Steve-

I know exactly what you are talking about. I have great memories of going to Hawthorne in that rundown industrial neighborhood, 40 degrees and overcast, the horizon filled with smoke from the nearby industries......and full fields and big payoffs race in race out. From a betting standpoint, I've made more money at Hawthorne than any other track; I won my first race as an owner there by 15 lengths; its 180 degrees different from Arlington, but in terms of gambling memories, they've been more pleasant at Haw than AP.

Well thankfully HAW got fixed up real nice over the last few years, but too bad they can't pick it up and move it somewhere else, like over to where AP is. God forbid they ever have another fire there, but if they ever rebuild from the ground up again on that site, I'd recommend rotating the layout of the property 180 degrees. That way, you could look out of the grandstand and see the Chicago Skyline to the north and east, instead of having to look south at the smoke stacks, the oil refinery, the nickle plant, the Waste Managment facility, etc. Oh yes, and the Sanitary District (sewage canal and treatment plant) within a mile as well. :rolleyes: Of course, the bad part of doing a 180 there (besides someone coughing up $100 million) would be having to physically be that many more yards closer to all those places. ;)

The property does looks better in the summertime when there are leaves on trees, as opposed to the when the get to run TB's, in the spring, fall and winter.

Yeah, I know, it isn't like those other places. And I loved the beauty of Keeneland and was thrilled the few times I've been to historic Churchill. I thought Rockingham was nice. Someday I hope to see the world outside of Chicagoland again. :)

You're right SMTW, a good McChump Tour would be a great thing to do! I'm glad Terry's gets the chance to go on his roadtrips!

Oh well, for now, give me a really nice room to sit with my friends and favorite guru with me, a fast internet connection, and some perks that I can't get elsewhere, and I'm pretty happy. Send me to AP, and while I give most of the other perks, yes, my eyeballs sure are happy for a few months.;)

Belmont Park. I love the racetrack itself, like to sit in the park in the back with my laptop and watch the horses come to the saddling area.Then sometimes i will walk over to the top of the stretch to watch a couple of races run. All in all can't go wrong spending the day at "Beautiful Belmont Park"
Richie :)

have to go with Keeneland. The whole bluegrass area ooozzes horses.

after that,

Del Mar,
Sar
GP
my boat with a sat link

Keenland is my personal favorite. Got to see Holy Bull, Louis Quatorze, Skip Away, Pleasant Tap, and Gorgeous among others there.

I love going to New Orleans for a day at The Fairgrounds. My day includes visiting with my son in Barn 46 then going to grandstand for a Gumbo lunch. Cash some tickets then out to Mulate's for dinner and dancing followed by a stroll down Bourbon street. The day ends with beignets and cafe' ole' at Cafe DuMond.

I'm sure Keeneland, Del Mar, etc. are great places, and everybody loves Saratoga, but I voted for Monmouth Park, the "world's nicest racetrack." Not the best, not the most beautiful, not the most storied, just nice. Picnic tables by the snack bar at the paddock = horse heaven.

Although......Tom's got me thinking a Fort Erie road trip. Now there's one I wouldn'a thought of!

----
wonder what'll happen to Monmouth Park when Magna gets their hands on it.

Yea Monmouth Park
 

I love MTH PARK .... its just friendly great & i'll be going there a lot
this season. My parents have a house in Belmar ... and I also
love Belmar but since i'm married i wont b going 2 the Tropical pUB
HEHE .. it was my fav raunch bar in my single days. And Bar A.

Do nights count?
 

I've had some crazy moments at Hollywood Park on Friday nights. I have a bad habit of ditching the stands after my Pick 6 ticket turns worthless, taking a few shots with my buddies who don't normally go to the track and diving straight onto the dance floor. You forget that you're actually at the track until the races are over and they're kicking you out.

Favorite track to spend the day
 

Keeneland. Saw my first race there on the last Saturday of the fall meet October 1974. I've been back many times. The Bluegrass is a special place.

My favorite is Del mar with Churchill a close second. I haven't had the chance to visit Keeneland or Saratoga yet. Hope to in he near future.

BTW, theres a little track north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa that hosts the Sonoma County Fair every summer. Great crowds that pack the place, great food and great wine. Its more of a party than a day at the races with the regular race track crowd. We always make it a annual summer trip.

Jack

Thanks to all who voted. While I tried for a good mix of tracks, I see the "other" category is winning.

It is also interesting to note that nobody voted for Gulfstream Park. I can only guess Karl did not vote or Calder is his favorite track..LOL

The way Beyer used to talk about Gulfstream in his book, I thought it would get action. Funny, I threw in Monmouth as an afterthought, and it got alot of support.

JimG

My "other" is River Downs. Beautiful setting, relaxed atsmosphere, good times.

The first time I saw the new Arlington I thought it was the cleanest place I had ever seen....I was there for the BC and the crowd was less than on Fathers Day. I guess that is their big day.

It was about 35 to 40 degrees that day (BC day 2002) and Arlington is basically designed as a summer track; lots of seating outside. I'm less than 5 miles away but I stayed home and watched on TV.