![]() Jamaica Race Course, c.1907 | |
Location | Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York United States |
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Owned by | Metropolitan Jockey Club |
Date opened | April 1903 |
Date closed | August 1959 |
Course type | Flat |
Notable races | Bed O' Roses Handicap Daingerfield Handicap Excelsior Handicap Frizette Stakes Jamaica Handicap Paumonok Handicap Pierrepont Handicap Prioress Stakes Remsen Handicap Sheepshead Bay Handicap Wood Memorial Stakes |
Jamaica Race Course, also called the Jamaica Racetrack, [1] was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility operated by the Metropolitan Jockey Club in Jamaica, Queens, New York City.
The 1-mile (1.6 km) track opened on April 27, 1903, a day which featured the inaugural running of the Excelsior Handicap. [2] Eugene D. Wood, one of the founders and largest stockholder, served as its first president. Upon Wood's death in April 1924, Dr. Edward P. Kilroe was appointed president to replace him. [3] The Wood Memorial Stakes is named in Eugene Wood's honor.
Legendary Hall of Fame horse trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons was the first to train at Jamaica Race Course and Native Dancer made a winning debut here on April 19, 1952. [4] The facility's attendance record of 64,679 was set on Memorial Day, 1945. [5] It was home to ongoing races such as the Prioress Stakes, Frizette Stakes, Paumonok Handicap, Excelsior Handicap, Wood Memorial Stakes, Remsen Handicap, Bed O' Roses Handicap, and the Jamaica Handicap.
In 1955, the Greater New York Association took over management of Jamaica Race Course along with Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course and decided to undertake renovations to Aqueduct in South Ozone Park, the other track in the Greater Jamaica area. Jamaica took on the Big A dates during Aqueduct's four year renovation, after which it would be sold for redevelopment as a housing project. [6] [7] [8] With Aqueduct slated to reopen in the fall of 1959, Jamaica ceased operations on August 1 and was torn down the following year. [9] [10] Today the Rochdale Village housing development occupies the former site of Jamaica Race Course. [5]
The racetrack was served by the adjacent Locust Manor station on the Long Island Rail Road. [11]
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
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.
Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack located within New York City limits. Its racing meets are usually from late October/early November through April. The racetrack is located adjacent to a casino called Resorts World New York City.
The Carter Handicap is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-years-old and older run over a distance of seven furlongs run annually in early April at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The Brooklyn Invitational Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to four-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt. It was a Grade 1 race prior to 1993.
The Count Fleet Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Aqueduct Racetrack, located in Jamaica, New York, at the beginning of January each year. It is the first stakes race of the year run in New York City for three-year-olds.
The Gotham Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses run in early March at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. A Grade III event with a current purse of US$300,000, it is set at a distance of 1 mile on the dirt. It is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The Display Handicap was an American long distance Thoroughbred horse race held annually from 1955 through 1990. A race for 3-year-olds and up, it was run at the Jamaica Race Course from inception through 1958 at a distance of 21⁄16 miles. In 1959 the race was moved permanently to the newly renovated Aqueduct Racetrack after which the Jamaica track was closed and the property sold to real estate developers. From 1959 through 1969 it was contested at 2 miles then its final two decades was run at a distance of 2¼ miles. The Display Handicap was traditionally held on the last day of racing in New York City for that calendar year. It began ending the season on December 31, 1976, when year-round racing was introduced in New York.
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.
Jerome Park Racetrack was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1866 until 1894. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the Bronx in 1874. Jerome Park Racetrack was the home of the Belmont Stakes from 1867 until 1889. Today, Jerome Park is the name of a neighborhood adjoining the Jerome Park Reservoir, Bedford Park and Norwood in the northern Bronx.
The Queens County Handicap is an American Ungraded Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Open to horses age three years and older, it is contested on dirt at a distance of one and three-sixteenths miles.
The Gallant Fox Handicap is a discontinued Thoroughbred horse race in New York City which was run annually from 1939 through 2009. Hosted by the now defunct Jamaica Race Course in Jamaica, Queens from inception through 1957, it was then moved to Aqueduct Racetrack in the Borough of Ozone Park, Queens, New York. The race was open to horses age three and older and although contested on dirt at various distances for the most part it was a longer distance race.
The Excelsior Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the first week of April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. A Grade III event for three-year-olds and up, it is contested over a distance of one-and-one-eighth miles 9 furlong.
Morris Park Racecourse was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1889 to 1904. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the Bronx in 1895 and later developed as the neighborhood of Morris Park. The racecourse was the site of the Belmont Stakes from 1890 through 1904 as well as the Preakness Stakes in 1890.
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.
Arise was a Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse.
Jean-Luc Samyn is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
Faireno was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the Belmont Stakes in 1932.
The Wilson Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run from 1930 through 1958. Inaugurated as the Wilson Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, it was named in honor of the late Richard Thornton Wilson Jr., a prominent Thoroughbred owner and president of Saratoga Race Course.