Farthest distance traveled to track (day trip)

[porchy44]

Just curious.how far anyone has driven to go to the track(s) in a 24 hour period.

Myself, I have driven 175 miles to thistledowns. Then 100 miles to Mountaineer. Then another 170 miles home. Total miles= 445

[tholl]

I drove from Lexington, KY to Arlington Park and went to Sportsmans Park to watch a standardbred in the evening and then back to Lexington--about 750 miles total.

[BIG49010]

I did the reverse trip - Chicago to Keeneland - and then back to Chicago with a stop at BML for the late double of the night card on the 5/8ths track year ago.

Chicago to Fairmont is no bargin also, made an after Hawthorne trip, and back after night card at FP.

I used to make weekend runs to Turfway, from Chicago, in the pre simulcasting days!

Now full card at home and ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ !!!

[tomcalta]

Just curious.how far anyone has driven to go to the track(s) in a 24 hour period.

Myself, I have driven 175 miles to thistledowns. Then 100 miles to Mountaineer. Then another 170 miles home. Total miles= 445

Drove that far to get to these tracks!? Are these the closest ones to you?

I've driven to Belmont from Jersey, but its sometimes taken me 6 hours each way in traffic... does that count for anything?

[ponypro]

I drove from Omaha to Hot Springs Arkansas (12 HRS) for one race. To Watch Alydar. He got beat a neck by a horse called San Juan Hill. Thats what kind of things crazy fans did before we were blessed by technology.

A couple of other things I used to do pre technolgy. To find out the weather on a particular race day I would call directory assistance in the city of a track and ask for the number of "John Smith" , then I would ask the operator, Hows the weather there today.

To get results: Find the name of a Bar across the street from the track of choice. Call after the race for results. The bartender would yell out to the customers, "Hey who won the sixth race".

To get a Form: I would go with my Dad to get a form on Friday night for Saturday's races. There was a news stand downtown and the last flight in from Chicago had the forms. The cars would be lined up at the news stand for a couple of blocks. Sometimes it was 11 to midnight if the plane was late. Boy my mother was understanding!

These are very crude but real examples of how difficult timely information was to get 35 year ago. We have great tools at our disposal now. Wish pops was alive to see it and I wish this industry could all row in the same direction. It could be even better.

[ponypro]

I forgot one thing. When I got to Hot Springs at 4am. There were no rooms to be had anywhere. I had to sleep in my car

[Tom]

I drove Canandaigua, NY to Pimlico and back in one day.
I had Utz Crab chips to keep me awake.:p

[cj]

Started with the day card at Pimlico, drove to Cherry Hill, NJ, for the Garden State night card. Drove to New York, and did Aqueduct the next day, followed by Yonkers at night. Took the next day card off as we were enroute to CharlesTown for the night card.

[porchy44]

Before online and simulcast betting, I imagine several people(including myself) drove alot of miles to tracks. Funny, some of most interesting memories (conversations) I have are those trips to the track.

[gillenr]

Several times I made the Saratoga/Green Mountain doubleheader day trip from The Bronx.

[pic6vic]

back in the 70's

Made 6 racetracks in 3 days in 4 different states.

Monmouth (NJ)
Liberty Bell (PA)
Delaware Park (DE)
Dover downs(DE)
Belmont (NY)
Roosevelt raceway (NY)

[alysheba88]

186 miles each way to Saratoga on multiple occasions

[depalma13]

I've driven from Ocala to Gulfstream and Calder on several day trips. Florida Derby, Summit of Speed, and Sunshine Millions. It takes 4 1/2 hours each way, and is 600 miles roundtrip. We leave at 6:00am and are usually home by midnight.

When you win, the trip home goes by much quicker.

[Tom]

Our "circuit" used to be Finger Lakes - Vernon-Pimlico-Penn-Pimlico-Liberty Bell - Keystone-Penn-home.

[Humph]

I've done the trip from Newburyport, MA to Belmont Park and back again in one day a couple times. It is best to leave before 8am and you don't get back again until around 11pm, so the trip is a killer, especially if you've lost.

[boomman]

I drove from Omaha to Hot Springs Arkansas (12 HRS) for one race. To Watch Alydar. He got beat a neck by a horse called San Juan Hill. Thats what kind of things crazy fans did before we were blessed by technology.

A couple of other things I used to do pre technolgy. To find out the weather on a particular race day I would call directory assistance in the city of a track and ask for the number of "John Smith" , then I would ask the operator, Hows the weather there today.

To get results: Find the name of a Bar across the street from the track of choice. Call after the race for results. The bartender would yell out to the customers, "Hey who won the sixth race".

To get a Form: I would go with my Dad to get a form on Friday night for Saturday's races. There was a news stand downtown and the last flight in from Chicago had the forms. The cars would be lined up at the news stand for a couple of blocks. Sometimes it was 11 to midnight if the plane was late. Boy my mother was understanding!

These are very crude but real examples of how difficult timely information was to get 35 year ago. We have great tools at our disposal now. Wish pops was alive to see it and I wish this industry could all row in the same direction. It could be even better.

pony: Wow, do I remember those days. I might have the record for the most commutes in a summer season, though. I grew up in Kansas City, Ks (near where the Woodlands is located now, but of course it wasn't there in the 70's) and used to drive the 180 miles each way virtually every day during the Ak Sar Ben meet ( I know every inch of 1-29). I think they ran 66 days from the first Friday in May until the middle of August, and I ran a bowling center in the mornings, then drove up there for the 4 PM post time during the week and went up early for their 2PM posts on Saturdays (they were dark on Sundays because of the old blue law) so my commute that summer was something like 60 days at 360 miles per trip...Hard for me to believe I did that too, but it's true! I would pick up the form for Tuesday's card at the old "Time to Read" in Kansas City, Mo. I can also remember many times leaving my house in KC at 3:30 am to make the 8 am post at Lincoln... when the Huskers were playing a home game, Lincoln started at 8 am on Saturdays!!!!!!!!!!:)

Boomer

[JohnGalt1]

After Ladbroke closed Canterbury and before the Sampson's bought it I drove from Minneapolis to Des Moines--a 4 hour drive. Not planning ahead I didn't get a motel room before I arrived at Prairie Meadows.

After the races I couldn't get a room anywhere all the way to just north of the Iowa border. So I just drove all the way home arriving after 2 AM.

Canterbury is 40 minutes from my home and that's just fine.

[DJofSD]

I flew to Paris one time to see the Arc.

[cnollfan]

When Secretariat ran at Arlington in 1973 some friends from Denver decided to see him and showed up at my apartment on Friday night at 10:30 to pick me up. I tried to get out of it but they told me that was stupid and in the future I would regret not going. Of course they were right. We got to Chicago about 9:30 in the morning after their Ford Maverick broke down somewhere in Iowa overnight. Saw the race and then drove back to Omaha. I think they at least stayed overnight before driving back to Denver.

In 1980 I was having a great season at the Fair Grounds. There was a key race that all the horses were winning out of. One day two horses from that race showed up in the entries -- one at Oaklawn and the other at Delta Downs. I didn't know any bookies so it was live or nothing. Looked into flying to Oaklawn but it was too much of a hassle, so my dad and I drove four hours to Delta after the Fair Grounds races that afternoon. The Delta horse ran third at 20-1. Drove back in the middle of the night through some very thick fog. Turns out the Oaklawn horse won at about 9-1. I think his name was Money Power, trained by George Hallock.

[dylbert]

Bossier City, LA - Oaklawn: 386 miles roundtrip

Pineville, LA - Fair Grounds: 438 miles roundtrip

Nothing like Arkansas Derby or Louisiana Derby day when you live in the South! And, always best if you drive home a winner...

[joeyreb]

Dallas Texas to the Fair Grounds for LA Derby 528 miles each way....

25 hours stretch, I left at 4am Saturday and returned home 5:45am Sunday

[levinmpa]

In my degenerate days, after a couple of hot days at Bay Meadows, I wanted action on a Monday and drove all the way to Fresno for the Fresno Fair races. It was about a 4 hour drive. Of course I lost and it was a long drive home. My one and only trip to Fresno.

[1st time lasix]

get a load of this....I flew North into Louisville for a Churchill card a couple years ago. First and only visit. They cancelled racing for the first time in 104 years after the second race due to a tornado warning in the area. Spent the next five hours in the airport before flying back two legs {via Cincinnati}to Sarasota. :bang:

[Premier Turf Club]

Most of you guys have me beat. Personal best is drove from central L.I. to Keystone in '78 or '79 to bet a 2YO filly a friend of mine got a tip on. He was quite a bit older and owned some horses and was firends with a jock agent. Never forget the name of the horse was Masked Barb, she was shipping in from PIM off breaking her maiden. Was like 5-2 in ML, my friend bet $3000 to win in the opening flash, she ends up going off 2-5 and wins by like a hundred lengths. I made the biggest bet of my life at the top $100 but ended up a lose for the day after making some dumb bets early on.

My guess is it was about 300 miles roundtip. It was fun.

[nobeyerspls]

The shortest trip? I'm six furlongs from my local track in the summer. Always do it in under 1:10 (driving).

[Zman179]

When I lived in Los Angeles, I would fly to San Francisco to bet on the races at Bay Meadows (never made it to Golden Gate). Did that about five times. Once, hopped on a flight to Phoenix and went straight to Turf Paradise. Each time, I was home by about 10 pm.

Since I've come back to New York City, I've done a few drives to Pimlico/Laurel during the day, and a couple times did a night doubleheader to Rosecroft. One time, did the dh from Laurel to Penn National. In general, would get back home around 3 am. That's about nine hours total in the car.

Have done a couple dh's at Saratoga (trots and flats), but never made a dime. Three hours each way.

Was on the way one time to catch the day races at Charles Town (pre-slots), but had an accident in Maryland and never made it to CT and haven't tried again since. :(

Most recent road trip was last year when we drove 4½ hours each way to Rockingham Park. Made a few hundred so the trip was worth it. ;) Almost forgot, two months ago did a 3½ hour drive each way for the dh at Raynham/Taunton and Plainridge.

Finally, took a flight from NY to Chicago one year and, in three days, went to Sportsman's, Arlington and Maywood. Couldn't figure out how to get to Balmoral via public transport so Bml was 86'd.

BTW, all these trips occurred in the 90's and 2000's, so I could have easily watched the races on tv. However, there's nothing like being there. :jump:

[Zaf]

Drove from Ocean City Maryland to Laurel for the afternoon races, then up to Pocono Downs to catch the last part of the harness card , and then back to NYC. :sleeping:

Z