Windy City Pace

Last updated

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.

The race was originally run during Maywood's spring meet but, after 1991, it was run in the fall. Elimination heats were required to determine the finalists for the main race. It was the top race of a program that also featured Maywood's other top stakes races — the Abe Lincoln, the Galt and the Cinderella.

A notable running of the Windy City was in 1987, when Bomb Rickles won the final at odds of 190-1.

In 2015 the purse was $180,000. [1] Maywood park closed that year.

Windy City Pace winners

Year
Winner
Driver
Time
1983Trim the TreeDick Macomber1:57 1/5
1984Carl's Bird Carl E. Allen 1:56 3/5
1985PinocchioNeal Shapiro1:56 0/0
1986Incredible FinaleTom Harmer1:53 3/5
1987Bomb RicklesNeal Shapiro1:56 2/5
1988Wealthy SkipperWalter Paisley1:55 0/0
1989Just the TicketLavern Hostetler1:56 1/5
1990Jake and Elwood Hervé Filion 1:57 2/5
1991 Precious Bunny Jack Moiseyev 1:57 0/0
1992 Western Hanover William Fahy1:55 0/0
1993 Presidential Ball Jack Moiseyev1:54 2/5
1994Pacific RocketJack Moiseyev1:53 0/0
1995Village Connection Paul MacDonell 1:53 4/5
1996Oye Vay Douglas S. Brown 1:54 1/5
1997Arturo Dave Palone 1:54 2/5
1998Take Down the Flag Paul MacDonell 1:53 3/5
1999Looking for ArtEric Ledford1:54 2/5
2000CamotionDale Hiteman1:51 4/5
2001Rattle & RockRyan Anderson1:51 4/5
2002Three Olives John Campbell 1:52 4/5
2003Allamerican Captor Luc Ouellette 1:52 2/5
2004Western Terror Brian Sears 1:53 4/5
2005Thin Blue LineMichael Oosting1:52 3/5
2006Jereme's JetDave Magee1:52 2/5
2007Booze CruzinSam Widger1:51 3/5
2008Shadow Play David Miller 1:50 4/5
2009In Over My HeadDale Hiteman1:52 2/5
2010Aracache HanoverDoug McNair1:51 4/5
2011BetterthancheddarGeorge Brennan1:52 2/5
2012Pet RockDoug McNair1:51 4/5
2013Word PowerScott Zeron1:51 4/5
2014Big Boy Dreams Tim Tetrick 1:51 0/0

Related Research Articles

Precious Bunny is a bay Standardbred pacer and sire.

The North America Cup is an annual harness racing event for 3-year-old standardbred pacing horses which is held at Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville, Ontario, Canada. The race replaced the Queen City Pace run from 1964 to 1983. From 1984 to 1993, the North America Cup was held at Greenwood Raceway and from 1994 to 2006, the North America Cup was held at Woodbine Entertainment Group's other harness racing venue, Woodbine Racetrack. It is the richest harness race in North America at $1,000,000.

The Cane Pace is a harness horse race for standardbred pacers run annually since 1955. The race was first run as the William H. Cane Futurity in 1955 at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers.

The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. The race is named in honor of Messenger (1780–1808), a horse foaled in England and later brought to the United States. As a sire, virtually all harness horses in the U.S. can be traced back to Messenger.

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">Meadowlands Racetrack</span>

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">Maywood Park</span> Defunct American horse racing track

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. 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.

The Breeders Crown is an annual series of Harness races in the United States and Canada covering each of the sport's twelve traditional categories of age, gait and gender. The series was initiated by the Hambletonian Society, promoters of the Hambletonian Stakes, in 1984 to enhance the Standardbred breeding industry and to promote the sport of Harness racing by providing a lucrative high-profile championship race in each of these categories. The annual races for 3-year-old trotting colts and geldings and 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings, are each part of the Grand Slam Prize in harness racing.

Somebeachsomewhere (2005–2018) was a Standardbred Race Horse who, as a three-year-old, tied the world record for a mile at The Red Mile with a time of 1:46.4 and earned $3,221,299. In 2008, he had the highest earnings by a pacer in a single season of $2,448,003.

Shadow Play is a world-record-holding standardbred racehorse. He was sired by The Panderosa, out of Matts Filly, a Matts Scooter mare. The colt was purchased as a yearling for $16,000, and is owned by Dr Ian Moore of Charlottetown, PEI, R G McGroup LTD of Bathurst, NB, and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Serge Savard of Saint-Bruno, Quebec.

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:

The New Zealand Sires Stakes 3yo Final is an event for 3-year-old pacing horses in New Zealand. The race is one of the major harness races in New Zealand and is contested by the top three-year-old horses, who have to qualify in heats run throughout New Zealand in the preceding six weeks.

Terror To Love is a New Zealand standardbred racehorse. He is best known for being a three-time winner of the New Zealand Trotting Cup, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was trained by Graham and Paul Court.

Village Kid was an Australian champion standardbred race horse bred in New Zealand. He was twice awarded the title of Australian Harness Horse of the Year and was known as "Willie".

Im Themightyquinn is an Australian champion Standardbred race horse notable for being a three time Australian Harness Horse of the Year and three time winner of the Inter Dominion. He was inducted into the Inter Dominion Hall of Fame.

Wiggle It Jiggleit is a champion American Standardbred racehorse. At the age of three, he won 22 of 26 starts including the Little Brown Jug and Meadowlands Pace, earning him the Dan Patch Award for 2015 Harness Horse of the Year. At age four, he repeatedly dueled with Always B Miki, to whom he finished second in the 2016 Horse of the Year balloting.

The Breeders Crown 2YO Filly Pace is a harness racing event for two-year-old Standardbred fillies pacers. It is one part of the Breeders Crown annual series of twelve races for both Standardbred trotters and trotters. First run in 1985, it is contested over a distance of one mile. Race organizers have awarded the event to various racetracks across North America. The 2017 race will be held at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Indiana, United States.

The American Pacing Classic is a defunct three-race series in harness racing for Standardbred pacers aged three and older. It was run annually between 1955 and 1981 at three different racetracks with the final hosted by Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. During the same period, these tracks also offered the corresponding American Trotting Classic.

Montrell Teague is an American harness racing driver. He won the 2015 Dan Patch Rising Star Award at the age of 24 after winning the Little Brown Jug and Meadowlands Pace with 2015 Harness Horse of the Year Wiggle It Jiggleit. He is also noted for becoming the youngest driver to win a major stakes race at Hoosier Park in 2011 at the age of 20.

Bettor's Delight is a former champion American Standardbred race-horse and one of the World's greatest stud stallions.

References

  1. "Balmoral/Maywood announce 2015 stakes". HarnessRacing.com. February 10, 2015. Retrieved Jul 18, 2021.