Maywood Park

Last updated
Maywood Park
Maywoodpark.png
Location Melrose Park, Illinois
Coordinates 41°54′23″N87°50′15″W / 41.90635°N 87.83741°W / 41.90635; -87.83741
Date opened1946
Date closed2015
Race typeStandardbred
Notable races
  • Windy City Pace
  • Abe Lincoln
  • Maywood Filly Pace
  • Galt

Maywood Park was a horse racing venue located in Melrose Park, Illinois, United States, about 12 miles from downtown Chicago. It was used for harness racing. It had a capacity of 33,297 people and was built in 1946. The track was a half-mile oval. The track closed in 2015. [1] The track, which had been in unincorporated Cook County, was located in Melrose Park. Demolition began in early 2019; the track was replaced by an Amazon distribution center in 2020. [2]

Contents

History

The land that would house Maywood Park was purchased by Arthur T. Galt for $64,000 in 1922 (adjusted for inflation this was more than $968,000 in 2019). [3] Per a 1953 United States Tax Court ruling: "In 1931 the property was leased to the Cook County Fair Association, which constructed a spectators' grandstand and a one-half mile dirt oval track for harness races. Its attempt to operate a county fair was unsuccessful, however, and in 1934 petitioner ejected it from possession, but the track and the grandstand remained permanent improvements on the property." [4]

In 1946, after parimutuel racing was granted in Illinois, Maywood Park opened as a dedicated harness-racing track. Galt and his family trust owned the land; the Maywood Trotting Association was established to run the races (the Galt family would later acquire controlling interest in the trotting association, holding 600,000 shares as of December 31, 1966 [5] ).

In June 1947, the first full harness race program to be televised anywhere in the country took place at Maywood Park, and the opening night of the 1957 spring meet was televised by NBC on The Tonight Show. The original grandstand was torn down in the mid-1960s and replaced with a larger, enclosed structure. The track received a number of additional race dates after Washington Park burned down. Two associations that raced at Washington Park (Egyptian Trotting and Associates Racing) moved their dates to Maywood Park following the destructive 1973 fire.

In 1979, boxing champion Muhammad Ali won a seven-furlong exhibition race, a fundraising event to benefit Provident Hospital of Chicago. [6]

In 1984, Maywood Park became the first Chicago-area track to host a Breeders Crown race. The Two-Year-Old Filly Pace Final carried a $550,000 prize, the largest purse ever offered at a Chicago area standardbred track.

Maywood Park has been the scene of numerous world records, including She's A Great Lady's 1:51.2 mile in 1995, a record that still stands for a three-year-old filly pacer on a half-mile track.

The Maywood Park Trotting Association was subject to a federal judgment tied to the scandal that brought down former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, [7] which forced the association into bankruptcy. The Galt Family Trust subsequently sold the land, and demolition began in 2019.

Physical attributes

The track had a half-mile dirt oval, and was capable of seating at least 33,297. There was stabling on the backstretch for 984 horses.

Racing

The following stakes were held at Maywood Park:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harness racing</span> A form of horse racing that uses a two-wheeled cart

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, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino</span> Racino in Yonkers, New York, U.S.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardigan Bay (horse)</span> New Zealand Standardbred racehorse

Cardigan Bay was a New Zealand harness racing pacer foaled 1 September 1956. Affectionately known as "Cardy", he was the first Standardbred to win US$1 million in prize money in North America. He was the ninth horse worldwide to win one million dollars,. Cardigan Bay won races in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meadowlands Racetrack</span> Horse racing track in New Jersey, US

The Meadowlands Racetrack is a horse racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The track hosts both thoroughbred racing and harness racing. It is known popularly in the region as "The Big M". Meadowlands has year-round horse racing as well as a number of bars and restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saratoga Race Course</span> Horse racing track in New York

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 U.S. It is the oldest thoroughbred race track in the U.S., but counting harness tracks it is actually the fourth oldest racetrack in the country.. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlington Park</span> Horse race track in Arlington Heights, Illinois

Arlington Park was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Called the Arlington Park Jockey Club during a period of its history, it was located adjacent to the Illinois Route 53 expressway and serviced by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.

Hawthorne Race Course is a racetrack for horse racing in Stickney, Illinois, near Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harness racing in Australia</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack</span> Racetrack in southern Illinois, United States

DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one-mile (1.6-km) clay oval motor racetrack in Du Quoin, Illinois, about 90 miles (140 km) southeast of St Louis, Missouri. It is a stop on the ARCA Menards Series, USAC Silver Crown Series and American Flat Track.

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 connected to the historic Saratoga Race Course thoroughbred race track located across the street on Nelson Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Park Paceway</span> Former trotting venue in Sydney, Australia

Harold Park Paceway was a harness racing track in Forest Lodge, New South Wales, in use from 1890 to 2010. It was a half-mile track but was just 739 metres in circumference until some changes in its later years. Races at the track were run over distances of 1,760 m, 2,160 m, 2,565 m and occasionally 2,965 m. Before its configuration, events were run over one mile, 9 furlongs and 170 yards, 11+3⁄4 furlongs, 13 furlongs and 98 yards and 15 furlongs and 92 yards – these distances were all for standing starts. For mobile racing, the distances were one mile, 9+1⁄2 furlongs and 11+1⁄2 furlongs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balmoral Park (Illinois)</span>

Balmoral Park is an equestrian facility located just south of Crete, Illinois, United States. It operated from 1926 to 2015 as a horse racing track. It reopened in 2017 as a horse show facility under the same name.

The Windy City Pace was a harness race for 3-year-old Standardbred pacing horses. It was run annually from 1983 to 2015 at Maywood Park in Melrose Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

Batavia Downs is a harness racing track and casino in Batavia, New York. It is located in Genesee County between Buffalo and Rochester just off of the New York State Thruway. It opened on September 20, 1940, and is the oldest lighted harness racetrack in the United States. The track is exactly .5 miles (0.80 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Casino at The Meadows</span>

The Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, formerly The Meadows Racetrack and Casino, originally (1963) just The Meadows horse-racing track, is a Standardbred harness-racing track and slot-machine casino which is located in North Strabane Township, Pennsylvania, United States, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Pittsburgh. After 44 years as a racetrack, the casino was added in 2007. The real estate has been owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties since 2016, with the business operations owned by Penn Entertainment since 2018, including a long term lease agreement to Gaming and Leisure Properties.

Harness racing in New Zealand is primarily a professional sport which involves pacing and trotting competitions for Standardbred racehorses. The difference is the horse's gait or running style:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Readville Race Track</span> Historic race track in Massachusetts

The Readville Race Track located in Readville, Massachusetts had a famous and exciting history for Harness Racing, Motorcycle Racing, Auto Racing and early military combat Aviation. When the track officially opened on August 25, 1896, it quickly became one of the premier venues for harness racing in the United States. It was known as one of the country's fastest courses and many records were broken there. In 1903 history was made at Readville when a five-year-old mare named Lou Dillon became the first trotter to run a two-minute mile. On August 25, 1908 the most spectacular event in all harness horse history was staged, the $50,000 American Trotting Derby won by Allan Winter.

The Delaware County Fairgrounds racetrack is a half-mile dirt racing oval for harness racing events in Delaware, Ohio operated by the Delaware County Agricultural Society since 1946. The most important race run here is the Little Brown Jug. The premier event in the United States for three-year-old pacers, it is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narragansett Park (1867–1924)</span>

Narragansett Park was an American horse and motor racing venue in Cranston, Rhode Island.

References

  1. ↑ Milbert, Neil (2015-10-02). "Maywood Park track ends harness racing, Balmoral next". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  2. ↑ "Amazon distribution center to replace Maywood Park horse track | WGN-TV". 7 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Galt v. Commissioner, 19 T.C. 892 | Casetext". casetext.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  4. ↑ "Galt v. Commissioner, 19 T.C. 892 | Casetext". casetext.com. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  5. ↑ "Stockholders of Maywood Park Trotting Association, Inc., As of December 31, 1966." Internal document recovered from Maywood Park in 2016.
  6. ↑ says, Jeremy Horn (2016-06-04). "That Time When Muhammad Ali Raced Horses At Maywood Park". village free press. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  7. ↑ link, Harness. "Track owner John Johnston guilty of civil racketeering". www.harnesslink.com. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.