Former Horse Racing Tracks
Thoroughbred racing once drew huge crowds to grand racetracks near major cities. As attendance and wagering changed, many tracks closed and their land was sold for development.
Hollywood Park's site now holds SoFi Stadium, while Bay Meadows and Rockingham Park became mixed-use neighborhoods. Each record documents what happened to the land, where sources support it.
41 venues
Northville Downs
Northville Downs, a harness track in Northville, Michigan, ran from 1944 until February 3, 2024, when it closed as the state's last horse racing track. The site is being redeveloped for housing and parks.
Golden Gate Fields
Golden Gate Fields was a Thoroughbred track on the San Francisco Bay shoreline in Albany and Berkeley, California, from 1941 to 2024. It was the last major Thoroughbred track in Northern California.
Arlington Park
A major Chicago-area Thoroughbred track that raced from 1927 to 2021, birthplace of the Arlington Million, bought and demolished by the Chicago Bears for a stadium project whose future is unsettled.
Calder Race Course
Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens, Florida, ran Thoroughbreds from 1971 until its last race in November 2020, latterly as Gulfstream Park West. Its grandstand was demolished in 2016, and a casino remains on the property.
Birmingham Race Course
Birmingham Race Course opened as a thoroughbred track in 1987, added greyhounds in 1992 and ran only greyhounds from 1995 until its last live race on March 18, 2020. The building continues as a casino.
Suffolk Downs
Boston's Thoroughbred track from 1935 to 2019, famed for Seabiscuit and a 1966 Beatles concert, now being redeveloped into a large housing and office district while the oval serves as a public track.
Portland Meadows
Portland Meadows was Portland, Oregon's Thoroughbred track from 1946 until its final season in 2018-19. The main building was demolished in 2020.
Hazel Park Raceway
Hazel Park Raceway, north of Detroit, hosted Thoroughbred and harness racing from 1949 until it closed in April 2018. An Amazon distribution center now stands on the site.
Rockingham Park
New England's first Thoroughbred track, which raced in Salem, New Hampshire from 1906 until 2009 and closed in 2016 to make way for the Tuscan Village development.
Syracuse Mile
The Syracuse Mile at the New York State Fairgrounds was a one-mile dirt oval that held auto races from 1903 until October 2015. It hosted AAA and USAC Indy cars, NASCAR Grand National races and Super DIRT Week, and was torn down in 2016.
Maywood Park
Maywood Park was a Standardbred harness track in Melrose Park, Illinois, from 1946 to 2015. An Amazon distribution center now occupies the site.
Beulah Park
Beulah Park in Grove City, near Columbus, was Ohio's first Thoroughbred track, racing from 1923 until 2014. The property has been rebuilt as a housing and park development.
Hollywood Park Racetrack
A Thoroughbred track founded by Hollywood studio figures that raced in Inglewood from 1938 to 2013, hosted the first Breeders' Cup, and was razed for the district containing SoFi Stadium.
Lincoln Downs / Lincoln Greyhound Park
Lincoln Downs opened as a Rhode Island horse track in 1947 and became Lincoln Greyhound Park in 1977. Live dog racing ended in August 2009, and the property is now the Bally's Twin River Lincoln casino.
Bay Meadows Racetrack
San Mateo's Thoroughbred track from 1934 to 2008, long California's oldest continuously operating racetrack, now replaced by the mixed-use Bay Meadows neighborhood.
Hinsdale Greyhound Park
Hinsdale Greyhound Park in southwestern New Hampshire began as a harness track in 1958, switched to greyhounds, and closed in debt in late 2008. It was demolished in 2013.
The Woodlands
The Woodlands in Kansas City, Kansas, opened in 1989 as a greyhound track and was later also used for horse racing. It closed in August 2008 and was demolished in 2021.
Garden State Park
A Cherry Hill track that opened in 1942, burned in 1977, was rebuilt as a lavish glass-walled plant in 1985 and closed for good in 2001, now replaced by a retail and housing town center.
Playfair Race Course
Playfair Race Course was Spokane's horse racing track from 1901 until its final races in December 2000. The site is now the Playfair Commerce Park industrial area.
Detroit Race Course
Detroit Race Course in Livonia, Michigan, was metro Detroit's main Thoroughbred track from 1950 until its last live race in November 1998. It was torn down for commercial redevelopment.
Foxboro Park
Foxboro Park, opened as Bay State Raceway in 1947, was a harness (and later Thoroughbred) track in Foxborough, Massachusetts, until 1997. It was torn down for Gillette Stadium.
Longacres
Longacres in Renton, Washington, was the Pacific Northwest's leading Thoroughbred track from 1933 until its final race in September 1992. Boeing bought and demolished it for corporate buildings.
Roosevelt Raceway
Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, Long Island, began as an auto racing circuit in 1936 and became a landmark night harness track from 1940 to 1988. The site is now shopping centers, condominiums and apartments.
Bowie Race Track
Bowie Race Track in Prince George's County, Maryland, raced Thoroughbreds from 1914 to 1985 and pioneered winter racing in the 1950s. The grounds were later used as a training center.
Liberty Bell Park
Liberty Bell Park in Northeast Philadelphia hosted harness racing from 1963 to 1985 and Thoroughbreds from 1969 to 1974. The Franklin Mills shopping mall was built on the site.
Narragansett Park
Narragansett Park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, raced Thoroughbreds from 1934 to 1978. Its grandstand survives in part on the former grounds.
Washington Park Race Track (Homewood)
Washington Park in south suburban Homewood, Illinois, was a major Chicago-area Thoroughbred track from 1926 until a fire destroyed its grandstand in February 1977. The land was redeveloped in the 1990s.
Tropical Park Race Track
Tropical Park Race Track near Coral Gables raced Thoroughbreds from 1931 to 1972 alongside Hialeah and Gulfstream. Miami-Dade County turned the land into a public park in 1979.
Tanforan Racetrack
A San Bruno Thoroughbred track that raced from 1899 to 1963, served as a Japanese American assembly center in 1942, and burned in 1964 before the land became The Shops at Tanforan.
Bel Air Race Track
Bel Air Race Track was a Thoroughbred track in Bel Air, Maryland, dating from the 1870s and closed around 1960-1962. The Harford Mall now covers the site.
Jamaica Race Course
Jamaica Race Course in Queens ran Thoroughbred racing from 1903 to 1959 and was home to the Wood Memorial. It was razed in 1960 and replaced by the Rochdale Village cooperative.
Havre de Grace Racetrack
Havre de Grace Racetrack in northeastern Maryland hosted Thoroughbred racing from 1912 to 1950. The Maryland National Guard now uses the site and some old buildings.
Latonia Race Track
Latonia Race Track in Covington, Kentucky, was one of the country's leading Thoroughbred tracks from 1883 to 1939. It was razed in 1941, and a shopping center now covers most of the site.
Arlington Downs
Arlington Downs was W. T. Waggoner's Thoroughbred track in Arlington, Texas, opened in 1929 and closed after Texas repealed parimutuel betting in 1937. Its buildings were razed in 1958.
Kentucky Association Race Track
The Kentucky Association track in Lexington was one of America's oldest racecourses, operating from about 1828 until 1933. Its gates were later replicated at Keeneland.
Benning Race Track
Benning Race Track was Washington, D.C.'s Thoroughbred track from 1890 until Congress banned racing in the District in 1908. The Mayfair Mansions apartments now stand on the site.
Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend Race Track was the Brooklyn Jockey Club's Thoroughbred track from 1886 until anti-betting laws stopped New York racing around 1910. It hosted the Preakness Stakes for more than a decade.
Ingleside Racetrack
Ingleside Racetrack was a San Francisco Thoroughbred track from 1895 to 1906. Its oval survives as Urbano Drive in the Ingleside Terraces neighborhood.
Morris Park Racecourse
Morris Park Racecourse in the Bronx hosted the Belmont Stakes from 1890 to 1904. After racing ended it became an early aviation field and then the Morris Park neighborhood.
Jerome Park Racetrack
Jerome Park was the American Jockey Club's racetrack in what is now the Bronx, home of the first Belmont Stakes in 1867. It closed for the Jerome Park Reservoir.
Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway
The Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway was a one-mile dirt oval in Detroit, built for horse racing in 1899, that hosted AAA and USAC Indy car races and two NASCAR Grand National races. Its grandstand was condemned in 1971 and demolished in 2001.