desert caused events to be uncomfortable for attendees
- Location – limited means to control rain, leading to floods that caused accessibility problems
- Remote Location – located twenty miles from downtown Phoenix, the Trotting Park was not easily accessible as its construction predated Interstate 10 by twenty years long before major roads made the area easily accessible to those in the city or its suburbs
- Cost Overruns – construction costs soared far beyond expectations, giving owners little room to make a profit
- Competition – located in North Phoenix at 19th Ave and Bell Road, Turf Paradise (opened in 1956) had been established for a decade featuring thoroughbred racing before the opening of the Trotting Park which focused on harness racing, a sport unfamiliar to many Americans
When racing was suspended in 1966, the track’s equipment was removed by the Delaware North Corporation for use at their other racetracks and the track’s name was changed to Arizona Equestrian Centre. The track’s closure left James Dunnigan nearly bankrupt losing both the Phoenix Trotting Park and Buffalo Raceway, which he sold to the Sportservice Corporation in 1966.
After its closure in 1966, the 194-acre property was continuously owned by either individuals or corporations/businesses. With the exception of uses for :
- an automotive show on 26 March 1988
- an automotive swap meet in the parking lot called “AutoSwap USA” in 1991
- a movie, prominently featuring the main building of the park in the 1998 film “No Code of Conduct” starring Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen. The movie included a large explosion occurring at the track
the property sat abandoned after closure and without any care, maintenance, or upkeep, became dilapidated.
Twenty First Century Update
The land was sold to Grand Canyon University, who later on sold in the late 1990’s to the Roles Inn of America company. They built the Cotton Lane RV Resort on the backstretch of the track with phase I opening in 2002 with 285 spaces and phase II later adding an additional 300 spaces. In December 2015, the property was put on the market for $16.5 million while the grandstand structure and demolition of the Trotting Park occurred in September 2017.
Connecticut –
Charter Oak Park in West Hartford, near the Hartford/West Hartford line in Connecticut was founded by Burdett Loomis, a seventh-generation Yankee who grew up on a farm in Suffield. With a group of partners they purchased a 145 acre site in West Hartford with a view to the venue being used for picnicking, public gatherings and agricultural fairs. Loomis was vice president of the Connecticut Stock Breeders’ Association who believed they should own and operate the park, however another farmers group sponsored an annual agricultural fair. Every September into the early 1880’s the Connecticut Agricultural Society’s annual two week event filled the park with prize poultry, vegetables, country cooking and farm tools. The 1874 Connecticut State Fair featured a grand cavalcade of horses and cattle, the area also came to include Luna Park a popular amusement area.
Originally Hartford had a bumpy half mile track and Loomis resolved in his new home town to develop a proper racecourse with a manicured mile track designed especially for trotters pulling sulkies. In the early 1900s it also became the site of bicycle and automobile races and was one of the best-known tracks in New England with many famous horses and drivers racing there.
Charter Oak’s opening took place on 25 – 28 August 1870 (in 1893 they raced at Fleetwood Park, New York – a track that was dismantled in 1898). In August 1874 two of the sports superstars, local stallion Thomas Jefferson, “Black Whirlwind of the East,” and the matchless mare Goldsmith Maid, fastest trotter in the country were on the card. Fifteen thousand people saw the Maid win the “free-to-all” on the meet’s last day.
Charter Oak Park joined the Grand Circuit as a member in 1876 with Grand circuit racing undertaken between 1876 to 1932 – Grand Circuit FFA Pace (various years 1878 – 1932) and Grand Circuit FFA Trot (various years 1876 – 1930). Charter Oak was known as a fast track with a number of pacing/trotting mile records set together and other notable feats including Star Pointer, fastest pacer of year in 1899, 2:00.0 and Volomite fastest three year trotter in 1929, T2:03¼, set at Charter Oak. Loomis established one of the richest stakes in American racing in 1882, an annual Charter Oak Open trot with a $10,000 purse (raced from 1883 – 1932).
Charter Oak in the 1880’s featured the photo finish (first used in the finish of a race in 1881 with the practice not common place until 1930’s) although the technology was in its infancy. The photo below of the finish of the Charter Oak Stakes on 28 August 1889 was one of the earliest ever taken. On a cool day with 10,000 spectators crowded into the stands, grey stallion Alcryon came from behind to beat the great trotting mare Geneva S by a head with favourite Nelson third.
The very first harness race ever filmed was shot by the Edison Manufacturing Co. at Charter Oak Park in 1897.
The Connecticut Agricultural Society moved the annual state fair to Meriden in 1882 leaving Charter Oak Park increasingly dependent on racing revenues. The park’s finances were severely dented when the state legislature passed a law suppressing “pool selling”—betting on races. The park’s managers put Charter Oak up for auction in 1896 when there was no racing that year. Two bookies, Hartford “horseman” Andy Welch and New Yorker Orlando Jones, bought the park cheaply but their ownership brought Charter Oak’s last pretences to genteel proprieties to an end even allowing for the lax enforcement of the anti-gambling law.
The resurgent popularity of Grand Circuit racing allowed Charter Oak to prosper again for a while. The harness racing industry was facing increasing competition from movies, big-league baseball, dance halls and other commercial pastimes. Welch and Jones were looking for buyers once the state renewed efforts to ban betting. They sold 12 acres for an amusement park in 1906, a Coney Island knock-off named Luna Park and lobbied the Connecticut Agricultural Society to return to Charter Oak Park, Hartford. They sold Charter Oak in 1909 to a group that had leased it for an unofficial fair the previous year.
The Connecticut Fair Association added auto shows, vaudeville, fireworks to the typical country festival with the assurance that big stake races would continue under Grand Circuit auspices. With 60,000 people visiting on opening day in 1911, The Hartford Courant commented (on September 5, 1911), “It was a typical New England holiday crowd and a typical race week crowd, intermingled with curious effect.” The mixed racetrack/fair grounds proved fragile and after World War I the park’s fortunes slid steadily downhill.
By the 1920s, Charter Oak Park was finding it difficult to compete with other forms of entertainment. Once Connecticut instituted anti-gambling legislation in 1925, the racetracks future was determined. The Connecticut Fair Association twice offered the park to the state as a permanent site for the state fair. The fair returned briefly but with no buyers the last fair was held in 1928. Trotting enthusiast John Pilgard led efforts to save Grand Circuit racing at Charter Oak, but after a few seasons the racetrack fell into disrepair finally closing in 1932. Chase National Bank had taken possession of the park by then with the land bought for a Pratt & Whitney toolmaking plant in 1939. Today, the area bound by New Park Avenue and Charter Oak Boulevard is occupied by strip malls and big box stores.
Next Article : Georgia, Kansas, New Hampshire
Peter Craig
20 July 2022
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
