Race tracks that are gone

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by ScottJ

Quarterhorse racing came to Long Island (Yaphank, Exit 68 off the Long Island Expressway) on the 5/8ths mile oval at Parr Meadows in 1977. Opening night (May 19th) had more than 15,000 attempting to stream into the new track with a million glitches as reported by the media. My first night attending was May 20th - a nine race program when the quarterhorses only ran 350, 400, or 440 yards on the straight away and 660, 770, or 870 yards around the hook.

The facility was adorned with a green and blue interior with a grandstand sized for thousands (devoid of seats that never arrived for that 1977 season) and a dining room that opened two months after the start of the meeting. The programs were blue pocket programs on one day and green pocket programs the next requiring you to purchase the DRF in order to have the past performances. Roughly half way through the 1977 meeting, DRF coverage was cut back and a "Doc Robins" style program was produced. I still own roughly 50+ programs from that one season meeting. My recollection was that Dick Longtin was the announcer for the season.

Just below the grandstand level was the Autotote computer room where you could watch all of the tote room action live through glass windows, a fascinating look "inside" the business of the racetrack. The big horse of the meeting was Laderago who had shipped into the meeting from Los Alamitos for some of the local stakes action. Without having the programs in front of me, I can still recall some of the jockeys : Pete Herrera, Ron Lyda, Ellen Cockey and so many more.

Purchased from bankruptcy, Parr Meadows was reopened as Suffolk Meadows in 1986, again in May. I was so excited to see the reopening that I went to the facility for the trial races that were run two weeks before the meet officially opened. There, I met Theresa Bonnadonna who along with her father, Otto, were the meet operators. The attendance and horse population never reached the same numbers as the original meeting. However, it was special to be able to go back and "touch" all of the familiar points from the decade earlier.

The grandstand was torn down during the 2000s and all that remains now is a large paved area (the former parking lot) and the aerial Google view of the area where you can still make out the shape of the oval and chutes.

An amazing read... thank you!

That last line though... must be like seeing a ghost.

Loved reading the details. Great stuff.