Hialeah Park Race Track
Encyclopedia
The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Miami Jockey Club or Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic site in Hialeah
, Florida
. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
. Another listing for it was added in 1988.
The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station on Palm Avenue and E 21st Street.
and his partner James Bright
, in 1925 the Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's race track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by a 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to the wealthy Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener
. With renowned Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley
as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand
and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingo
s. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting
was the first in America to be installed. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.
The horse-racing movie Let It Ride
, with Richard Dreyfuss
, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly
, had most of its principal film photography shot at
Hialeah Park in 1987. Hialeah Park was also made an appearance in Public Enemies but scenes were shot in the midwest.
Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.
In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in the state law kept it from having any exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park
and Calder Race Course
. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly
Cheeky Miss won the last race ever run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001.
Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes
, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby
for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap
, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast
counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap
in California
. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:
In 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. Its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007. In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.
On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole
was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 Million restoration project was begun in mid 2009.
On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse
races.The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races went on all the way until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation is expected to cost $1 billion since the plan includes a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatens to hurt Hialeah Park's status as a National Historic Landmark
.
Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 226,419. As of 2009, the population estimate by the U. S...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 22nd Street on the south to East 32nd Street on the north. On March 5, 1979, it was added to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Another listing for it was added in 1988.
The Hialeah Park Race Track is served by the Miami Metrorail at the Hialeah Station on Palm Avenue and E 21st Street.
History
The Hialeah Park Race Track is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1921 by the famous aviation pioneer Glenn CurtissGlenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906...
and his partner James Bright
James Bright
James Wilson Bright was an American philologist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was a Professor of English Philology at Johns Hopkins University, and specialized in early Germanic languages and Old and Middle English specifically.Bright was the first person to...
, in 1925 the Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's race track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by a 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to the wealthy Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener
Joseph E. Widener
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C...
. With renowned Kentucky horseman Col. Edward R. Bradley
Edward R. Bradley
Colonel Edward Riley Bradley was an American steel mill laborer, gold miner, businessman and philanthropist. As well as a race track proprietor, he was the preeminent owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses in the Southern United States during the first three decades of the 20th Century...
as an investor, Widener hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingo
Flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are gregarious wading birds in the genus Phoenicopterus , the only genus in the family Phoenicopteridae...
s. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. An Australian totalisator for accepting parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...
was the first in America to be installed. The park became so famous for its flamingo flocks that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.
The horse-racing movie Let It Ride
Let It Ride (film)
Let It Ride is a 1989 comedy film. It stars Richard Dreyfuss as a normally unsuccessful habitual gambler who experiences a day in which he wins every bet he places...
, with Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
, Terri Garr, and Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly
Jennifer Tilly is an American actress and poker player. She is an Academy Award nominee, and a World Series of Poker Ladies' Event bracelet winner. She is the older sister of actress Meg Tilly.-Early life:...
, had most of its principal film photography shot at
Hialeah Park in 1987. Hialeah Park was also made an appearance in Public Enemies but scenes were shot in the midwest.
Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.
In 2001, Hialeah Park stopped hosting racing after a change in the state law kept it from having any exclusive dates in its competition with Gulfstream Park
Gulfstream Park
Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....
and Calder Race Course
Calder Race Course
Calder Casino & Race Course is a casino and horse racetrack in Miami Gardens, Florida in the United States.-History:In the mid-1960s, real estate developer Stephen A. Calder envisioned summertime racing in Florida; in 1965, on the advice of Mr. Calder, the Florida Legislature approved a bill...
. Consequently, owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public. The filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Cheeky Miss won the last race ever run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001.
Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes
Flamingo Stakes
The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in March at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Run over a distance of nine furlongs, the inaugural race took place in 1926 at the Tampa, Florida racetrack...
, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap
Widener Handicap
The Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida was a Grade III stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses 3-years-old and up. It was run over a distance of 1¼ miles until 1993 when it was modified to 1 1/8 miles. Initially called the Widener Challenge Cup Handicap, the race was...
, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap
Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up , and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Important annual stakes races that were run annually until 2001 were:
- Bahamas StakesBahamas StakesThe Bahamas Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in January at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. A seven furlong race on dirt, it was the first important test of the calendar year for newly turned three-year-olds. The race was used by prospective U.S. Triple Crown...
- Black Helen HandicapBlack Helen HandicapThe Black Helen Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida from 1941 through 2001. Open to fillies and mares age three and older, the Grade II event was raced on turf at a distance of a mile and an eighth .The race was name for U.S....
- Bougainvillea Handicap
- Everglades StakesEverglades StakesThe Everglades Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Hialeah Park in Hialeah, Florida. For three-year-old horses, the 1 1/8 mile race was run on dirt until 1994 when it was converted to a race on turf...
- Flamingo StakesFlamingo StakesThe Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in March at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Run over a distance of nine furlongs, the inaugural race took place in 1926 at the Tampa, Florida racetrack...
- Hialeah Turf Cup HandicapHialeah Turf Cup HandicapThe Hialeah Turf Cup Handicap is a discontinued American Thoroughbred horse race open to horses aged three and older that was run each year at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida until the track closed at the end of the 2001 racing season...
- Hibiscus Stakes
- McLennan HandicapMcLennan HandicapThe McLennan Handicap was an American thoroughbred horse race run annually each February from 1934-1961 at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. First run in 1934 as the Joseph McLennan Memorial Handicap, the race was named In honor of the late Joseph "Sandy" McLennan, the former racing...
- Royal Palm Handicap
- Seminole Handicap
- Widener HandicapWidener HandicapThe Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida was a Grade III stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses 3-years-old and up. It was run over a distance of 1¼ miles until 1993 when it was modified to 1 1/8 miles. Initially called the Widener Challenge Cup Handicap, the race was...
In 2004, the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering revoked Hialeah's thoroughbred permit because it did not hold races for the previous two years. Its facilities remain intact except for the stables, which were demolished in early 2007. In 2006, the abandoned Hialeah Park site was considered to be a possible location for a new Florida Marlins Ballpark.
On March 2009, it was announced that track owner John Brunetti was awarded a racing permit. Design firm EwingCole
EwingCole
EwingCole is an integrated architecture, engineering, interior design and planning firm founded in 1961 as Alexander Ewing & Associates. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with offices in Washington, DC and Irvine, CA, the firm provides services for project types including academic, corporate,...
was selected to develop a master plan for renovation and further development, including a new casino. A $40–$90 Million restoration project was begun in mid 2009.
On May 7, 2009 the Florida legislature agreed to a deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that allowed Hialeah Park to operate slot machines and run Quarter Horse
American Quarter Horse
The American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horses in races of a quarter mile or less; some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph...
races.The historic racetrack reopened on November 28, 2009 but only for quarter horse races. The park installed slot machines in January 2010 as part of a deal to allow for two calendar seasons of racing. The races went on all the way until February 2, 2010. Only a portion of the park has been restored and an additional $30 million will be needed to complete this first phase of the project. The full transformation is expected to cost $1 billion since the plan includes a complete redevelopment of the surrounding area including the construction of an entertainment complex to include a hotel, restaurants, casinos, stores and a theater. On June 2010 concerns were raised over the preservation of Hialeah Park's historical status as the planned development threatens to hurt Hialeah Park's status as a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
External links
- Official Website of Hialeah Park and Race Course
- Dade County listings at National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
- Hialeah Park Race Track at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- Hialeah Park at National Park ServiceNational Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
Cultural Resources - Photos of Hialeah racetrack facilities
- Hileah Park's Australian Totalizator (1932)
- Collection of 92 photos of Hialeah Park at the United States Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (search:"Hialeah" in the following database: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pphome.html).