Yonkers Raceway Unofficial review

Yonkers Raceway Unofficial review

Yonkers Raceway, founded in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, is a ½ a mile standardbred harness racing dirt track and New York state approved video lottery terminal (VLT) racino located at the intersection of Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue (between exits 1 and 2 of the New York State Thruway) in Yonkers, New York near the New York City border. It is currently owned by the Rooney Family, the five sons of Art Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers football legend.

Yonkers Raceway, considered a city landmark, was first opened in 1899 by William H. Clark's Empire City Trotting Club. Clark died in 1900 and, with much litigation by his heirs over its proposed sale, the track remained closed for most of the next seven years except for special events. One such event occurred in 1902 when Barney Oldfield set a one mile record in an automobile at Empire City Race Track. Driving the Ford '999', he covered the distance in 55.54 seconds.

The facility was purchased by New York grocery store magnate James Butler who reopened it for Thoroughbred horse racing in 1907. Among the notable Thoroughbreds who raced at Empire City, in 1936 Seabiscuit won the Scarsdale Handicap at Empire City. After the death of James Butler in 1940 the track continued to host "the flats" until 1942, when it was converted back to being a harness track. In 1950, William H. Cane, for whom the Cane Pace is named, headed a syndicate formed as the Algam Corporation which acquired Empire City and converted it to Yonkers Raceway. Its popularity having greatly declined since the 1960s (when crowds would occasionally reach 50,000), the entire property, according to some, had become an eyesore due to its owners leaving it in a state of disrepair.

Yonkers previously was the site of the Cane Pace, one of the legs of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers. It is now the host track for another leg, the Messenger Stakes. Yonkers is also home to the Yonkers Trot, one of the legs of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. Due to the renovations at Yonkers, the Messenger and Yonkers Trot were moved to different racetracks for the 2004 and 2005 editions. The Messenger was moved to Harrington Raceway in Delaware in both years, and the Yonkers Trot was moved to Hawthorne Racecourse in Stickney, IL in 2004, and Freehold Raceway in New Jersey in 2005.

Yonkers Raceway ran both the Yonkers Trot and the Messenger on November 25, 2006, becoming the first harness track in America to host two Triple Crown races on the same day. Glidemaster, by virtue of winning the $728,000 Yonkers Trot, became the eighth horse to clinch the Trotting Triple Crown; the trotter would go on to be named 2006 Harness Horse of the Year.

Yonkers Raceway is also home to the Art Rooney Pace for three year olds. However, continued delays in the reopening of the track forced the 2006 edition of the race to be moved to Monticello Raceway. The final of the 2007 Art Rooney Pace, run on June 2, 2007, was the richest race in Yonkers history, with a $1 million purse. It was won by Southwind Lynx with a late outside run in 1:52.3. Tim Tetrick was the driver.

Yonkers Raceway underwent some cosmetic changes in the late 1990's. In 1996, the finish line was relocated to the end of the stretch, increasing the length of the stretch from 440 feet to the current 660 feet. The following year, the Yonkers grandstand was demolished. The portion of the building with the Empire Terrace restaurant still stands and is currently operational.

Standardbreds are a breed of horse best known for their ability to race in harness at a trot or pace instead of under saddle at a gallop. Developed in North America, the breed is now recognized worldwide for its harness racing ability. They are solid, well built horses with good dispositions that are also used under saddle for a variety of equestrian activities, particularly in the Midwest and eastern United States.

Yonkers is the fourth largest city in the USA State of New York (it falls behind New York City, Buffalo, and Rochester), and the largest city in Westchester County, with a population of 196,086 (according to the 2000 census). More recent estimates put the population at 197,234 in 2002, 197,126 in 2004 and 196,425 in 2005. Yonkers borders the New York City borough of The Bronx and is 3 km north of Manhattan at the cities' two respective closest points.

The city is home to several attractions, an example of which is Yonkers Raceway, a harness racing track that has renovated its grounds and clubhouse and added legalized video slot machine gambling in 2006 in a racino called Empire City. There is also a large shopping area along Central Park Avenue, informally called "Central Avenue" by area residents, a name it takes officially a few miles north in White Plains, New York.

On the south, Yonkers borders the Riverdale, Woodlawn, and Wakefield sections of the Bronx. In addition, the southernmost point of Yonkers is only 3 km north of the northernmost point of Manhattan when measured from Broadway & Caryl Avenue in Yonkers to Broadway & West 228th Street in the Marble Hill section of Manhattan.

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