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View Full Version : Any info/stories from Bowie??


charm city whizz
07-16-2016, 08:38 PM
Played golf today in that area made a wrong turn and ended up on "race track road" figured I might as well check it out and it was just a racetrack and a ton of empty space pretty sad

Guess they even stopped using it as a training facility just the eye sore of eye sores now it's hard to look at

Side note the golf courses are amazing in that area


Was wondering if anybody ever have any good stories from this old gem??

Ocala Mike
07-16-2016, 09:02 PM
Sure, I'll play. I'm an old-timer, and have been playing horses since the late 50's when I lived in Queens, NY. Back then, NYRA didn't have year-round racing, and there was no OTB. Along about January, Bowie would open for its winter meeting and I bravely (I was only 19 years old) took the Bowie Special from Penn Station, NY on a cold Saturday in late January, 1961. I seem to remember losing all day (not much has changed 55 years later - LOL).

I did get lucky, though, in that the train made it to the track without wrecking; that happened just a couple of Saturdays later, so I'm glad I picked the right date. Read about it here in this interesting piece: http://colinsghost.org/2009/01/winter-racing-and-bowie-breed-1957.html

charm city whizz
07-16-2016, 09:07 PM
I recall this train story, that was there??

Tom
07-16-2016, 09:30 PM
I heard about that - people left the wreckages and walked to the track, clothes torn, cut, bruised, on line for daily double tickets? :lol:

Ocala Mike
07-16-2016, 10:16 PM
OK - yeah, here's a better link to the story about the train wreck.

http://www3.gendisasters.com/maryland/1418/bowie,-md-train-wreck,-feb-1961

Robert Fischer
07-16-2016, 10:29 PM
Ocala Mike - Wow!


I vaguely recall some 2nd hand Bowie stories, my father must have gone once in a while during the late70s/early80s

thespaah
07-17-2016, 12:27 AM
Played golf today in that area made a wrong turn and ended up on "race track road" figured I might as well check it out and it was just a racetrack and a ton of empty space pretty sad

Guess they even stopped using it as a training facility just the eye sore of eye sores now it's hard to look at

Side note the golf courses are amazing in that area


Was wondering if anybody ever have any good stories from this old gem??
Here is a view on Google Maps...Don't know the year this was produced.
As seen, the grandstand is gone. The track is still in use. Note the tractor harrowing the track. And note the vehicles in the barn area
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Race+Track+Rd,+Bowie,+MD+20715/@39.0060547,-76.7408507,744m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89b7e93817faaefb:0x745a2 b32b50d2a91!8m2!3d38.998333!4d-76.740928
Back in the 80's I remember WCBS News Radio giving race results from the NY tracks..In winter, the results from Bowie were also aired.
I also remember the NY Daily News and The Post printed results from Bowie , Laurel and Pimlico on Wednesdays when NYRA was dark

thespaah
07-17-2016, 12:28 AM
Played golf today in that area made a wrong turn and ended up on "race track road" figured I might as well check it out and it was just a racetrack and a ton of empty space pretty sad

Guess they even stopped using it as a training facility just the eye sore of eye sores now it's hard to look at

Side note the golf courses are amazing in that area


Was wondering if anybody ever have any good stories from this old gem??
How'd ya hit 'em?....Where did you play?

affirmedny
07-17-2016, 12:52 AM
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affirmedny
07-17-2016, 12:56 AM
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Shemp Howard
07-17-2016, 07:29 AM
The best part of trips to Bowie were the gin rummy games on the way down.

At $0.05 a point I usually had my day made by the time the train left Philadelphia.

Oh, and betting Tommy Lee in the last race.

Ocala Mike
07-17-2016, 07:49 AM
Or Oliver Cutshaw.

cnollfan
07-17-2016, 07:50 AM
I attended most of the 1973 meet as a 17 year old. In the grandstand you needed to sit under a light or it was too dark to read the Form.

Unless the track was frozen, which happened on occasion, horses could close from way farther back at Bowie than they could at Laurel or Pimlico

DSB
07-17-2016, 10:44 AM
Two things I recall about Bowie:

I seem to remember a story about a train full of bettors getting stranded there in a snowstorm. Might have been the late 50s or early 60s....

Personally, I remember the OTB TV show from New York which featured racing from Bowie in the winter.

Horses I recall seeing run were Amber Hawk, Lexington Park & Port Conway Lane. The latter two each won about 50 races in their careers.

More than 40 years ago now.....

charm city whizz
07-17-2016, 10:52 AM
How'd ya hit 'em?....Where did you play?

Played 2 brutally hard courses And long ones that don't match up well for me...

A generally new course oak creek "semi" country club where 580 yard par 5s were the norm, with the heat and action shot 91 but it's gotta be one of the best courses for the price you can play ($45 at 2:20pm) on a Friday

Yesterday in the shadows of Bowie racetrack/course played at woodmore county club...my boss is able to get a group on for $80 a person which is steep...another brutal course where rough was Brutal but we played the easier tees, I got destroyed shot 90 but it was worse then that, scared swings all day long

On a side note many arguments broke out about "gimme" putts.....I dont understand why we weren't just putting them out for the amount of action on the line


back to back hard courses won't result in good results, anybody ever out this way and wants to play some great courses and can usually get them out there just send me a message

I do have pics of Bowie as it is now it's just unraveling track just eroding away I guess where the grandstand is I drove there the weeds are just overpowering the lot, does anybody recall a bridge the horses walked over from the backside paddock? Looked like a there was a overpass over the road that is still there

cj
07-17-2016, 10:58 AM
Bowie is actually where I watched my first ever horse race. Was in the announcer's booth with Larry Collmus and another high school friend and met Dick Wooley. It was a maiden race and he told us to watch the Odie Clelland first time starter. Made my first ever bet and won when the horse jogged and been hooked ever since.

Ruffian1
07-17-2016, 11:21 AM
Two things I recall about Bowie:

I seem to remember a story about a train full of bettors getting stranded there in a snowstorm. Might have been the late 50s or early 60s....

Personally, I remember the OTB TV show from New York which featured racing from Bowie in the winter.

Horses I recall seeing run were Amber Hawk, Lexington Park & Port Conway Lane. The latter two each won about 50 races in their careers.

More than 40 years ago now.....

I was Lexington Parks groom for a while back in the day.

Ruffian1
07-17-2016, 11:24 AM
Played 2 brutally hard courses And long ones that don't match up well for me...

A generally new course oak creek "semi" country club where 580 yard par 5s were the norm, with the heat and action shot 91 but it's gotta be one of the best courses for the price you can play ($45 at 2:20pm) on a Friday

Yesterday in the shadows of Bowie racetrack/course played at woodmore county club...my boss is able to get a group on for $80 a person which is steep...another brutal course where rough was Brutal but we played the easier tees, I got destroyed shot 90 but it was worse then that, scared swings all day long

On a side note many arguments broke out about "gimme" putts.....I dont understand why we weren't just putting them out for the amount of action on the line


back to back hard courses won't result in good results, anybody ever out this way and wants to play some great courses and can usually get them out there just send me a message

I do have pics of Bowie as it is now it's just unraveling track just eroding away I guess where the grandstand is I drove there the weeds are just overpowering the lot, does anybody recall a bridge the horses walked over from the backside paddock? Looked like a there was a overpass over the road that is still there


That bridge is what the horses used. Before that there was a flagman who stopped traffic for horses to cross the road. Boy , the drivers used to get so mad every morning. Finally, they built that bridge but not until well after racing ceased.

Ruffian1
07-17-2016, 12:15 PM
I went back there last October and wandered around taking pics and walking through where the grandstand, clubhouse, paddock, winners circle, etc. used to be. The memories just flood back. I was there a couple of hours, just remembering.
Walked through one of my old barns, the first barn on the left if you are entering the old clubhouse.
I was typically stabled on the other side of the street like most, but got the opportunity to be in Bud Delps old barn where Bid was, so I took full advantage.
Man, I have so many memories of Bowie, and plenty of stories, but most would probably bore you. I was there for just about every race run from 1972 until it closed in 1985. Watched the St. Valentine's day race from the paddock rail as an asst. trainer in 1975.

Ruffian1
07-17-2016, 12:51 PM
Here is a picture of the programs I saved for the entire Summer meet in 1979. I was lucky enough to win the training title there that summer. They gave me a watch . My wife stuck my parking pass on the box top. The horse runs around the outside fence for a second hand .
I had my share that did that over the years. Lol.

Ocala Mike
07-17-2016, 02:45 PM
I seem to remember a story about a train full of bettors getting stranded there in a snowstorm. Might have been the late 50s or early 60s....



Click on my link, p.1, 2nd post.

Tall One
07-17-2016, 03:12 PM
Good stuff, Ruffian.. :ThmbUp:

SuperPickle
07-17-2016, 06:14 PM
The thing that has kept Bowie alive this long has been the track surface itself.

The legend is it was a Tobacco Farm back in the 1800's. When they made it a track they used the dirt from the farm. Apparently the tobacco farm was really old so the dirt was amazingly rich.

Horsemen loved the surface. That's why they kept it as a training center after closing.

Back in the 50's and 60's Hirsch Jacobs sent his first string to Bowie for the winter. It would be like today Chad Brown or TP wintering at Parx or Laurel. Hirsch Jacobs swore by the surface at Bowie.

There's a lot of old timers who will tell you about huge scores they made in New York on his horses shipping up from Bowie. Back in the pre-speed fig and pre-class handicapping days these horses would be ship in from Bowie and be dismissed on the tote board because in New York bettors assumed New York horses had a massive class edge.

Every spring Hirsch Jacobs would put over a couple nice shippers from Bowie.

charm city whizz
07-17-2016, 07:08 PM
Turned out to be a great thread Gonna try and post these photos I took yesterday

Brogan
07-17-2016, 07:10 PM
Click on my link, p.1, 2nd post.
It wasn't a wreck, it was a sudden blizzard that stranded a bunch of bettors overnight. The story goes that they stayed in the clubhouse overnight.

http://colinsghost.org/2009/01/winter-racing-and-bowie-breed-1957.html

Broad Brush
07-17-2016, 08:10 PM
I was Lexington Parks groom for a while back in the day.

That is really cool that you were Lexington Park's groom!!

When I was a kid I loved watching him race at Commodore Downs
when he was 15 or 16 years old. I always knew he must have been
a good horse when he was young by his money line. I rooted for
him if I bet him or not.

Track Collector
07-17-2016, 09:18 PM
I was lucky enough to add Bowie to my visit list in 1984, which was the last year they raced. Was talked into going by some of the older guys at work.

I didn't do well financially.

I do remember a horse who had won something like 26 out of 30 races (Applause?) who ended up losing the feature race to a 4-1 shot named Dance Close, who I had been told had held the (Bowie) track record for 6f at one time.

My memory may not be too good, but that was 32 years ago. :faint:

Ruffian1
07-18-2016, 07:46 AM
I was lucky enough to add Bowie to my visit list in 1984, which was the last year they raced. Was talked into going by some of the older guys at work.

I didn't do well financially.

I do remember a horse who had won something like 26 out of 30 races (Applause?) who ended up losing the feature race to a 4-1 shot named Dance Close, who I had been told had held the (Bowie) track record for 6f at one time.

My memory may not be too good, but that was 32 years ago. :faint:

Pretty sure Applause was trained by Jack Mobberly and probably ridden by Mario Pino, her regular rider.
Don't remember Dance Close.
Corny Luck held the track record for 6F running it in 1:08 flat. Jan. 5th 1976. She could have tied it, or just missed it.
The track was frozen solid that day. Back then, they ran on that. That would never happen today.
Yeah, I have to be careful with my memory from back in the day as well. :faint:

DSB
07-18-2016, 10:03 AM
It wasn't a wreck, it was a sudden blizzard that stranded a bunch of bettors overnight. The story goes that they stayed in the clubhouse overnight.
http://colinsghost.org/2009/01/winter-racing-and-bowie-breed-1957.html
Correct!

I didn't realize the "wreck" and the snowstorm story were one and the same.

Thanks for clarifying.

Johnny V
07-18-2016, 12:07 PM
The first time I visited Bowie was way back when I was in the Navy. A bunch of us sailors drove up from Norfolk. I don't remember or recall anything special about the day at Bowie. I do, however, recall we had a pretty good liberty that night in DC. I visited the track once again in 1984 which apparently was it's last year in operation.

Ruffian1
07-18-2016, 01:19 PM
I have a picture on my office wall of him winning the Oceanport Handicap on the grass at Monmouth in 1973. He beat Halo who was 3rd.
He also beat Bee Bee Bee at Pimlico but I was not his groom at that time. He was a terrible bleeder. Had an old operated left knee that never gave him an ounce of trouble. Always very sound. For Lex, it was all about trying to control the bleeding.
I was his groom the day he bled for a third time on the track in a lifetime and he was given a one year suspension, which were the rules at the time. After a year, he came back, was never as good as he was in his prime.
Here is a picture of him winning an allowance race at Pimlico.

ronsmac
07-18-2016, 01:22 PM
Not to nitpick, but I remember watching the Bowie replay show on the newly formed channel 50 or home team sports in 1985. I came to Baltimore in 1984 and a couple of high school friends would catch a special bus to Bowie from downtown I believe. Only one of us was legally old enough to bet but none of us had any problems losing our money at the windows. My fondest memory of Bowie back then was them closing for the winter because that meant the opening of Pimlico and a much easier commute for kids without cars.

biggestal99
07-18-2016, 01:56 PM
Here's another link for the train wreck.

http://bowieliving.blogspot.com/2013/02/six-people-killed-and-hundreds-hurt-in.html

Engineer was doing 55 in a 15 MPH.

and the people who weren't hurt walked to the track.

and there was a fire that destroyed the PM machines that same day and they canceled the last race.

I would have been one of the people on this train. (lucky for me I was only 4)

Allan

dilanesp
07-18-2016, 02:45 PM
Sure, I'll play. I'm an old-timer, and have been playing horses since the late 50's when I lived in Queens, NY. Back then, NYRA didn't have year-round racing, and there was no OTB. Along about January, Bowie would open for its winter meeting and I bravely (I was only 19 years old) took the Bowie Special from Penn Station, NY on a cold Saturday in late January, 1961. I seem to remember losing all day (not much has changed 55 years later - LOL).

I did get lucky, though, in that the train made it to the track without wrecking; that happened just a couple of Saturdays later, so I'm glad I picked the right date. Read about it here in this interesting piece: http://colinsghost.org/2009/01/winter-racing-and-bowie-breed-1957.html

I think Beyer has a story about winter racing at Bowie in one of his books. There had been a rainstorm followed by a frost in January, and the drainage of the track had caused a lake to form on the outside of the track while the inside was a mud bog from getting churned by the horses running over it. In between was a narrow strip of frozen ground, and whatever horse stayed on that ground was the automatic winner.

Fun times.

cj
07-18-2016, 03:30 PM
Not to nitpick, but I remember watching the Bowie replay show on the newly formed channel 50 or home team sports in 1985. I came to Baltimore in 1984 and a couple of high school friends would catch a special bus to Bowie from downtown I believe. Only one of us was legally old enough to bet but none of us had any problems losing our money at the windows. My fondest memory of Bowie back then was them closing for the winter because that meant the opening of Pimlico and a much easier commute for kids without cars.

From Wiki on the end of racing:

Competition from new racing operations such as Keystone Race Track (later known as Philadelphia Park and then Parx Racing) in Bensalem, Pennsylvania ultimately led to the demise of the Bowie Race Track which ceased racing operations on July 14, 1985.

Ruffian1
07-18-2016, 03:44 PM
I think Beyer has a story about winter racing at Bowie in one of his books. There had been a rainstorm followed by a frost in January, and the drainage of the track had caused a lake to form on the outside of the track while the inside was a mud bog from getting churned by the horses running over it. In between was a narrow strip of frozen ground, and whatever horse stayed on that ground was the automatic winner.

Fun times.

He was right. If you look at the track, it was bad inside and way outside.

This day, the chute was frozen and they had to make the race 5 1/2F. It was supposed to be 6F.
He could have been talking about this day, although there were a few each winter that were like this.

Fan Since The 50's
07-18-2016, 08:08 PM
I was there for closing day in 1985. I lost my free vial of dirt though! In the 1970's and early 1980's rarely missed a Saturday at any Maryland track. Once drove down to Bowie during a Saturday that called for 16" of snow. Well we received about one foot, they ran the first and second race and called it a day. Loved that old track!

thespaah
07-18-2016, 08:33 PM
Played 2 brutally hard courses And long ones that don't match up well for me...

A generally new course oak creek "semi" country club where 580 yard par 5s were the norm, with the heat and action shot 91 but it's gotta be one of the best courses for the price you can play ($45 at 2:20pm) on a Friday

Yesterday in the shadows of Bowie racetrack/course played at woodmore county club...my boss is able to get a group on for $80 a person which is steep...another brutal course where rough was Brutal but we played the easier tees, I got destroyed shot 90 but it was worse then that, scared swings all day long

On a side note many arguments broke out about "gimme" putts.....I dont understand why we weren't just putting them out for the amount of action on the line


back to back hard courses won't result in good results, anybody ever out this way and wants to play some great courses and can usually get them out there just send me a message

I do have pics of Bowie as it is now it's just unraveling track just eroding away I guess where the grandstand is I drove there the weeds are just overpowering the lot, does anybody recall a bridge the horses walked over from the backside paddock? Looked like a there was a overpass over the road that is still there
Ill PM you about the golf

ronsmac
07-18-2016, 10:41 PM
From Wiki on the end of racing:Cool. I figured it was 85 not 84. Do you remember the sports paper that was a rival to the Sun and News American that was created right around that time? It had an amazing horse racing section, at least 5 or 6 pages devoted just to Maryland racing. I remember keeping their charts from Bowie and reading articles about Donald Miller Jr. After I came back from military duties it no longer existed and may have gone bankrupt even before then.

Ruffian1
07-19-2016, 08:34 AM
I was there for closing day in 1985. I lost my free vial of dirt though! In the 1970's and early 1980's rarely missed a Saturday at any Maryland track. Once drove down to Bowie during a Saturday that called for 16" of snow. Well we received about one foot, they ran the first and second race and called it a day. Loved that old track!

I have a vial of Bowie dirt, key chain that I got that last day. It has never been used.

It would be my pleasure to send it to you if you want it.

It's the least I can do for a Md. racing fan since the 50's.

Just click on my name and a prompt will come up with an option to private message me.
Send me your mailing instructions and I will send it to you .

Just let me know.

Fan Since The 50's
07-24-2016, 05:22 PM
Thanks for the vial Ruffian! I have to share one more Bowie story. Does anyone remember the weird incident with the track's air conditioning on Campbell Day in 1982? Someone got the brilliant idea to test the track's air conditioning system during the Campbell card. When it was turned on for the test something backfired and the sounds made afterwards made folks to believe that the roof was coming down on the track! I have never witnessed such panic at a race track in my life! People were screaming and hurrying to get out of the grandstand before the roof collapsed, or so they feared. One gentlemen threw a chair through the glass in the front of the grandstand and jumped out! Reading about this in the Baltimore Sun the next day, I believe i remember the track tried to bill him for the broken window. Only at Bowie!!!

Thomas Roulston
07-24-2016, 06:43 PM
In 1972, there was a Racing From Bowie show carried by I believe WOR-TV Channel 9, during the pre-inner-track-at-Aqueduct days when there was no NYRA racing until March 1st. The show used Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band's Scorpio as its theme song!

charm city whizz
07-24-2016, 09:56 PM
Thanks for the vial Ruffian! I have to share one more Bowie story. Does anyone remember the weird incident with the track's air conditioning on Campbell Day in 1982? Someone got the brilliant idea to test the track's air conditioning system during the Campbell card. When it was turned on for the test something backfired and the sounds made afterwards made folks to believe that the roof was coming down on the track! I have never witnessed such panic at a race track in my life! People were screaming and hurrying to get out of the grandstand before the roof collapsed, or so they feared. One gentlemen threw a chair through the glass in the front of the grandstand and jumped out! Reading about this in the Baltimore Sun the next day, I believe i remember the track tried to bill him for the broken window. Only at
Bowie!!!

That's Classic lololololo

charm city whizz
07-24-2016, 09:58 PM
With this said any story's from free state raceway anybody? Went to a furniture store a few months ago and saw a old school harness figure out by the road by "free state lane"

So many times at work players will ask me did I ever go to free state and I tell them no im from nj.....

ronsmac
07-24-2016, 10:14 PM
With this said any story's from free state raceway anybody? Went to a furniture store a few months ago and saw a old school harness figure out by the road by "free state lane"

So many times at work players will ask me did I ever go to free state and I tell them no im from nj.....The thing I remember most about Free State was the moths. Hundreds if not thousands of them.

Ruffian1
07-25-2016, 06:33 AM
Thanks for the vial Ruffian! I have to share one more Bowie story. Does anyone remember the weird incident with the track's air conditioning on Campbell Day in 1982? Someone got the brilliant idea to test the track's air conditioning system during the Campbell card. When it was turned on for the test something backfired and the sounds made afterwards made folks to believe that the roof was coming down on the track! I have never witnessed such panic at a race track in my life! People were screaming and hurrying to get out of the grandstand before the roof collapsed, or so they feared. One gentlemen threw a chair through the glass in the front of the grandstand and jumped out! Reading about this in the Baltimore Sun the next day, I believe i remember the track tried to bill him for the broken window. Only at Bowie!!!

You are very welcome.

I hope you enjoy it !

And yes, I remember the Campbell day fiasco.

Lol.