This is the sixth of a major series of articles concerning racetracks in the USA. Continuing a review of USA racetracks commencing with a look at states where live racing continues (only just in some cases).
Florida –
The Winter Home of Harness Racing was referred to as the Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park, commonly referred to as Pompano Park, a standardbred harness racing track and casino in Pompano Beach, South Florida. Northern horsemen often relocated south for racing when most of their racetracks were subjected to snow, ice and bitterly cold conditions. Live racing operated for approximately ten months annually with a short break from mid-June until the second week in August or at least that was the case until 2021. The shortened January – May 2021 season proved to be the second last to be held at Pompano Park, the then last remaining live harness racing venue in Florida. The state has two remaining thoroughbred tracks, Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach and Tampa Bay Downs offering live racing.
Pompano Park broke ground on 19 June 1963. Originally the site was an outlawed thoroughbred track that closed in 1926 after a single day of racing, ironically due to the Florida governor’s opposition to allowing pari-mutuel wagering. The land had been acquired by Frederick and Frances Dodge van Lennep who were the proprietors of Castleton Farm, Kentucky. The facility and 5/8ths mile track were built on the 233 acres opening for racing on 4 February 1964.
The grandstand had a capacity for 8,200 with parking for 10,000 vehicles. The track provided high class Standardbred racing for over fifty years featuring leading pacers and trotters as well as prominent horsemen. Sub 1:50 pacers and a 1:53 trotter have graced Pompano Park and Artsplace lowered and held the two year mile record here on 30 November 1990 to 1:51.1US. Forty nine Breeders Crown events were held between 1984 and 1993.
Pompano Park simulcasted both thoroughbred and standardbred racing, jaialai games and greyhounds from throughout USA and Canada year round. Carrel seating and private television simulcast viewing was available each day on a first-come, first-served basis on the second level of the casino. Purchased by Isle of Capri Casinos in 1995 and now owned and was operated by Caesars Entertainment (see below). The track was converted into a racino with slot machines and offered live poker games under betting limitations imposed by Florida law.
In 2018 Eldorado announced a joint venture with the Cordish Companies to develop the area surrounding Pompano Park with a mixed-use project including retail, dining, office, residential, and hotel elements.
The value of the racetrack and backstretch property soared once the surrounding area became densely developed and populated. The track cost $5.5 million to build; Isle of Capri Casinos acquired the track in 1995; Eldorado bought out Isle of Capri’s 13 properties for $1.7 billion in 2016 with Pompano Park part of the deal. Eldorado Resorts Inc. subsequently purchased Caesars Entertainment Corp. for $17 billion in 2020.
In mid-May 2021, a last-ditch effort to save harness horse racing at Pompano Park led by State Rep. Dan Daley (Democrat) for District 97 to block a provision that allows Isle Casino Pompano Park to drop live racing and continue to offer other slots and poker failed. Isle Casino Pompano Park’s owner Caesars Entertainment’s massive redevelopment project left little incentive for them to continue live harness racing if not required by legislation. The redevelopment plan would transform Pompano Park into an upscale retail, dining, office and entertainment hub.
The harness racing industry was a direct employer of approximately 5,000 people in Florida providing income to many thousands in supporting industries. The Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association advised lawmakers that ending harness racing would have an economic impact on breeders and other supporting businesses across the state.
Isle Casino had been in negotiations with the harness racing fraternity to move to another location with a monetary settlement but the Legislature’s actions in declining to approve a bill that would have saved harness racing meant the company no longer needed to negotiate. Pompano’s fate was sealed with the decoupling of harness racing in 2021 approved by Florida governor Ron DeSantis (Republican). In February 2022, Caesars formally rebranded Pompano Park as “Harrah’s Pompano Beach,” confirming the elimination of racing from the grounds.
The end came for Florida’s only pari-mutual harness track on Sunday 17 April 2022 when the final nineteen one mile races were held including Jody Jamieson’s first, only and last driving victory at the park (1:53.3f, Protect Blue Chip); track record holder Panocchio (1:48.3f) won for Wally Hennessey in 1:51.3f and as “King of Pompano Park” and its leading reinsman, Wally fittingly won the last ever race with Beach Forecast (1:50.4f).
Maine – part one
Harness racing in Maine dates back over one hundred and thirty five years to around 1893 when standardbred races were run at Bass Park in Bangor (track opened 1849) with racing also undertaken at State Fair Park in Lewiston and at various county fair meetings around the state.
In 1935 the State of Maine authorized pari-mutual wagering with legalized betting beginning at its existing tracks. Thoroughbreds commenced at Scarborough Downs on 1 July 1950 opening as the first night racing venue on the North American east coast. Scarborough Downs was an exclusive thoroughbred track until 1969 when dual code meetings commenced with the Standardbreds, although thoroughbred racing had ceased by 1973.
In the late nineteen eighties a fierce legal battle raged between Scarborough Downs and Lewiston Raceway over prime dates forcing Lewiston out of business. Legislation was passed in 2003 allowing Racinos in Maine, however local areas were required to approve the measure. Bangor Raceway received approval while in Scarborough this has been repeatedly rejected and the last meeting held there took place on 30 November 2020.
Today Bangor Raceway and Hollywood Casino’s harness racing attendances and betting on live racing is limited. Agricultural Fairs are the heart of Maine Harness Racing with a number of annual fairs being held.
Bass Park, Bangor and Hollywood Casino Raceway (BAN) –
Bangor Raceway is located at historic Bass Park in downtown Bangor where harness racing has been conducted continuously since 1883 although the park first opened in 1849. Once part of harness racing’s Grand Circuit during the “Roaring Twenties” (1920’s) it has a half mile track with a 520 ft straight.
Bangor Raceway will host forty three race dates between May and November in 2022. Feature events include several legs of the Maine Breeders Stakes, the Anah Temple Shrine Trot and Parade, the Billings Amateur Driving Series culminating with the annual Paul Bunyan Invitational. Bangor Raceway is also home to Hollywood Slots, featuring 475 slot machines in its casino operation.
Bass Park has been the centrepiece of recreation and entertainment in Bangor since the late 1800s when it was known as Maplewood Park. Apart from harness racing it has hosted baseball, polo, circuses, soccer, fairs, demolition derbies, rodeos, tractor pulls, horse shows, motorcycle racing, first airplane flight in Maine in 1909 when a plane shipped by train was assembled taking off and landing on the racetrack’s infield and the world’s only trans-Atlantic balloon race** as well as the Bangor State Fair.
** aviation history was made on 16 September 1992 when ten balloonists took off from the racetrack’s infield. The American team set an endurance record when they landed in Ben Slimane, Morocco 144 hours and 16 minutes later.
In its prime as Maplewood Park, Bass Park was the place where patrons flocked to harness races, annual fair and baseball games. In 1890 Nelson, a world-class stallion trotted a world record mile on the half-mile track in T2:15.5. Later in 1890 he established the world stallion’s record of T2:10¾.
The park was bequeathed to the city of Bangor by Joseph Parker Bass upon his death on 28 March 1919. Control of the park passed to the city on the expiry of the Maine Music Festival’s lease with Bass’s estate in 1933. The city had to agree to rename the park in Bass’s honour and operate the park for “public” and “semi-public” uses. A shrewd businessman Bass was born in Randolph, Vermont in 1835 moving to Bangor in 1863. After serving a term as Mayor, he represented the city in the Maine Legislature in 1875. He bought the Bangor Daily Commercial and became its editor in 1879.
Together with F.O. Beal and Ezra L. Sterns, Bass helped organize the Eastern Maine Fair at Maplewood in the autumn of 1883, the same year that Bangor Raceway opened at the park. In 1886, the New England Fair successfully used the park, bringing in $30,000. Shortly after Bass became sole owner of the park, named Maplewood because of the maple trees at its main entrance at Cattell Street and the nearby Maplewood Hotel.
Maplewood Fairs emphasized agriculture, especially livestock although the majority of attention is now on the midway, entertainment and crafts. The Bangor State Fair is the main attraction at Bass Park while Bangor Raceway remains the focal point, one of few remaining in the state (including county fairs) with the closures of Lewiston Raceway (1989) and Scarborough Downs (2020) for harness racing.
Arson destroyed the 2,000-seat, two-tiered wooden grandstand in April 1949 costing the city about $100,000. The grandstand which had stood since about 1898 was replaced with a 3,000-seat concrete grandstand built in 1950. A new Bangor Auditorium was constructed at the park in the early 1950s. An attendance record of 8,650 patrons at Bangor Raceway was set on 28 July 1984 while a betting record of $143,547 was set on 16 July 1989.
In the early 1990’s with the city having to invest more money than expected to maintain the park in its current state, the City Council voted to turn the park’s harness racing operations over to private investors to cut the city’s losses. Investors led by Fred Nichols made modest renovations to the grandstand, added more betting windows and increased the size of the concession areas.
In 1997 plans to remove the racetrack in favour of a stadium to house the Bangor Blue Ox, an independent minor league baseball team, failed to get the necessary two-thirds vote although a majority of city councillors voted in favour of partially financing the project. Plans included the stadium being built between the back of the racetrack’s grandstand and Interstate 395 at a projected cost of $4m. Baseball had been played on a diamond in the infield of the racetrack in the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries.
Bangor Raceway is part of the first and only racino complex in Maine, part of the Pen National Gaming facility. The Hollywood Slots and Casino opened in Bangor on 1 November 2005 and not on the same campus as the rack but located a few blocks away. The Raceway features an open air grandstand seating 3,750 patrons with a small clubhouse that accommodates another 100 plus parking for over 3,000 vehicles. The infield boasts a small tote board showing odds and prices while next to it is the old Bass Park Arbor leading into a grass infield. Selling tellers, automated tote machines and simulcast terminals feature on track.
Today Bangor runs a split meet with racing from April to July and September to October/early November (43 dates in 2022) leaving the middle piece for the Maine Fair Circuit. Bangor races primarily as a bridge track with early afternoon racing on Sundays and late afternoon racing on Wednesdays most months (Wednesdays/Saturdays September; Wednesdays/ Fridays/Saturdays in October; three make up days in November).
Bangor Raceway All Age track records – pacing Lorryland Butler, 1:53.3, 23 July 1995; trotting Stars Photo, T1:58.4, 24 July 2004.
Other live harness racing in Maine today takes place at the annual County Fairs – the 2022 programme includes racing at :
Track Fair Dates
Union Union State Fair 24-28 July
Topsham Topsham Fair 7-9, 11, 13 August
Skowhegan Showhegan State Fair 14-20 August
Windsor Windsor Fair 27 August-5 September
Farmington Farmington Fair 18-24 September
Freyburg Freyburg State Fair 4-9 October
Skowhegan Fairgrounds (SKW) –
Harness racing in Skowhegan, forty five miles north of Augusta, is held as part of the State Fair. The original one mile track was converted to a half mile oval in front of an open grandstand.
Skowhegan is the county seat of Somerset County in Maine. The Somerset Central Agricultural Society organised the Fair in 1818, with the first one held in January 1819. The Agricultural Society name remained until 1942 when the official designation became the Skowhegan State Fair. The annual Fair is the oldest continuously held state fair in the United States. Held every August, its 2022 dates were 14 – 20 August. One of the express purposes of the fair was to improve the breeding of livestock with particular emphasis being placed upon the betterment of breeds of horses and cattle, an objective that has been constantly maintained by succeeding fair management.
Fair History –
The early fairs included harness horse racing and the pulling of draft horses and oxen, as well as entertainment including games of skill and chance and the viewing of dancing girls. The present fairgrounds were acquired in 1856 with additional acreage added as it became available. The grounds had models of the first elephants, elegant carriages, displayed by artisans who took pride in their craftsmanship, farm machinery, early automobiles, talking machines, airplanes, bicycles, motorcycles and other inventions. The purchase of a lot on Beech Street in 2005 further extended the fairground acreage.
A late 1800’s programme indicated that racing, livestock exhibits etc were held at the fairgrounds while displays of needlework, canned and cooked foods and similar exhibits were held in Coburn Hall on Water Street, a large building which in the early 1900’s burned down in a spectacular night fire. A fire totally destroyed the Skowhegan State Fair “Grandstand” and nearby “Constitution Hall” in the early morning in March 1999. The fire started in the grandstand spreading to constitution hall. Vehicles in storage destroyed in the blaze included RV campers, boats and automobiles. The grandstand was built in 1935 replacing the previous grand stand that succumbed to fire in 1934. The structure was renovated while Constitution Hall had been upgraded recently. The cause of the fire was arson with a suspect turning himself in and being charged shortly after the blaze was reported.
New buildings have been built, commencing with the Grandstand and Constitution Hall together with a new horse barn in the summer of 1999, being finished just in time for that year’s fair, thanks to the many generous donors of the “Fair Time ‘99” Fundraiser Program. The modern and larger grandstand hosts Demolition Derbies, evening shows and harness racing events. New Archers, Signs and Quarter Poles were added to the racetrack in 2001.
In 2001, the Stable, known as The Beer Garden, was set up in the Midway Hall after the original was destroyed in the 1999 fire along with the reconstruction of the Flower Building that was named the Donald Eames building in August 2005 for his long-time dedication to the fair. A new Race Paddock was built in 2002, named the Forrest “Bud” Stevens Memorial Paddock for his participation in events and contributions to the fair. In 2003 a camping area was added to the grounds accommodating 200 campers plus many small tents.
Harness Racing History –
Harness racing has featured at the Skowhegan State Fair since the late 1800’s according to early fair brochures. Enoch Hight from Norridgewock, Maine, S. Kirby Hight’s grandfather, had a horse named Ino racing at Skowhegan State Fair in 1877. One of the best racehorses in the country at the time, he was racing for purses of $50.00 to $375.00. Pari-mutuel betting was illegal at the time but didn’t stop people from betting among themselves.
Many Grand Circuit stables and drivers raced in Maine during the 1920’s and 1930’s, stable names like Makwinney and Sullivan from Machias and Link Keene from Norridgewock who trained for the Woolworth Stable. Drivers Pierce Chappell and Avery drove many of the Woolworth stable’s horses to victories with the Woolworth family still racing horses today on the Grand Circuit. John Braden and Jackson Gratton were great driving rivals during those years.
Local identity Fred Pooler built a horse barn on the fairgrounds in the late 1920’s keeping his stable which consisted of a few Grand Circuit horses there. In the 1940’s and 1950’s Walter H. Hight, S. Kirby’s father kept a large stable at the fairgrounds under trainers Townsend and Ackerman. His horse Brewaway was second in the Little Brown Jug in Delaware, Ohio and his horse Cynical Way fifth in the Hambletonian, the ‘Kentucky Derby’ for trotters.
Before the introduction of the mobile starting gate, horses used to start by lining up at the head of the straight with the judge yelling Go if they were lined up fairly and No if not. Sometimes they scored up six or more times before dispatch. Walter H. Hight went to Lexington, Kentucky where the first starting gate was introduced in 1946. He had an engineer from Lexington design a starting gate commissioning Smith’s Machine Shop of Skowhegan to make it and mount it on a 1946 Chevrolet pickup truck. It was successfully tried in Skowhegan one Sunday in July 1946, after the trial the starting gate was used at the fairs for the rest of the year and used ever since.
Track Records –
The first 2:00 mile record was broken at Skowhegan State Fair by Marc Mosher on Blizzbee in 1988 with a mile paced in 1:59.2. Blizzbee was owned by Walter H. Hight II and Thomas Dillon. On 21 August 2010 Rodeo Du Ruisseau driven by W. Drew Campbell broke the previous State record held by Hotrod Falcon, 1:52.4 in 1993 at Scarborough Downs when winning the Skowhegan track’s signature race, 2010 Hight Invitational in 1:52.3 . This record was lowered at the Skowhegan State Fair on 16 August 2014 by Ron Cushing when Achilles Blue Chip paced 1:51.4.
Note – State All Age record currently stands a 1:51.2, set by J J S Jet (4 Sept 2017, Windsor Fair) and GivenUpDreaming (22 July 2016, Bangor Raceway and 5 September 2016 Windsor Fair).
The current trot record of T1:57.3 was set on 18 August 2005 by Pembroke Prayer driven by Heath Campbell. The State All Age trotter’s record is Neverdie’s T1:56.2, 6 September 2015, Windsor Fair, driven by Jason Bartlett.
Farmington (FARM) –
Held in conjunction with the Farmington Fair, racing is conducted on a half mile oval circuit featuring an elderly open air grandstand. Part of the week long Fair in mid-September (18-24 September 2022), the harness highlight are Maine Sires Stakes races.
Fryeburg (FRY) –
Run in conjunction with the Fryeburg Fair traditionally held in the first week of October (4-9 October 2022) racing is conducted on a half mile oval in front of patrons situated in a good sized open air grandstand.
The Fryeburg Fair is the last held on the Mane Fair circuit for pari mutual harness racing being advertised as the state’s largest agricultural fair. Maine’s Blue Ribbon Classic is the feature event.
Topsham (TOP) –
Harness racing takes place at the Topsham Fair, located about thirty minutes north of Portland near Brunswick. The track is a half mile oval tucked away distant from most of the fairground buildings but it does possess a good sized open air grandstand.
Topsham Fair has been running for in excess of one hundred and fifty years with the first pari mutual harness race run on 5 August 1935. The 2022 edition ran on 7-9 August, 11 and 13 August. Meeting highlights are the Maine Sires Stakes races.
Union (Union) –
The North Knox Agricultural and Horticultural Society held its first annual fair 5 – 7 October 1869. It has bene held annually since except for 1943, 1944 and 2019 (COVID). Although held at various venues in 1886 the Association voted to hold all future fairs in Union.
While in 1869 the members of the North Knox Agricultural and Horticultural Society voted to have horse racing course, in 1892 the Union Track Association was formed, leasing land from Almond O. Ripley for a term of five years and building the Union race track. This arrangement lasted for ten years, when the society purchased the land with horse racing becoming a feature of the Union Fair in 1902.
In 1927 additional land was purchased increasing the area by several acres; in 1935 pari-mutual betting was added; the mobile gate was first used in 1947. Whilst the Fair was run for five days in 2022 (27 – 31 July), harness racing was moved to 24 – 28 July to enable the track and infield to be fully utilised.
Windsor (WIN) –
Racing in Windsor located about fifteen miles east of the state capital Augusta takes place on the half mile track during the Windsor Fair (27 August – 5 September 2022). The track boasts an open air grandstand.
Harness racing at this Maine Agricultural Fair dates back to 1889 with it being a Grand Circuit track in the 1920’s. The first pari mutual harness race run at Windsor occurred on 26 August 1935. The track’s signature race is the Windsor Fair Invitational together with Maine Sire Stakes races.
Next Article : Maine part two (closed tracks)
Peter Craig
31 August 2022
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
