Colins Ghost

The Atlantic City Race Course attracted 25,000 fans when it opened on July 22, 1946. Conceived in 1943, smack in the middle of the Second World War, the track was funded by a group of local investors headed by Jack Kelly, Philadelphia business man and father of Grace Kelly. The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin wrote in May 1947 of Jack Kelly and his track, “you can see in his gait that he’s might pleased of his $4,000,000 establishment. He is running nose to nose with the gentlemen who turned Gulfstream into a paradise. Improving the breed, as they say, is doing a lot to improve the landscape.”

Atlantic City Race Course represented all that was new and modern in post-war America. The appeal of the “new” along with the growing popularity of racing made the track a popular destination, consistently drawing crowds in excess of 10,000 during it first years of operation.

What follows are some highlights from James Roach 1946 piece in the New York Times about opening day:

“In thousands of autos and dozens of buses, by train and by plane the fans arrived. They came early, eager for a thorough inspection of the 657-acre plant and its up-to-the-minute features, and long before the first post time of 2:30 all the 16,000 seas were filled. Late comers had to settle for standing room out in the sun in the concrete lawn.”

Image: A standing room only crowd estimated at 17,000 watch as the horses enter the track at ACRC on August 23, 1946.
Courtesy of Urban Archives, Temple University

“The track, built in the middle of the New Jersey pines on a site that once was a golf course, was about 95 per cent complete for this inaugural program. Benches were borrowed from Delaware Park because all the seats weren’t in operation, the automatic sprinkler system wasn’t ready to do any sprinkling and the television tower wasn’t doing any televising, but all the essential machinery in a smooth-working race track was working — and apparently working well”

My comment: Can anyone imagine a race track being built over a golf course today? It was built over the Atlantic Pines golf course.

“Jon Sloan, the architect who was a member of the New York Racing Commission from 1934 to 1942 designed the track – and he planned it with the comfort of the fans firmly in mind. He built the Hipodromo de las Americas in Mexico City and the Garden State track at Camden; he also built such notable New York City structures as the Graybar Building, the Chanin Building, the Pershing Square Building, 29 Broadway and 80 Broad Street.”

Image: Crowd watches the field pass the stands, September 4, 1947

“Among the features of the seashore course, which is about 120 miles from New York and 45 from Philadelphia, are sun decks, dining terraces, cocktail lounges in both clubhouse and grandstand, a seafood bar, a sunken walking ring with stepped tiers around it and a parking lot with accommodation’s for 10,000 automobiles. Every seat is a good one, and the stress is on visibility.”

“John B. Kelly Sr. of Philadelphia, the former Olympic sculling champion, is the president of the association. He stepped to the microphone and welcomed fans prior to the first race.”

“All was sweetness and light out front, but there was some squawking in the stable area about inadequate facilities.”

Oh well, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. With the exception of the occupants of the “stable area”, the Atlantic City Race Course’s fan-focused facilities and its proximity to vacation destinations made it a popular place to spend an afternoon.

THEN AND NOW

1946

The following images of the ACRC were taken July 16, 1946 by the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, about a week before opening day (click to view full image):

2008
These photographs were taken on April 25, 2008, day 3 of the 6 day all turf meet. Some of these images above might not convey the current condition of the facility. It is certainly showing its age. My wife called it “Pimlico-like.”:

To see additional images:View a web album from April 25, 2008

THE FUTURE OF THE ATLANTIC CITY RACE COURSE

The signs of the eventual fate of the Atlantic City Race Course literally surround the facility. In every direction, development looms and the days of the historic oval seem numbered.

Delaware Park is my home track. Coming from a place where the live racing is secondary (at best) to the slots and simulcasting, makes me truly appreciate race meets where the live racing is the primary focus. Pure racing venues are becoming less typical in the era of racinos. It is highly unlikely that a horse racing only facility will be constructed in the foreseeable future (odds are against such an occurrence in my lifetime). ACRC is as pure a race venue as they come. To see it torn down would be a real loss to the local fans who really seemed to enjoy the races and to those who respect the history of thoroughbred racing.

Considering the appeal of boutique meets like Saratoga, Keeneland, and Del Mar, reviving ACRC for a short spring and/or fall meet would be a viable way to keep the track in operation. The success of the current 6 day meet with very little publicity is evidence that live racing can draw a crowd at ACRC. The venue is the key. When it goes, so goes a great opportunity for a boutique meet in the region. Let’s hope that it chugs along for another season. As long as it’s standing a chance remains that something constructive might be done to keep the wrecking ball away.

Sources

“Application is Filed for Construction of $2,000,000 Race Track in Jersey,” New York Times, November 23, 1923

“New Moon is First at Atlantic City,” New York Times, July 23, 1946

“Racing Opens at Atlantic City,” Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, May 26, 1947

Historic images courtesy of the Urban Archives at Temple University

Needless to say, I was psyched about the endorsement for Colin’s Ghost on the Crist Blog. I have been a reader of Steven Crist’s work with DRF since becoming a race fan. His entertaining memoir Betting on Myself was one of the books that pushed me “all in” as a racing enthusiast. To see him write that my blog was “worth a click” gave me quite a thrill.

Thanks to the mention in the Crist Blog, I saw my first comments come in. I am grateful for the kind words from those who took a minute to send me a comment. Eddie C asked about the track at Havre de Grace mentioned in one of the sources I quoted. I have done some prior research on the track and will outline its history in a future post.

Yesterday was indeed a good day. A visit to the course at Atlantic City capped off a memorable Friday. I am working on a post about the AC course that will include some historic images of the track’s opening day in 1946. The Brooklyn Backstretch had a nice piece about a visit to AC that is definitely worth a look.

Correction: I mentioned in the Belmont Park piece that the track opened this Saturday (April 26) which was obviously wrong. A classic case of missing the forest for the trees. I have updated the page to correct the error.

This year’s spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, one of the classic venues for American racing, starts its 103rd year of existence. To get everyone ready for the meet at Belmont, I did some digging at the Library of Congress and found this gem (click to enlarge):

It is the May 5, 1905 cover of the New York Tribune with the news of Belmont’s first opening day. Download a PDF copy of the full text of the story.

The entire article is well worth a look but I have transcribed some highlights below.

The majority of the article details the day’s racing but I found the description of the crowd and their reaction to the new track especially interesting. Here is how the author described the “Variegated assemblage”:

“The attendance, morever, was not restricted to any one locality nor to any one class. They came, men and women, old and young, from the classic confines of Boston and Cambridge, from Philadelphia and from the sporting environs of Chicago and the coast cities. The Bowery and the Avenue mingled in the surging democracy of the betting ring. And both the Bowery and the Avenue wore its best clothes — and went home with them tattered and torn. In the more exclusive precincts of the clubhouse and the paddock there was a tendency to affect the raiment of Goodwood and Ascot, and tall hats and frock coats stood out conspicuously in the picture.“

Not surprisingly, the crowd found the track’s size a bit befuddling. When Belmont opened it had (and still has) no equal in the United States. The huge expanse of the Belmont oval took some getting used to. Under the heading “Plaints from the Stands” the article continued:

“‘Where do we come in?’ demanded the fieldstand. ‘We might as well be in Battle Creek, Mich. The ponies don’t look no bigger’n pug dogs when they get within a couple of miles of the finish.’ And from the upper tiers of the grandstand came another lament: ‘The only way a man can get up here and back in the same afternoon is by use of a balloon or a flying machine,’ it complained, and one individual went so far as to assert that he left his seat in ample time to bet the first race and got there just in time to hear that King Pepper had won the last race.”

Another element of the new track that had the attendees perplexed was the direction in which the horses ran (You will notice this is the headline image above). Belmont Park founders, August Belmont and William C. Whitney, had the races run in the “English fashion” (that is, clockwise). A tradition that lasted for the first 15 years of at the track. The “pikers” at opening day weren’t impressed:

“The scheme of running races the reverse way of the track, which the crowd insisted upon calling ‘the wrong way’, had a tendency to confuse the spectators who were not accustomed to it, and threw them momentarily out of stride.”

However, the anonymous author of the Tribune article had this final word on the crowd’s reaction:

“But all this faultfinding was inspired because of the strangeness and newness and bigness of the surroundings, and when the regulars – for whom most of it came – adapt themselves to the new order of things Belmont Park will undoubtedly become the most popular racing inclosure (sic) in the country.”

A final interesting tidbit: The Metropolitan Handicap (aka The Met Mile) ran on opening day and ended in a dead heat between Sysonsby and Race King . Read the full text for a detailed description of a dead heat in the days before the “photo finish.”

COMING NEXT WEEK
The Atlantic City Race Course

Thanks for reading!