Colins Ghost

All eyes turn to Louisville and Churchill Downs this week as racing gets set for what looks to be a great Kentucky Derby this year. In Mays Landing, New Jersey, the once grand Atlantic City Race Course will wrap up its brief meet the day before the Run for the Roses.

When the track opened in 1946, it stood surrounded by trees and farmland, today the track stands surrounded by strip malls, box stores, and a housing development. Its days appear to be numbered.

I spent the afternoon at Atlantic City on Friday. I started my day with a visit to the Atlantic City Public Library to take a look at old editions of the Atlantic City Press.

On Monday July 22, 1946, the inaugural day of racing, the local paper dedicated twenty three pages of coverage to the new facility. The paper profiled everyone from Jack Kelly – the most familiar of the track’s founders – to the chief starter and track treasurer. The Press gave racing fans detailed explanations about how to wager and the mechanics of the pari-mutual systems, directions for getting to the track, bus and plane schedules, and everything anyone would need for attending the big day.

The Atlantic City Race Course was one of the places that set the stage for racing’s golden era. Walking around the run-down facility in 2009, one can sense what it used to be. The ebullient description below – from Atlantic City Press writer Whitey Gruhler – provides the modern reader with a glimpse of the excitement surrounding the track’s opening and why it holds a significant place in the history of thoroughbred racing:

“Horse racing, which has sprouted from the sport of kings into the king of sports, gets under way in Atlantic City this afternoon when the Atlantic City Racing Association begins the first portion of a 42-day meet at its $3,500,000 ultramodern track, located 14 miles distant, just off the Black Horse Pike.

“Begun soon after the end of war, the construction is a stately addition to the nation’s major racing wheel. Nestling deep in the woods, on the tract once known as the Atlantic Pines Golf Course, the magnificent edifice towers majestically above the sweet-scented pines like a glistening jewel in the morning sun – the last word in architectural splendor.

“Only a few finishing touches, the placing of a gadget here and there, remain for the army of workmen, who won their race against time by meeting the opening deadline.

“The entire plant sprawls over 657 acres and there is ample adjacent land should future expansion be necessary

“Keynotes of the enterprise are safety for man and beast and the ultimate comfort and progress. Never in the history of the sport has so much thought and consideration been given the grandstand patrons who have been provided with sun decks, fine dining terraces, beautiful lounges, the best of visibility, and many other conveniences heretofore limited to patrons of the clubhouse.

“A huge grandstand-clubhouse of concrete and steel accommodates 12,500 persons. It has a terrace for 5000 standees, and well graded terraces in front of the grandstand provide ample room for 35,000 more.”

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Five thousand fans attended the races this past Friday afternoon. Drawing a crowd of that size, with minimal publicity to a less then ideal facility, shows that an interest exists for live racing in the area. As I said last year, with a little more effort and a bit of renovation, Atlantic City Race Course could become a viable racing venue again.

Let’s hope they are still running in Atlantic City in 2010.

An advertisement for the track from 1962 shows the
crowded parking lot advertised to hold 10,000 cars.

That same lot as seen on April 24, 2009.

Every seat and every inch of the apron filled
with race fans. From a 1956 advertisement.

The sloped track apron that provided a great view for the tens of
thousands of fans who used to pack the track. April 24, 2009

SOURCES, NOTES, AND OBSERVATIONS

“New $3,500,000 Race Course One of the Best in the U.S.”, Atlantic City Press, July 22, 1946

Count down to less then one week to the Derby. It looks like a great field. I am leaning towards Firesian Fire and Pioneer of the Nile.

I will be posting a few times this week with Derby related “selections.”

Looking forward to my first trip of the season to Delaware Park on Derby Day. Missed opening day but was impressed by the card put together by Pat Pope, the new racing secretary. Delaware Park has become notorious for short fields over the last few years. Hoping to see that change with Mr. Pope now in charge of the condition book. Read more about his background here

THANKS FOR READING AND GOOD LUCK!

Revised: March 23, 2009

The collapse of Magna and the looming depression have inspired talk about what it will mean for racing. Many lament the inevitable “death” of racing but here at Colin’s Ghost we like to take the long view.

If we look back and consider how much the sport has grown in the last 100 years, the rumors of its pending death are false. Even if the future brings a significant retraction in the number of tracks, racing will still be better off then it was 100 years ago when the sport was nearly legislated out of existence.

Image: Ad for Sportsman’s Park (Cicero, Illinois), one of over 100 thoroughbred racing venues established in the last century (American Racing Manual)

Consider this: In 1909, gambling on racing was illegal in most states. Tracks in New York – the very place that modernized and popularized the sport – were less than a year away from shutting their doors. If racing was going to die, it would have happened then.

When New York tracks re-opened in 1913, after being closed by anti-gambling legislation in 1910, the long term success of racing remained a question. In 1941, The Bloodhorse wrote the following about the state of American thoroughbred racing in 1916:

“In the United States there were exactly 15 major race tracks, and nearly all of them were centered in Kentucky, Maryland, and New York. In Louisville were Churchill Downs and Douglas Park. Across the Ohio from Cincinnati was Latonia. In Lexington was the ancient Kentucky Association course. Maryland offered racing at Pimlico, Havre de Grace, Bowie, and Laurel. In New York there were Saratoga, Belmont, Aqueduct, Jamaica, and Empire City.

“The Fair Grounds kept the sport alive during the winter season in New Orleans. Hawthorne was operating in Chicago, having been revived that very year by the Illinois Jockey Club for the first time since racing was suspended in 1904.

“Except for a few small scattered courses, these were all the tracks there were.”

Since 1909, according to an unscientific calculation (see below), at least 115 new tracks have been built or reestablished. Approximately 70 still host live thoroughbred racing.  Nine tracks still in operation were established before 1909. (The number of the early tracks still standing is amazing considering baseball’s propensity for building “old-time” reconstructions and tearing down places like Yankee Stadium and Comiskey Park.)  

We have built, on average, at least one thoroughbred track per year in the last one-hundred years. Compared to the fifteen or so racing venues a century ago, we are better off then we were in 1909 even if the current downturn results in the closure of over half the current tracks.

People raced horses since their domestication thousands of years ago. Colonists were racing here generations before the American Revolution. As gloomy as the outlook for racing might be in 2009 – we are not the generation that will witness its end. While it might be beneficial in some circles to preface arguments with the tired lament that “racing is a dying sport” – in taking the long view – I am happy to report that racing will survive long after we are gone.

Chronology of Thoroughbred Racing Venues 1909 to 2009

The spreadsheet below includes a list of tracks built for thoroughbred racing from 1909 to the present and the ten built before 1909 still in operation. The tracks are listed in chronological order based on the inaugural meet date. It was compiled using American Racing Manuals from 1947, 1957, 1968, 1981, and 2008. This list is not comprehensive and probably has a fair share of errors. I will gladly update it as needed so please send me an email or leave a comment if you have corrections, omissions, or contributions.  (See below spreadsheet for more on the methodology)

In a few days, the West Coast will play host to the first of two straight Breeders Cups. Being an East Coaster with an admitted bias, I thought I would try something new for this space in honor of the BC in LA: Do a little California racing history. What better place to start then Santa Anita Park – site for the Breeders Cup in 2008 and 2009.

Image: Full page advertisement from the Los Angeles Herald, December 22, 1907

The first Santa Anita was built on the immense “Rancho Santa Anita” owned by E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin, who was described in 1909 as a “pioneer, soldier of fortune, and owner of horses”. The original Santa Anita opened on December 7, 1907. Baldwin, whose life story stands as a classic rags to riches tale, “owned, controlled, and dictated” over Arcadia, the area that included parts of his ranch and his racetrack. According to his obituary, Santa Anita Park was the last of Baldwin’s dreams to be realized. However, in a lifetime of success the track also brought Baldwin his final heartbreak.

In February 1909, during the track’s second and what would be its final racing season, the Walker-Otis bill passed and outlawed “pool selling” in California, making it impossible for bookmakers to ply their trade. The end of racing in California soon followed, killed by the wave of “moralism” spreading across the country during the period. Lucky Baldwin died at his ranch less than a month after the anti-gambling bill became law.

Grand stand at the first Santa Anita Race Track, circa 1908
(Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

While Baldwin’s track lasted only two seasons, it made its mark on the history of racing and established a foundation for the current California racing scene. Here is how the Los Angeles Herald described a visit to the first Santa Anita Park on December 5, 1907:

“With the weights for the opening feature announced this morning and with the cup race poundage due today things begin to assume definite shape, and the lovers of turf events are reminded that but two days intervene until the bugles music again draws them out to watch the horses speed around the oval. Opening day, while it may lack a completed grandstand and paddock will in almost every other particular be as near perfect as possible, and Santa Anita park is sure to please all but the dyspeptics.

“The track is certain to be productive of fast time, and its mile and an eighth oval will provide a fitting ground for the hoofs of some of the best thoroughbreds ever seen on a Western track. The entries in the Pomona handicap alone show what can be expected this winter, and with the best in the country here to race for the rich purses there should be no lack of good sport.

“A visit to the course yesterday disclosed the fact that an unpainted paddock and a none too gorgeous grandstand would greet the crowds Saturday. But the view from this stand, however unfinished the structure may be, is well worth anybody’s time and money.

Panorama view from the grand stand at old Santa Anita, circa 1908
(Courtesy of the Library of Congress)

“Looking off across the field, past the smooth track itself and over beyond the line of white rails that mark the course, the stables loom like army barracks. Further on come the brown fields and orange groves, and in the distance the Sierra Madre, nestling against the mountains of that name, greets the eye like a picture from the brush of a master. The mountains themselves, rugged and still untouched by the season’s snow, loom up in majestic splendor to form a background for all, the trails to Mt. Wilson and Mt. Lowe leading like silver threads to the observations at the top.

“Work on the grandstand and paddock, was in full swing all day and night, but even with a full force swinging hammers and applying paint brushed there is no chance of a fully completed place. The outside rail around the track will be finished today and the steps leading to the stand from the front are yet to be put in place.

“Those sports[men] who care for racing as a pastime and not as a speculative proposition may be pleased to know that from almost any point outside the ground at Santa Anita an unobstructed view of each and every race can be obtained. It is rather new to these parts to be able to get something for nothing. Unless some patrolling system is established the man too cheap or too poor to dig up admission money can have all the racing he wants gratis.”

Two days later, Santa Anita opened and the L.A. Herald had this review of the new facility:

“And after the day was done nothing but words of praise – aside from the comments on the car service – were heard on all sides. The beauty of the track, the class of horses, betting facilities, ample room to sit and stand as suited the fancy – everything was satisfactory and Santa Anita’s first day closed in a blaze of glory, long to be remembered as a fitting baptismal for the handsomest and most perfect track in America.”

The first Santa Anita was short-lived but wildly successful. Owners shipped their steeds by rail from all over the country. The track even earned a left-handed compliment from the New York Evening World under the headline: “Racing at Los Angeles Showing Improvement.” The paper praised the new track but added that it was the “influx of New York horsemen adding new life to the game on coast.”

In the tradition of west coast ovals, the track was lightning fast. At least three world records were broken in its two seasons. The records for five and half furlongs (1:05), a mile (1:37 1/5), and a mile and an eighth (1:50) were all set in its short history.

Like racing in New York, California racing nearly died at the hands of “do-gooders.” As it did in New York, it made a comeback and played a significant role in racing’s rise to prominence in the middle of the twentieth century.

Racing returned to Baldwin’s Ranch in 1934 when the current Santa Anita Park opened – reviving the legacy of West Coast racing’s founding father.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Not being familiar with the current track or the area (except what I see on TVG), I am wondering if any reader knows where old Santa Anita was located in relation to the current track? As I was writing this, I felt a bit in the dark having never visited the area. Like all things historical, I assume there is some local knowledge about old Santa Anita that I missed here. Please send me an email or post a comment below.

SOURCES, NOTES, OBSERVATIONS

News accounts courtesy of Library of Congress Historic American Newspapers and New York Times Archive (NY Times requires registration):
“Track View is Pleasing,” Los Angeles Herald, December 5, 1907
“Carman Victories Provide Features of Inaugural Day,” Los Angeles Sunday Herald, December 8, 1907
“New World’s Turf Record on Coast,” New York Times, December 20, 1908
“Racing at Los Angeles Showing Improvement,” New York Evening World, December 21, 1908
“Centre Shot’s World’s Turf Mark,” New York Times, December 23, 1908
“California Racing’s Doom,” New York Times, February 20, 1909
“Lucky Baldwin Loses to Death in Last Race,” San Francisco Call, March 2, 1909

Ron Hale, “E.J. ‘Lucky’ Baldwin and Santa Anita,” http://horseracing.about.com/library/blbaldwin.htm

William H.P. Robertson, The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America, 1964

The Library of Congress has a significant collection of images online from Santa Anita Park in their Prints and Photographs Catalog. Among them are images from the park when was it used as an “assembly center” for the relocation and internment of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War.

Can anyone explain why Santa Anita Park’s website has no history of the track. C’mon now! Did I miss it? Hey Magna! The history of the game is pretty significant — you should check that out when you have a minute.

This is my last post until after Breeders Cup. I will not be playing the races on “female” Friday and will limit my wagering on “male” Saturday. The only way the BC folks will listen to the fans is if the handle suffers. So my contribution to the BC this year will be insignificant. Let’s hope the arrogance of the BC doesn’t ruin what has been one of the highlights of the racing calendar.

Thanks for Reading and Good Luck!