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 city of New York 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 racetrack opened in 1866 in the northwest part of Fordham, Westchester County (now in the Bronx), New York. Built on the old Bathgate estate, and operated by the American Jockey Club, its owner/members were led by financier Leonard W. Jerome and August Belmont, Sr. A luxurious clubhouse was built near a rise that looked over the race course on what was known as "The Bluff".
In those days, many would come to the racing park by horse, coach and carriage, or by railroad at Fordham Station, located at the bottom of Fordham Hill and Rose Hill in Old Fordham Village. Later in the century, it would connect to Bedford Park Station.
The first Belmont Stakes, the oldest of the three U.S. Triple Crown races which was named in honor of August Belmont, Sr., was held at Jerome Park Racetrack and continued to be run there until 1890 when it was moved to nearby Morris Park Racecourse. Jerome Park Racetrack was also the home to the Champagne Stakes from its inaugural running in 1867 through 1889 and the Ladies Handicap, created in 1868 and which today is run at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens and is the oldest stakes race in the United States exclusively for fillies and mares.
In the spring of 1876, a group of polo enthusiasts founded the Westchester Polo Club at Jerome Park Racetrack. On May 13 of that year, the track was the site of the first outdoor polo match ever held in the United States. [1] [2]
It is alleged that Lord Randolph Churchill first met Jerome's daughter, Jennie Jerome, later to be courted and married, at the race park, but this allegation is false. As attested by Sir Winston Churchill in his biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill was never in America before his marriage, and the couple actually met in August 1873 at a ball on board the Imperial Russian cruiser "Ariadne" while it was moored at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. [3]
The track closed on October 4, 1894 to make way for the Jerome Park Reservoir that was needed for the metropolitan New York City water supply system. [4] [5]
The land that formed the western half of the Jerome Park Racetrack was turned into the Jerome Park Reservoir. The eastern half of the land was later used for:
During the 1920s, the eastern half of the land was considered as a possible site for the Museum of the Peaceful Arts.
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown. It was opened on May 4, 1905, and is one of the best well known racetracks in the United States.
Leonard Walter Jerome was an American financier in Brooklyn, New York, and the maternal grandfather of Winston Churchill.
Kingsbridge Heights is a residential neighborhood geographically located in the northwest Bronx, New York City. Its boundaries are Van Cortlandt Park to the north, Jerome Avenue to the east, Kingsbridge Road to the south, and the Major Deegan Expressway to the west. Sedgwick Avenue is the primary thoroughfare through Kingsbridge Heights.
The Champagne Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old horses. The race is run at a distance of one mile on the dirt at Belmont Park in October each year. Although the race is open to both colts and fillies, in practice it is New York's premier race for two-year-old colts and fillies enter the Frizette Stakes instead.
The Matron Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the fall season at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) track in Elmont, Long Island, New York. It is open to two-year-old fillies and is the filly counterpart to the Belmont Futurity Stakes.
The Jerome Stakes is a stakes race for thoroughbred horses run each January at Aqueduct Racetrack. Open to three year olds, the race is run at one mile and carries a purse of $150,000. It is a Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying race, with the winner receiving 10 points towards qualification for the Kentucky Derby.
The Withers Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old horses over the distance of 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt scheduled annually in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The event currently carries a purse of $250,000.
The Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York.
Philip Joseph Dwyer was an American businessman from Brooklyn, New York and prominent owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and racetracks. Along with his younger brother, Michael F. Dwyer, he made a fortune in the meat packing industry, supplying butcher shops, eating establishments and hotels.
Michael F. Dwyer (1847–1906) was an American businessman and prominent owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and racetracks from Brooklyn, New York. He and older brother Philip made a fortune in the meat packing industry, supplying butcher shops, eating establishments and hotels.
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.
Raceland (1885–1894) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.
The Champion Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in August at the Monmouth Park Association's racetrack in Long Branch, New Jersey. Inaugurated in 1879, the Champion Stakes was open to horses of any age and was raced on dirt over a distance of one and one half miles.
The Monmouth Cup was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in July at the Monmouth Park Association's racetrack in Long Branch, New Jersey. First run as part of the racetrack's inaugural season in 1870, the Monmouth Cup was open to horses aged three and older. It was created as a long distance race but the long distance soon declined in popularity and the race was subsequently run at various shorter distances:
The Freehold Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early August at the Monmouth Park Association's racetrack in Long Branch, New Jersey. Inaugurated in 1879, the Champion Stakes was open to horses of any age and was raced on dirt over a distance of one and one half miles.
The New Rochelle Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run at a distance of seven furlongs on dirt in 1899 at Morris Park Racecourse in The Bronx. When that racetrack closed in 1904 the race was transferred to Belmont Park in Elmont, New York where it remained through 1910 until further restrictions were added to the Hart–Agnew Law by the New York Legislature that ended all racing in New York State. Although racing returned in 1913, the New Rochelle Handicap was not run again until 1918 when the Empire Racing Association revived it at its Empire City Race Track in Yonkers, New York. The 1923 race was transferred to Belmont Park. In 1943, the race was moved to the Empire Racing Association's Jamaica Race Course in Jamaica, New York which closed on August 2, 1959.
John Albert Morris was an American businessman widely known as the "Lottery King" and a prominent figure in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing. A native of New Jersey, he benefited from a large inheritance and added substantially to his fortune through a majority interest in the Louisiana State Lottery Company.
The 1867 Belmont Stakes was the first running of the Belmont Stakes. It was held on June 19, 1867, at Jerome Park Racetrack in Fordham, Westchester County—now part of The Bronx.
The Laureate Stakes was a race for two-year-old Thoroughbred horses run at Morris Park Racecourse in Westchester County, New York from inception in 1896 through 1904. The racecourse 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 Nursery Stakes/Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run in New York State for the first time on October 1, 1866 at Jerome Park Racetrack. Following the closure of that track after New York City had announced its decision to build the Jerome Park Reservoir on the property, the race was taken over by the Morris Park Racecourse. When that track closed after the 1904 running, it was transferred to Belmont Park where it would remain until its final running on September 27, 1938.
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