My Best/Worst List of Tracks I have been to..

[sq764]

Nicest Track (to the eye) – Del Mar, Woodbine

Nicest facility – Monmouth Park

Best Dining – Penn National (nice enclosed dining room overlooking the track.. Great food too)

Rudest Tellers – Meadowlands, in a runaway

Most knowledgeable crowd – Saratoga

Best Looking crowd – Del Mar

Nicest tellers – Colonial Downs (actually everyone working there was SUPER nice)

Most relaxing atmosphere – Monmouth Park in the Summer, BYOB

Best Racing View – Anywhere in the stands at Del Mar

Worst Racing View – Saratoga

Biggest Dump – Suffolk Downs

Biggest Disappointment – Del Mar .. Was so excited to finally get there, only to see half the card with 5 horse races.. There was a $70,000 turf race with 5 entries! It was horrible.

Tracks that I will never go back to – Suffolk, Meadowlands (will only go for harness)

Tracks that I most want to see but haven’t been – Santa Anita/Arlington/Churchill Downs

Best kept secret – Philadelphia Park in the Summer, picnic area right down the backstretch, bring a lawn chair and cooler and relax.. Nice fields, good wagering..

[toetoe]

Most knowledgable crowd: "Lovely" Lingfield, England
Best restaurants: Vina Del Mar, Chile
Worst payouts: Gavea, Rio De Janeiro, Brasil
Greatest density of freakazoidal maniacs: G.G.F. simulcast
Least knowl. crowd: Bay Meadows on Fri. nights
Most hectic and just plain crowded: Del Mar on weekends
Just so beautiful nothing else matters: Santa Anita
Best fair sites: Santa Rosa and Pleasanton
Sucks bad cuz after all it's Stockton: San Joaquin Co. Fair
Good racing, try not to get killed on your way there: Hollywood Park
Tiniest bush track ever, but lovely town and R. Baze broke his mdn. there: Walla Walla

[Zaf]

Best : Saratoga / Woodbine

Worst : Yonkers / Rosecroft

ZAFONIC

[chickenhead]

SR adds Turf this year, should be a lot of fun.

[toetoe]

AAAAAYE ... did not KNOW that (spoken in J. Carson voice while drumming on desk with pencil). We'll be right back after this word from the folks at Grampers.

[levinmpa]

Favorite Tracks to be at in person: Philly, Delaware, Monmouth, Santa Anita, Santa Rosa, Arlington.

Dumps: Pimlico, Rockingham, Solano, Fresno, Beaulah.

[cj]

My favorites:
Garden State (though its now gone ;))
Delaware
Monmouth
Belmont

Worst:
Arapahoe
Remington
Pimlico
Philadelphia (It's been a long time though, 1995, I hear it's much nicer now)

[Tee]

My favorites:
Garden State (though its now gone ;))
Delaware
Monmouth
Belmont

Worst:
Arapahoe
Remington
Pimlico
Philadelphia (It's been a long time though, 1995, I hear it's much nicer now)

I was wondering when Arapahoe would appear!! ;)

[cj]

I was wondering when Arapahoe would appear!! ;)

I would imagine myself and you would make up a rather large percentage of those on the board who have been there. Talk about the middle of nowhere...

[Bobby]

Only been to 4: delta, evangeline, louisiana downs, and oaklawn

Nicest Track (to the eye) – Oaklawn

Nicest facility – Louisiana Downs

Best Dining – Oaklawn

Worst Racing View – delta

Biggest Dump – Evangeline ( new facility opens in a couple months).

Tracks that I most want to see but haven’t been – Fairgrounds, the new gulfstream

Best kept secret – Oaklawn. Good crowds (25,000 opening saturday) Good Food. Excellent racing (maybe as good, or better than gulfstream this year)

[Doc]

Best: Monmouth Park (HANDS DOWN).

Worst: Tie between Freehold (first floor especially) and Yonkers.

Rudest Tellers: Philadelphia Park, especially first floor by the paddock. Couldn't get one of them to crack a smile if you waved a $20 bill in front of their races. Plus, there's a younger guy there that will rob you blind if you don't count the money you're due as he's handing it out.

Most overrated: Saratoga - especially on the back "lawn," which is mostly just dirt. How can you have a good time in the heat, in an overcrowded, dusty area?

Best place to picnic: Delaware Park, under the trees... ;)

Doc

[JustRalph]

Dumps: Beulah

What? You don't like being down wind of the trash burning power plant and the largest landfill in Ohio? Come on.......it's where the Diesel smell meets the Garbage pail.......as opposed to the place "where the surf meets the turf"

[Valuist]

Beulah gets my vote as worst, no contest. Arlington gets the vote as the best. Most underrated? Canterbury, although I haven't been there since the early 90s. Worst scenery: Hawthorne. Worst neighborhood? Hialeah would have to be up there. Its unfortunate because the facility itself was fantastic. Never been to Hol but I hear Inglewood is pretty rough. Then again, Cicero is no bargain.

[Zman179]

Geez, I've been to so many tracks that it would take me a good half-hour to count them all.

Smelly armpit of racing: Yonkers Raceway
Most confusing grandstand layout (God please let there not be a fire): Hippodrome de Québec
Most beautiful: Arlington, Santa Anita, Monmouth, Belmont (especially the backyard)
Favorite tracks to be at: Philadelphia, Belmont, Sandown Park UK (I like the fact that fans are allowed onto the course itself), Hippodrome de Paris-Vincennes (grandstand resembles a honeycomb)
Tracks that I hate to go to: Saratoga (awful sight lines, hard to watch a race on the first floor), Yonkers (cannot describe this dump with words)

Just curious "toetoe". Why would you say that the fans at Lingfield Park are the most knowledgeable? I've been there as well, it's like England's Aqueduct (albeit inner dirt).

[turffan]

Keeneland is the cleanest, most attractive facility I've been to. Haven't tried the dining. The view of the races is incredible. The grandstand almost seems to hover directly over the track and I had no problem getting seats opening weekend last spring including at the box office on opening day.

I go to Saratoga for tradition but if I don't have a seat I don't plan on seeing the races live. If I do have a seat, I hope that it's not at the top of the stretch. But I'll be there again this year.

[toetoe]

Zman,
Just bluster. Wanted to say "Lovely Lingfield." Actually, great to bet with bookies, course was over the river and through the woods, very irregular. That's a good thing; at least that's what Martha told me. Also, loved the covered walk from the train to the track. Must be almost a mile long (I may be hallucinating, mind you) and very handy because it's in ENGLAND, where it RAINS.
Is Arapahoe Park in Colorado?

[Storm Cadet]

Best Harness: Goshen-NY Site of Harness Hall of Fame
Roosevelt Raceway

Worst Harness Tracks: Freehold/Yonkers/Liberty Bell

Best TB Tracks: Monmouth/Belmont/Saratoga/Santa Anita

Worst TB: Pimlico/Bowie

[Zman179]

Zman,
Just bluster. Wanted to say "Lovely Lingfield." Actually, great to bet with bookies, course was over the river and through the woods, very irregular. That's a good thing; at least that's what Martha told me. Also, loved the covered walk from the train to the track. Must be almost a mile long (I may be hallucinating, mind you) and very handy because it's in ENGLAND, where it RAINS.
Is Arapahoe Park in Colorado?

Surprised that you didn't say "So so Southwell".
Covered walk at Lingfield? Only way that you'd be covered is with an umbrella. Was at least a good half-mile. However, it's a mile walking back (after you've lost £).
The time that I went to Lingfield was during the Foot & Mouth Disease crisis. We had to step in disinfectant to enter the course...and then found all of the jockeys wearing polka-dot briefs (true). And you think that YOU were hallucinating!

BTW, Arapahoe is outside of Denver.

[nomadpat]

Good to hear there are actually people on the board who have been to Arapahoe! It is my home track here in Colorado. In the middle of nowhere, but trust me when I say that the majority of bettors are clueless (mainly dog players playing the horses). Too bad the handle isn't higher otherwise I'd be there every day during the meet.
It serves a stepping stone for announcers: Peter Barry, Charles Pinnell, Bill Downes had stints here. The current one is so bad, he doesn't even call the horses names during the race LOL :eek:

I haven't been to that many tracks, but I preferred Churchill and River Downs over Keeneland.

[toetoe]

Zman,
It was in 1979. Maybe the cover (like a mile-long carport) blew over or got urbanly renewed. That was quite a day. I had time to walk through Chelsea (sorry, old girl, did I hurt you?), take a boatride to Greenwich, ride the rails to Lingfield and see Dizzy Gillespie's set at Ronny Scott's, a jazz club. Oh, almost forgot. Won eight pounds.

[toetoe]

How about Centennial? Also in Denver? Can hardly wait (rapid rubbing motion with hands).

[Overlay]

In alphabetical order:

Best/Favorite:

Arlington Park (post-fire)
Belmont Park
Blue Bonnets (Montreal)
Keeneland
Santa Anita

Worst/Least-Liked:

Balmoral Park
Cahokia Downs
Quad City Downs
River Downs
Sportsman's Park
Yonkers Raceway

[Zman179]

I personally liked Sportsman's Park a lot in my only visit there (when it had nothing to do with car racing. I just loved the super long stretch there. Facility was ok, had one of the best sound systems that I've ever heard. You could never complain that you couldn't hear the announcer there.
Blue Bonnets/Hippodrome de Montréal is ok. Facility is old, do not like the fact that the tote board is no longer there. One tidbit about that place, that is the only racetrack that I have ever been to that has no fencing around the property whatsoever. You could literally cross the course and the stands unimpeded at anytime.

Arapahoe Park was the replacement for Centennial Park. Hope you didn't rub your hands raw there. And that Lingfield canopy is long gone. Went there in 2002.

[betchatoo]

I personally liked Sportsman's Park a lot in my only visit there (when it had nothing to do with car racing. I just loved the super long stretch there. Facility was ok, had one of the best sound systems that I've ever heard. You could never complain that you couldn't hear the announcer there..

Sportsman park was a 5/8 oval. No long stretch there. Could you possibly have ben at Hawthorne, which is right next door and does have one of the longest stretches in the U.S.?

[Valuist]

Sportsmans was 5/8 until 1992, when they re-built it and made it a 7/8 oval with the longest stretch. It was a joke of a track, kind of like a stretched out rubber band with 2 hairpin turns and straightaways that were too long. After an apprentice was killed there in 1991, Lukas said he never send a horse there again (not that he ever did anyways). He probably said the remark off the cuff, but Spt management took it seriously and had the main track rebuilt. They didn't bank the turns enough and it was a terrible mistake. You either won on the lead or from far back if you saved ground. Stalking 3-4 wide was a trip that could never win.

[Bubbles]

I've only been to four, but here's my list, in order of best to worst...

Saratoga
Monmouth (Although I have NO idea how they'll fit 60,000 there on BC day)
Belmont
Rockingham

Not to say Rockingham was a bad place, it was okay, just wasn't better than Belmont was.

[paulc]

Worst No Longer Open Thank Heavens: Narragansett
Worst Still Open Thoroughbred: Suffolk
Worst Still Open Period: Yonkers
Best B-Level Still Open: Canterbury
Best A-Level Still Open: Arlington
Prettiest Surroundings: Delmar

[hurrikane]

without question for me

best
Keeneland...the place stinks of bluegrass
DelMar...what about horses and the beach is there to dislike.
Colonial, great facility

Worst

Rosecroft....what a SMIB POS.

[Zaf]

Blue Bonnets/Hippodrome de Montréal is ok. Facility is old, do not like the fact that the tote board is no longer there. One tidbit about that place, that is the only racetrack that I have ever been to that has no fencing around the property whatsoever. You could literally cross the course and the stands unimpeded at anytime.



Z-man,

When they changed the track from 5/8 to 7/8 a couple of years ago they knocked all the fences & barriers and tried to make it more of a park like setting with benches and no fences. They made some improvements but like you said its O.K.

Overlay,

What do you like about Blue Bonnets (Hippodrome de Montreal) ?
Just wondering, You have it listed among pretty elite company:

Arlington Park (post-fire)
Belmont Park
Blue Bonnets (Montreal)
Keeneland
Santa Anita


ZAFONIC

[Overlay]

My listing of Blue Bonnets was mainly a personal opinion viewed through the fog of nostalgia. I haven't been there in a long time, but I was new to the area (and relatively new to racing in general) when I went there. I couldn't compare it with the other tracks I listed from the standpoint of scenery or quality of stock, but I think it was a combination of the French influence, the company I was keeping at the time, and the results of my wagering. If I went back there now, I might feel totally differently.

[Zaf]

Thanks for your reply Overlay. In the old Blue Bonnets days I felt the same way about it as you did. Things have changed alot recently, unfortunately not for the better.

Hurricane,

I agree with you on Rosecroft, though I would rank Yonkers as worse.

ZAFONIC

[sniezer]

I'm new here and as a semi-retired rider/trainer, I want to say how much I'm enjoying the posts here. The amount of knowledge of horseracing is far better than any handicapping forums I've read. I feel like I'm sitting in the grandstand with a bunch of racetrackers listening in on their choices.

I rode or trained at cheap tracks in the 80's and early 90's,so my choices here are based on tracks I've been to.

All time favorite place: mass. fairs, for the simple reason that the fans were so into the races. They are actually out on the apron cheering as you're coming down the stretch!

Fort Erie,for the same reasons above but nicer horses and a beautiful facility.

least favorite: Keystone, fans would throw things at the riders who didn't ride to their expectations.(I had the bug there and was lucky that my rides performed according to form,but I still got hit by a few poorly aimed shots!heh heh)

Wish I could have rode just one race at: Saratoga

[Zaf]

Welcome Sniezer,

I been wanting to go see a card at the Northampton fair for years but never made it. What ever happened to the Great Barrington Fair ?

ZAFONIC

[DerbyTrail]

Saratoga is my home track, so it's tough not to be spoiled... But I've been to a bunch, and there's something nice to say about them all..

Ak-Sar-Ben: Surprised it hasn't come up. Was great. Nothing like hitting winners in the p.m. and heading to Johnny's in the Stockyards for steak after.. A tragedy that it's gone.

Belmont: Always comfortable. Palatial. Where else can 100,000 fit without feeling crowded?

Aqueduct: I've always liked the Big A. Sitting with the rastas in Little Kingston. "Hey Santos mon.. You stink."

Meadowlands: A little too "new" for my taste, but well done.

Monmouth: A delight. The most under-rated, under-appreciated track in the US.

Laurel: Anxious to see the reno. Was basically a MD version of Monmouth.

Pimlico: Slovenly.. Pathetic.. A mess.. Wonderful.

Gulfstream: Let you know next year... Was quite nice.

Fairgrounds: Dripping with atmosphere.

Arlington: The model for any new facility. Glorious.

Churchill: Great Derby Week, depressing nearly any other time.

"Latonia" (RD): Fun. Jaunty. Haven't been there in ages.

Vancouver (Exhibition Park?): $750 claimers the night I was there. Never had seen a race before in which I had enough pocket money to buy a participant.

Bluebonnets: Only for simulcast. Lived in MTL 10 years... Had fun here. "Un steamie, tout garni, un Molson Export, s.v.p... Merci."

Santa Anita: Remarkable. Stunning.

Others: Maywood, Yonkers, Roosevelt, Vernon Downs... Garden State...

[Zman179]

Welcome Sniezer,

I been wanting to go see a card at the Northampton fair for years but never made it. What ever happened to the Great Barrington Fair ?

ZAFONIC

The Northampton Fair races is quite cool. You should go at least once there Zafonic. Thoroughbreds over a ½ mile track with full fields (8 is as full as you're gonna get there). You feel like you can litterally touch the horses on the backstretch. Pools are quite decent too. Besides, where else can you bet on the 7th race sponsored by "Ed's French Fries"?

If you haven't made it to the Great Barrington Fair, then you never will. Track was razed by a hurricane, built back up and survived only two more seasons before going under after the 2000 season. The grounds were bought by developers. Oddest thing about that ½ mile track was that it was shaped like a round square. The turns actually had straights.

[lamboruns]

Oaklawn.. crowds are great.. on weekends young! strange for a track... people are all friendly and knowledgable... food is good... views of the track are good.. racing is excellent...

have never been but i hear blue ribbon downs in sallisaw, OK is the worst track in the US bar none. anyone been there??

[garyoz]

Worst Track: Hazel Park in suburban Detroit, 5/8th of a mile bullring that ran flats from the early 50's until the early 1980's. Also where I (mis) spent my youth. Now only a harness track.

Best Tracks: More the rule than the exception, I've found something unique or different to like about most tracks that I have visited (more than a dozen of them).

[Zman179]

have never been but i hear blue ribbon downs in sallisaw, OK is the worst track in the US bar none. anyone been there??

I believe that's in quality of stock. Also it's extremely hard to wager there since BRD has rolling pick 3's, exactas, quinellas, trifectas & superfectas in every race.

So what's the problem with that you say? Well, for a 10 race card they'll usually handle for the entire day about $100,000. The average superfecta pool usually fails to crack the lofty $300 barrier and the pick 3 pool often will not reach the plateau of ten bucks. Trifectas get most of the money there with pools between $1500 and $2000 a race.

[Zaf]

Wow Z-man,

Northampton sounds like fun, but straight aways on turns , boy I would of loved to have seen that.

ZAFONIC

[witchdoctor]

BRD is terrible. The pools are really small. They haven't hit 80,000 for total amount bet over 10 races in several years. I once bet $15 on a horse there last year and would up dropping the odds from 20:1 to 4:1. Hopefully things will pick up with the Choctaws buying the track and adding slots.

[Zaf]

Do they send out a simulcast signal ?

ZAFONIC

[witchdoctor]

They used to but they couldn't pay the satellite company and the signal got pulled.

[superfecta]

I am not much for scenery,so I like a track if I can make money there.My home track Remington was my favorite till simulcasting took off.I've been to Fair Meadows in Tulsa and it wasn't much but I won money there my first visit.Blue Ribbon is the pits,not much and i didn't win anything.Lone Star is a nice plant but the only thing it had that I liked was the women,no money won there.Sam houston had a great set up in the OTB area but I didn't win much there.

[sniezer]

The clubhouse turn at Great Barrington did have a flat spot about 3 or 4 strides inbetween the 'corners'. Most trainers would make sure their horses had a gallop around it at least once before running. Some horses would switch to their right lead the first time they encountered it. After almost falling on their butts trying to regroup to make the second corner,they didn't switch leads the next time they saw it! It was useful if you were riding a strong,fearless horse. A rider could jump into the hole at the rail, take the hit from the outside horse and end up 3 infront coming out of the turn. The outside horse and rider will take a second or two to regroup because they didn't know the hit was coming.


Twice I ran a horse slightly out of his conditions just because I wanted an "Ed's French Fries" cooler.(fleece horse blanket) I caught a bear both times and ran 2nd.


Northampton's a great time for horsemen and players. It's the closest action you'll probably ever see. The website for NH has a head-on shot of the horses entering the first turn. I'm on the horse in front.
www.3countyfair.com/racing.htm (http://www.3countyfair.com/racing.htm)

I'm not bragging here,the horse lost and it's tough to brag when your 'claim to fame' is Erie Downs and the Mass Fairs!

[Handy Cap]

Hawthorne Park in Illinois has to be the worst. It sits in Industrial hell right outside Midway airport. So when the planes aren't drowning your visual senses out, the smoke from the plants are killing your sense of smell. SO I guess if your deaf and have no sense of smell, it would be ok.

GaryOZ mentioned Hazel Park. Alot has changed since the mid 80's. They tore down the old grandstands and now have a state of the art facility. Its one to die for. Windsor Raceway (Harness) is one of the worst tracks I've been too.

I like Balmoral and Turfway Park.

[Valuist]

But Hawthorne has some of the biggest field sizes and median payouts. It definitely isn't pretty to look at, but I like the way they run their track.

[delayjf]

Derbytrail,
Ak-Sar-Ben: Surprised it hasn't come up. Was great. Nothing like hitting winners in the p.m. and heading to Johnny's in the Stockyards for steak after.. A tragedy that it's gone.

I loved Ak-sar-ben, was my home track and I was groom there for a few years. Worked for O.D. Kemling (remember Amadevil and Roman Zipper?)
Next to Saratoga, had the most beautiful backstretch that I've seen.

Why go all the way down to Johnny's when Ross's and Misty's Steak House so close. Ever try Paltani's tacos. They're all closed now, sad. If you get a chance check out this website dedicated to Ak-Sar-ben.
www.ak-sar-ben.com

Worst track,

After spending the summer at Ak Lincoln fair was always a shock to me. I literally walkout after a few races my first visit there. I even think Adokad was a nicer track.

[Ragingmike]

Roosevelt Raceway

see www.Roosevelt-Raceway.com (http://www.Roosevelt-Raceway.com) for classic video's & DVD

[PHN]

Nicest to the eye, in my estimation is Arlington. Was run-of-the-old-mill before but is lovely now.

PHN