 | |
| Location | Bowie, Maryland, United States |
|---|---|
| Owned by | Southern Maryland Agricultural Society |
| Date opened | October 1, 1914 [1] |
| Date closed | July 14, 1985 |
| Course type | Flat, Thoroughbred racing |
Bowie Race Track was an American horse racing track located just outside the city limits of Bowie, Maryland. It operated from 1914 through 1985. The facility is now a training center for Thoroughbred racehorses.
The one-mile oval racetrack, known as Prince George's Park, was opened October 1, 1914, under the auspices of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Society—in actuality, the track's owners were famous Baltimore confidence men Gad Brian and Jim O'Hara. [2] [3] A major attraction in the area, easy access for racetrack patrons was available from the WB&A Railroad which ran trains every five minutes from the Liberty Street Station in Baltimore for which they charged 65¢ for a round-trip ticket. Admission to the grounds and grandstand was $1.00. [4]
The track was a natural addition to the area, home to the Belair Stud Farm, founded by Samuel Ogle and credited as the "Cradle of American thoroughbred racing."
In 1939, Bowie Race Track began hosting the annual Bowie Handicap, [5] which had previously been run at Pimlico Race Course from 1909 through 1938.
The Bowie-hosted edition was run at one mile and seventy yards, while the Pimlico edition had been run at distances from 1+1⁄4 miles to two miles.
Following America's involvement in World War II, the racetrack was closed from 1943 into 1945.
In the 1950s, Bowie Race Track was a pioneer of winter racing. Some of the races inaugurated at the Bowie track include:
On March 9, 1955, officials discovered a cabin cruiser floating on the track's infield lake. No one knew how it got there. [6]
During the night of January 31, 1966, a fire burned down five barns at the track that took the lives of at least 43 horses. [7]
Competition from new racing operations such as Keystone Race Track (later known as Philadelphia Park and then Parx Racing) in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, ultimately led to the demise of the Bowie Race Track which ceased racing operations on July 14, 1985. [8]
The track now serves as a training center for Thoroughbred racehorses. The track and training facility is now owned by MI Developments Inc. (MID). [9]
Citation was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the eighth winner of the American Triple Crown. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win US$1 million.
Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London. The racetrack is nicknamed "Old Hilltop" after a small rise in the infield that became a favorite gathering place for thoroughbred trainers and race enthusiasts.
The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade III stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 mile on dirt. It currently offers a purse of $500,000.
Laurel Park, formerly Laurel Race Course, is an American thoroughbred racetrack located just outside Laurel, Maryland which opened in 1911. The track is 1+1⁄8 miles in circumference. Its name was changed to "Laurel Race Course" for several decades until returning to the "Laurel Park" designation in 1994.
Crusader (1923–1940) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, whose career lasted from 1925 to 1928. In that time, he ran forty-two times and won eighteen races. He was the leading American three-year-old in 1926, winning a number of important races including the Suburban Handicap, the Belmont Stakes and the Dwyer Stakes. He continued to race for a further two seasons, but his form declined after he was injured at Aqueduct Racetrack in June 1927.
Princess Doreen (1921–1952) was a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for being the top American female money-winner. After showing promising form as a two-year-old she improved to be the best female racehorse of her generation for the next three seasons. Not only did she race males and win, but she did so carrying high weight for four years.
Display (1923–1944) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
The Beaugay Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares three-years-old and older over a distance of one and one-sixteenth of a mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island, New York.
The Havre de Grace Racetrack was an American horse racing track on Post Road in Havre de Grace, Harford County, Maryland. Nicknamed "The Graw," it operated from August 24, 1912, to 1950. For a time, it was owned by the Harford Agricultural and Breeders Association and also by the notorious gambler Arnold Rothstein.
Omar Khayyam (1914–1938) was a British-born Thoroughbred racehorse who was sold as a yearling to an American racing partnership and who became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He was named for the famous Persian mathematician, poet, and astronomer, Omar Khayyam.
Pasteurized was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1938 Belmont Stakes.
Deputed Testamony was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Preakness Stakes. Deputed Testamony is the last of eight Maryland-breds to win the Preakness Stakes and is one of only eleven colts from the state to win a Triple Crown race. Upon the death of Danzig Connection in 2010, he became the last living thoroughbred to win a Triple Crown race during the decade of the 1980s. Deputed Testamony died on September 18, 2012, aged 32.
Faireno was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Belmont Stakes in 1932.
Pot O'Luck (1942) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and raced by the renowned Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky. He was sired by Chance Play, the 1927 retrospective American Horse of the Year and 1935 Leading sire in North America. Out of the mare Potheen, his damsire was Wildair, winner of the 1920 Metropolitan Handicap.
Parlo was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse.
Process Shot was an American Champion racehorse. Owned and bred by Elberon Farm, she descended from her sire Restless Wind out of a Determine mare named Possessed. Process Shot is probably best remembered for her win in the 1968 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on May 16, 1969.
Vander Pool was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won all eleven of his starts at age two in 1930 and won his first four races in 1931, tying the twenty-three-year-old North American record for most consecutive wins without a loss set by Colin in 1907/1908.
Buskin was an American Thoroughbred racehorse is best known for winning the 1913 Preakness Stakes. Owned and trained by John Whalen, he was sired by Hamburg. Buskin was out of the mare Slippers, a daughter of Meddler.
Peanuts was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who, despite being small in size, successfully competed in top-level events at distances from a mile to a mile and one-quarter. During his four years in racing for prominent New York owner Robert L. Gerry, "little Peanuts," as the press frequently labeled him, would reach elite status when he won a race in world record time.
The Bowie Handicap at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland was a Thoroughbred horse race run between 1909 and 1938. A race on dirt, this once much anticipated event that drew some of the very best horses in the country was contested at distances from a mile and one-quarter to as much as two miles.