Gravesend Race Track - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend

Gravesend, Brooklyn

Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...

on Coney Island

Coney Island

Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

was a Thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

facility built by the Brooklyn Jockey Club as a result of the backing of the wealthy racing stable owners, the Dwyer Brothers

Dwyer Brothers Stable

Dwyer Brothers Stable was an American thoroughbred horse racing operation owned by Brooklyn, New York businessmen, Phil and Mike Dwyer.The Dwyer brothers hired trainer Evert Snedecker and purchased their first Thoroughbred, Rhadamanthus, in 1874. In October of that same year they acquired Vigil...

. Philip J. Dwyer was the controlling shareholder of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, and served as its president.

Opened on August 26, 1886, its first executive board consisted of:

Col. William L. Scott
William Lawrence Scott
William Lawrence Scott was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. His body is buried at Erie Cemetery.-Family:...
James Ben Ali Haggin
James Ben Ali Haggin
James Ben Ali Haggin was an Turkish Americanattorney, rancher, investor and a major owner/breeder in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing...
Michael F. Dwyer
Michael F. Dwyer
Michael F. Dwyer was an American businessman from Brooklyn, New York and prominent owner of Thoroughbred racehorses and racetracks...
Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin
Lucky Baldwin
Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin was a prominent California businessman and investor of the second half of the 19th century.-Biography:...
Capt. Samuel S. Brown
Samuel S. Brown
Captain Samuel Smith Brown was an American businessman and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder and racetrack owner....

The facility covered an area which extended from McDonald Avenue (then Gravesend Avenue) to Ocean Parkway

Ocean Parkway (Brooklyn)

Ocean Parkway is a broad boulevard in the west central portion of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City.-Route description:Ocean Parkway extends over a distance of about five miles , running almost north to south from the vicinity of Prospect Park to Brighton Beach...

, and from Kings Highway

Kings Highway (Brooklyn)

Kings Highway is a broad avenue that passes mostly through areas in the southern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The west end is at Bay Parkway and 78th Street. East of Ocean Avenue the street becomes mostly residential, tending generally east, then northeast, then north through...

to Avenue U

Avenue U

Avenue U is a street located in Brooklyn, New York City. This avenue is a main thoroughfare throughout its length. Avenue U begins at Stillwell Avenue and ends at Bergen Avenue...

. This land had previously been occupied by the Prospect Park Fair Grounds, a slightly smaller and far more modest race course which had been used for harness racing

Harness racing

Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

. The facility was enclosed by a twelve foot wooden fence and boasted an ornate two-story "double decker" grand stand of yellow Georgia pine with a bar and restaurant built into its brick base. A spur was created that allowed trains running along the Prospect Park & Coney Island railroad line

Culver Line (surface)

The Culver Line, Gravesend Avenue Line, or McDonald Avenue Line was a surface public transit line in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, running along McDonald Avenue and built by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad...

line to stop within the facility and discharge passengers at a small station that lead directly to the grand stand via a covered walkway. At the southern end of the facility stood the offices of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, as well as the dressing rooms for the jockeys. The northern end was occupied by the betting pavilion and carriage sheds. The eastern side, which ran along the tree-lined boulevard of Ocean Parkway (where impromptu training races often took place), was occupied by the clubhouse.

During its time, the racetrack executive included superintendent Ben Brush in whose honor the future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

horse Ben Brush was named. Among the major graded stakes race

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

s launched at the track were the Astoria Stakes

Astoria Stakes

The Astoria Stakes is a long-lived race for two-year-old Thoroughbred fillies run at Belmont Park during its Spring/Summer season. Originally set at a distance of five furlongs, beginning in the year 1940, it went off at five and a half furlongs on the dirt...

, Brooklyn Handicap

Brooklyn Handicap

The Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....

, Brooklyn Derby

Dwyer Stakes

The Dwyer Stakes is an American Grade II stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred racehorses held annually at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, Long Island, New York. Run in early July, it is open to three-year-old horses and is raced over a distance of 1 1/16-miles on dirt...

, Tremont Stakes

Tremont Stakes

The Tremont Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for 2-year-olds at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.Due to the troubled economy in 2008, the Tremont was canceled by the NYRA as they adjusted races to meet the new Grade I standard purse of $300,000. The Tremont Stakes was...

, and the Gazelle Handicap

Gazelle Handicap

The Gazelle Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race raced annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, New York. Open to three-year-old fillies, it is a Grade I event run over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on dirt...

. For the fifteen years from 1894 through 1908, Gravesend Race Track hosted one of the American Classic Races, the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

.

In 1908, the administration of Governor Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

signed into law the Hart-Agnew bill that effectively banned all racetrack betting

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

in New York State. A 1910 amendment to the legislation added further restrictions that meant by 1911 all racetracks in the state ceased operations. Although the ban was lifted for the 1913 racing season, by then it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, which was sold to the Sheepshead Bay Speedway Corporation. Although the law was repealed in time to resume racing in 1913, the Gravesend Race Track never reopened and the land was eventually sold to real-estate developers in 1920.

Today, the annual Gravesend Handicap

Gravesend Handicap

The Gravesend Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York late in the year. In its 50th running in December 2009, the Gravesend will be downgraded from a Grade III event to ungraded status. This race is for three-year-olds and up and set at a...

at Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack

Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...

honors the former racing facility.

See also defunct New York race tracks