This is the fifth of a major series of articles concerning racetracks in the USA. We continue our review of USA racetracks with a look at Iowa State where live harness racing continues at county fairs and closed venues including Prairie Meadows for harness racing.
Iowa –
The state of Iowa features but one live racing venue, that of Prairie Meadows which boasts thoroughbred and quarter horse racing circuits. Harness racing ceased several years ago (see later).
The only live harness racing in Iowa today takes place at the annual non-betting County Fairs – the 2022 programme includes racing at :
Track Fair Dates
What Cheer Keokuk County Fair 29 May, 26 June, 8 – 10 July, 13 -14/20-21
August, 3-4/10-11 September
Bedford Taylor County Fair 11 June
West Liberty Muscatine County Fair 4 June
Eldon Wapello County Fair 15-16 June
Humboldt Humboldt County Fair 18 June, 3-4/30-31 July, 6-7/27-28 August,
17-18/25 September, 1-2 October
Allison Butler County Fair 25 June
Bloomfield Davis County Fair 12 July
Oskaloosa Southern Iowa Fair 24 July
Nashua Chickasaw County Fair 16 July
Prairie Meadows
In 1983 Pari-Mutual wagering was legalized in Iowa and in 1984 Prairie Meadows received a license from the Iowa Racing and Gaming commission to operate a horse racing facility. In 1985 pari-mutual racing began at several fair tracks around the state. In 1987, ground breaking ceremonies were held for Prairie Meadows. Fair racing ended in 1988 and in 1989 the state’s first commercial track, Prairie Meadows opened in Altoona, located ten miles east of Des Moines, Iowa where its first live horse race was held on 1 March.
The track lost money during its first few years of operation filing for bankruptcy on 27 November 1991 which closed down operations. Live racing was suspended for the 1992 season before revenues from off-track betting allowed racing to resume the following year. On 5 July 1993 the track cleared bankruptcy reopening for business after an eighteen month closure. On 17 May 1994, Polk County voters approved a referendum allowing the installation of slot machine gaming thus helping the track’s recovery.
On 1 April 1995 Prairie Meadows opened its racino, providing year round casino and simulcast facilities. By the end of 1996 it had paid off the bonds issued by the Polk County Board of Supervisors. On 14 December 2004 State approval was granted to add casino tables at Prairie Meadows. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved Prairie Meadows’ plans to expand its facility on 25 January 2005. Construction of the $60 million expansion began in September 2005 with an addition to the casino opening in August 2006, while two new restaurants and a 1,200-seat concert hall known as “The Meadows” opening in February 2007. There are 1,900 slot machines and in situ casino game tables feature poker, roulette and blackjack …..
At the close of the 2014 season harness racing ceased as a feature. It now features two race meets being thoroughbred and quarter horse from April to October. The one mile track (half mile training track) has seating for 7,000 (grandstand capacity: 2,300; clubhouse capacity: 2,600), parking for 3,500 cars and can accommodate 1,400 horses. The glass enclosed clubhouse facilities include The Champions Restaurant.
The home straight was 990 feet in length with a width of ninety feet accommodating ten starters from behind the mobile gate. The track had a hubrail and a speed rating of 2:01. Its record attendance was a crowd of 3,163 on 23 June 1989 and record betting of $488,070 was recorded on 5 May 1990, both achieved within Prairie Meadow’s first two seasons of harness racing.
Major harness racing events staged at Prairie Meadows in its twenty five year history included Heartlander Pace, Keith Hopkins Memorial Pace, Ledges Trot and Brooklyn Jet Trot. Course record holders over one mile were seven year old pacer Park Place 1:52.0, 3 November 2001; three year old trotter Homestead Dreamer T1:56.4, 26 October 2002 and over five furlongs seven year old trotter Wenceslaus 1:10.6, 6 November 2001. New Zealand pacer Light Foyle joined the first 100 NZ bred pacers in 1:55 list when recording a time of 1:54.4 in Prairie Meadows first season on 17 June 1989.
The track area has hosted free concerts by national musical acts in recent years.
On 16 January 2019, Prairie Meadows announced a partnership with bookmaker William Hill in preparation for the proposed legalization of sports betting in Iowa, legalised in Iowa from August 2019 becoming the eleventh state to approve it.
Closed –
Council Bluffs
This one mile circuit operated from 1881 to 1957. In later years it hosted year round live greyhound racing every Tuesday to Sunday. There was also simulcast thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing broadcast throughout the year until the end of 2015 when off track betting became unavailable in Council Bluffs when the Bluffs Run greyhound track closed.
The track boasted the Horseshoe casino with nearly 2,000 slots and 62 table games. It was the Casino’s intention to bring off track betting back to Council Bluffs.
Davenport
A track on which in 1894 on 28 September Hal Braden’s p2:07¼ placed him amongst the first 150 2:10 performers in North America.
Iowa Fairgrounds, Des Moines
The Iowa State Fairgrounds situated on the east side of Des Moines annually hosts the Iowa State Fair in late summer. Beginnin gin 1854 the state fair commenced with the current fairgrounds being established in 1886. Listed as an historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as the Iowa State Fair and Exposition Grounds.
In 1886 the fairgrounds were moved to the east side of town on University Avenue from the previous property at Calvin Thornton Farmstead. The Iowa Legislature and the city of Des Moines appropriated funds in 1886 for the buildings first buildings on the fairgrounds. They were frame buildings that used boards and battens as exterior wall coverings. Mostly single-story structures they were built quickly to a tight budget. Whilst they lasted into the early twentieth century before replacement or expansion, their poor construction mean they were constantly under repair. Some of the frame buildings from 1886 were moved to a different location and continued to be used.
Pioneer Hall remains from this period. The early streets within the fairgrounds followed the same basic pattern as today, albeit being unpaved, without curbing or gutters. Street lighting was installed around 1890 with oil lamps used. The following year 500 electric lights were installed on the grounds.
The track built in 1886 was half mile in circumference and upgraded to one mile in 1892. A new race track and grandstand were built in 1909 and the Varied Industries Building was built in 1911. The original house and barn remain on the fairground’s property. Other structures from the farm survived into the late 1940s when they were torn down.
The annual State Fair was held in August 2021.
Hedrick
Hedrick was a one mile kite racetrack and amphitheatre that operated from 1892 to 1900. A kite track consisted of two straights and one bend, each of one third of a mile length. The start and finish were at the apex of the kite where the two stretches met, therefore horses had only one bend to contend with.
Report on Hedrick trotting meeting of 10 August 1898 in the Oskaloosa Herald, Mahaska County, Iowa, 11 August 1898.
Lockheart was one of first 150 2:10 performers in North America trotting T2:08½ on 19 September 1895 at Hedrick. Hedrick was torn down for land development after 1900 with historical markers still showing its location.
Rush Park, Independence
In 1869 a new agricultural association was organized with the purchase of sixty acres of land owned by James Burns, located a half-mile west of Independence. The land was later to become Rush Park. The Association built a stable, floral hall, a graded half-mile race track and a main hall with a board fence surrounding the total complex.
In the 1880’s, Buchanan County, Iowa residents found that the agricultural fair was better known as the Independence Races. The property was purchased by Charles W. Williams (4 December 1856 – 2 February 1936), an Independence horse breeder and businessman. Williams was born in New York State moving with his family to Buchanan County when eleven years old. The son of George W. and Julina (Reynolds) Williams, he went to school and helped around the family farm until he was about 16. When the family moved to Jesup, Williams began a job as a clerk in the Laird Bros. General Store. C.W. as all but his closest friends called him lost his job as a result of an economic downturn. Eventually the opportunity arose to move to Chicago and drive a milk wagon.
While the Chicago job did not last long it gained Williams some business acumen and experience driving horses. Moving back to Jesup he completed his schooling and trained as a night time telegraph operator. Married at 21 he went into partnership starting a creamery and after shipping eggs and butter direct to New York prepared to start another creamery. Furthering his businesses throughout several Iowa counties, where his driving experience gave him an appreciation for a good road horse. With his businesses being very successful, Williams decided to buy some horses for breeding.
Williams made purchases from Dubuque’s “lumber kings”, Henry L. Stout and Frank D. Stout’s Highland Farm facility, sending two of the mares purchased to Kentucky to get the best breeding’s he could afford. They were non-Standard mare Lou bred to the stallion William L and the Standard mare Gussie Wilkes bred to Jay Bird. Lou’s foal Axtell and Gussie Wilkes’s foal Allerton became two of the most influential stallions in early harness racing history. Williams undertook training and driving of the two trotting colts preparing them for racing.
Axtell was foaled on 31 March 1886, sired by William L., a son of George Wilkes, one of the best producing sons of Rysdky’s Hambletonian while his dam Lou was by Mambrino Boy out of Bird Mitchell. As a two year old his great flight of speed was not at first apparent and Williams offered him for sale at $300, before the spring of 1888 without finding a buyer.
Axtell’s initial appearance at Keokuk was sensational, a month later Axtell won the 3yo trot at Des Moines but was declared ineligible because he was only two years old. Later in 1888 he trotted at Independence, Cedar Rapids, and Lexington, Kentucky, ending his season with a two-year-old record of T2:23. On 2 July 1889 Axtell went against Sable Wilkes’ 3yo record of T2:18 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in Saint Paul. He recorded T2:15 ½TT, breaking the record of Sable Wilkes. An offer of $65,000 was refused and nothing less than $100,000 or $125,000 would buy him. Axtell became the world trotting stallion champion, with a time of T2:12.0TT set at Terre Haute on 11 October 1889. Williams sold Axtell to a syndicate led by Colonel John W. Conley for a record-breaking $105,000 a few days later, retiring him to stud service at a fee of $1,000, he was to sire champion progenitor Axworthy.
Allerton was a son of Jay Bird, another son of the mighty George Wilkes inheriting the strain of Rysdyk’s Hambletonian. His dam Gussie Wilkes was by Mambrino Boy out of Dora Wilkes who traced through George Wilkes to Hambletonian. In the autumn of 1888 Allerton began his career at Keokuk as a two-year-old where Black Wing won the first two heats in 2:54 and 2:52 while Allerton took the last three in 2:52, 2:50, and 3:10, clearly displaying his staying qualities. The Lexington, Kentucky meet closed Allerton’s great races for 1891 and he retired for the winter with the world’s stallion record of T2:09¼TT made in an exhibition on the kite track at Independence on 19 September 1891. After being injured in 1892 Allerton retired never racing again. Williams moved with Allerton and a few other horses to Galesburg, Illinois, where he was offered the position of racetrack manager. Allerton commanded large stud fees with Williams using these financial resources to trade his horses for Canadian farmland in 1904. Allerton went with the other horses but was not part of the sale. As an eighteen year old, Allerton was given a comfortable home until his death at the Indianola, Iowa property of his owner Harry E. Hoper, he died there on Tuesday 5 July 1910.
Late in the afternoon on the last day of the Buchanan County Fair at Independence in August 1889, the famous head to head race between Allerton and Axtell was held. The race was close but Allerton beat out his more famous stable mate in a good time of T2:22.
In 1886 a County Agricultural Society was again organized. During the 1890’s interest waned in the county fairs probably partly due to the enthusiasm of young and old for harness racing.
Following Williams sale of Axtell, he used the bulk of the $105,000 sale price to build one of the first one mile kite tracks at Rush Park after purchasing the 120 acres on which the track was built. William B. Fasig of New York designed and built the track for Williams in 1889. Over 225 horses valued at over $1m were present for the inaugural opening race day on 25 August 1890 (first use of circuit on 17 June; 4 July, local horsemen only) with over 10,000 people in attendance. Numerous trotters’ race miles, pacers, pacing/trotting mares and 2yo pacing mile records were set on this track in the early 1890’s – Nancy Hanks, Martha Wilkes, Online, Manager, Direct as well as Roy Wilkes, Jay Eye See, Allerton ….
The track became so popular that Illinois Central began to serve it with a passenger service in 1892. The railroad built a new passenger depot to take care of the crowds converging for the races where it was not unusual to have 25,000 to 30,000 people attending. Locals would board Burlington railroad and take the train to the races.
Williams built an elegant $75,000 hotel and opera house (The Gedney) to accommodate the thousands who would attend the Rush Park races. In addition he built an electric street railway/trolley line out to the racetrack for patrons. For about three short years (1890 – 1892), Independence became known as the “Lexington of the North,” before an economic depression caused the whole operation to collapse. Williams’s prominence in harness racing faltered after major financial issues in 1896 leaving to become a travelling evangelist for the next three decades often preaching in the city streets. Williams retired from the horse business in 1908 and died in Aurora, Illinois in 1936.
The race track at Rush Park was the site of the first one-mile bicycle speed record of under two minutes set in 1892 at Independence by John S. Johnson.
Racing continued on a lesser scale through until 1904, a year later the grandstand was converted into a large barn. Today, the primary location of Williams’ race track is owned by the school district. The school’s American Trotter Trail intersects the original site of the Williams’ race track.
By 1928, the annual State Fair was advertised as $15,500, in premiums, races and attractions. It featured baseball, children’s day, six harness races and three running races, stock parade, band concerts, dancing every afternoon and evening and 4-H exhibits (food and nutrition). “Jack Fine’s Follies of 1928” were advertised as beauty girls, fine music, artistic dancing and gorgeous costumes.
In 1940, pari-mutuel betting was legalized on the East Coast of USA with the majority of harness racing moving eastwards. Saturday 3 March 1945 brought the end of the Gedney Hotel when fire swept through only seventeen minutes after the alarm sounded the back wall crumbled. The fire departments fought the blaze for thirty three hours pouring over a million gallons of water in using fifteen hose connections to put out the fire.
In 1947 the Rush Park racetrack was lit. It was the only lighted horse racing oval west of the Mississippi with secretary Grady Gates turning the lights on. A new race horse barn was added and the hog barn was remodelled. The 1960’s brought the end of an era for harness racing when stock car racing on the dirt track came to the Buchanan Co. Fairgrounds and it still survives to this day.
Sioux City
Sports and competition have been an important part of Sioux City’s history since the nineteenth century. Racetracks for horses and later automobiles were scattered across Sioux City. Racing in Sioux City dates back to the 1890s when horses ran around the Evans Driving Park located at Twentieth and Center Streets, likely a half mile circuit that closed in 1925. Racing was undertaken on the Interstate Fair fairgrounds in southern Riverside from 1903. There the race goers had more room and a large one mile oval track. Only a few years after this move automobiles became very popular and affordable, predominantly at Sioux City Speedway where the most famous racing event in Sioux City was the Mini Indy.
Next Article : Florida and Maine
Peter Craig
17 August 2022
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
