![]() | |
Location | Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, United States |
---|---|
Owned by | Brighton Beach Racing Association |
Date opened | June 28, 1879 |
Course type | Flat & Steeplechase |
Notable races | Flat: Brighton Derby Brighton Handicap Brighton Junior Stakes Brighton Mile Brighton Oaks Iroquois Stakes Islip Handicap Seagate Stakes Test Handicap |
The Brighton Beach Race Course was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York, opened on June 28, 1879 by the Brighton Beach Racing Association. [1] Headed by real estate developer William A. Engeman, who owned the Brighton Beach Hotel, the one-mile race track was located in back of the hotel and bounded by Ocean Parkway on the west, Neptune Avenue on the north, Coney Island Avenue on the east, and Brighton Beach Avenue on the south. [2] An instant success, the race track drew wealthy patrons from New York City, and harness racing was introduced there in 1901. [3] [4]
Among its most important Thoroughbred horse racing events were the Brighton Derby for three-year-olds and the Brighton Handicap that was open to older horses. On July 17, 1900, James R. Keene's horse Voter set a new World Record of 1:38.00 for a mile on dirt at the Brighton Beach Race Course. [5]
The track prospered until 1908 when the New York Legislature passed the Hart–Agnew Law banning gambling in New York State. [6] [7] [8] Motor racing events were held at the facility in an attempt to keep the track from closing but even after horse racing returned to New York it was too late to save the track. At the time it ceased horse racing operations, the Brighton Beach Race Course was the oldest horse track in steady use in the New York City area. [9] The former racetrack, later known as the Brighton Beach Motordrome was then used for automobile racing for a time and after other measures failed to make it viable, the facility was finally torn down and by the 1920s replaced by residential housing.
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait. They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia and New Zealand, races with jockeys riding directly on saddled trotters are also conducted.
Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino, founded in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, is a one-half-mile standardbred harness racing dirt track and slots racino located at the intersection of Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue in Yonkers, New York, near the New York City border. It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International.
Greenwood Raceway was a horse racing facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the US. In 1857 the Empire Race Course was opened on an island in the Hudson River near Albany, but was in operation only a short time.
Harness racing, also colloquially known as trotting or the trots, is a spectator sport in Australia, with significant amounts of money wagered annually with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). In Australia there are 90 harness racing tracks, which hold over 1,900 meetings annually. There are approximately 2,900 drivers and 4,000 trainers with about 5,000 Standardbred horses foaled and registered each year.
Saratoga Casino Hotel is an establishment in Saratoga Springs, New York. Saratoga Casino Hotel is home to a 1⁄2-mile standardbred race track, with a racino and hotel located inside the racetrack's grandstand. Saratoga Casino Hotel is not to be confused with the historic Saratoga Race Course thoroughbred race track located across the street on Nelson Avenue.
Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend in Brooklyn, New York was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility that opened in 1886 and closed in 1910. The track was built by the Brooklyn Jockey Club with the backing of Philip and Michael Dwyer, two wealthy racing stable owners known as the Dwyer Brothers. Philip, the controlling shareholder of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, served as its president.
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York.
The Brighton Derby was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually by the Brighton Beach Racing Association at its Brighton Beach Race Course at Brighton Beach on Coney Island, New York. Open to three-year-olds, it was contested at a distance of one and one half miles on dirt. Run during the mid to latter part of July, it was the last of the racing season's thirteen Derby races.
The Brighton Handicap was an American thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1896 through 1907 at the Brighton Beach Race Course in Brighton Beach, Coney Island, New York and in 1910 at Empire City Race Track. Open to horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of a mile and a quarter.
Brighton Beach Motordrome, also known as the Brighton Beach Stadium, was a racing facility in Brighton Beach, New York. The Motordrome was originally named the Brighton Beach Race-Course, and became the Brighton Beach Motordrome in 1909. In 1915 A. H. Patterson took over as the proprietor of the racetrack.
The Test Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run on July 25, 1896 at Brighton Beach Race Course in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York where it continued annually through 1909. A race for horses age three and older, it was run on dirt over a distance of one mile.
The Brighton Junior Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run on August 7, 1900 at Brighton Beach Race Course in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York. A race for horses two year-olds, it was run on dirt over a distance of six furlongs.
The Grand Circuit, also known as the "Big Wheel", is a group of harness racing stakes races run at various race tracks around the United States. Run on one-mile tracks, it is "the oldest continuing horse-racing series in the United States."
The Belles Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually for two-year-old fillies from 1886 through 1908 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, New York. The race was run on dirt and for its final seven editions at a distance of five and one-half furlongs.
The Seagate Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1899 through 1907 at New York's Brighton Beach Race Course then for a final time in 1910 with a drastically reduced purse at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. A race for three-year-old horses of either sex, it was run on dirt over a distance of a mile and one-quarter for the first two runnings then at a mile and one-eighth for the remainder.
The Islip Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1899 through 1907 at New York's Brighton Beach Race Course and then for a final time in 1910 with a drastically reduced purse at Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. A race for horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of one mile for the first two runnings then at a mile and one-eighth for the remainder.
The Winged Foot Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race open to two-year-olds of either sex. A race on dirt, it was run annually at Brighton Beach Race Course in Brighton Beach, New York from inception in 1896 through 1908 before being canceled for the next two years as a result of New York state's Hart–Agnew Law anti-betting legislation. The ensuing financial losses meant that the Brighton Beach Race Course was never able to reopen and in 1910 the race was revived at the Empire City Race Track for what would turn out to be its final running.
The Produce Stakes was an American Thoroughbred racing event run in two divisions from 1902 thru 1907 at Brighton Beach Race Course at Brighton Beach, New York.