Memories of Aqueduct Racetrack

 

Memories of Aqueduct Racetrack

Joseph Di Rienzi

 

Aqueduct Racetrack
(NYRA,com)

On June 28 of this year, Aqueduct Racetrack will close down permanently. Its demise is predicated by the building of a new Belmont Park and the increased use of Saratoga Racetrack by the New York Racing Association. Aqueduct located in Ozone Park, Queens, New York City, opened on September 14, 1959. (There was a previous Aqueduct Racetrack shut down in 1955, located near the conduit of the Brooklyn Waterworks, hence the moniker “Aqueduct”.) In 1959, this new structure, new and shiny in steel and concrete, was considered an enlightened venture in placing a horse racing plant within a major city’s limits. There was even a subway station adjacent to the track that New York City residents could use instead of driving on the Belt Parkway.

I share a personal history with the present Aqueduct Racetrack. The year 1959 was my first in being a committed follower of thoroughbred racing. At 11 years old, I was ushered into attending horse races in the New York area by my uncle Jimmy, a racetrack regular. We would meet at a subway stop in Brooklyn, N. Y. on the day he would invite me to join him and commute to the racetrack. In those days, minors such as myself, could not wager, but could attend the races accompanied by a responsible adult.

There was a ritual in each visit. We would find seats on the third level of the four-tiered Aqueduct grandstand, about one eighth of a mile from the finish line. The sight lines were fine, but when the wind blew in from Jamaica Bay, it could be chilly sitting in the open air. In addition, the track sat below the flight path for commercial airflight going to and from nearby Kennedy Airport, so there was frequent noise from above.

To secure our place, we would wind newsprint between the slats of our wooden seats. Uncle Jimmy, who always dressed formally in a suit, white shirt and tie, would treat me to a sitdown lunch in the track’s dining room. I remember having broiled trout with scalloped potatoes on more than one occasion. He kept his wagering choices to himself, but frequently asked my opinion on the chances of some horses he was considering betting on. On the ride home, as we transferred from one train to another, my uncle would always stop at an underground bakery shop and buy his wife, my Aunt Lucy, a cake. He did this regardless of whether he had a winning or losing day.   

Since my years in racing (now 67) coincide with the history of Aqueduct, I thought it was timely to reminisce about the major races that first fall at the new facility.

On opening day, September 14, 1959, some 42,000 patrons including New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller helped to inaugurate the “new” Aqueduct. It quickly was given the nickname “The Big A,” and at the time was considered the most modern and forward thinking racing facility in the country, with a paddock trackside so patrons could see the horses after they were saddled prior to the post parade. Its popularity was attested by in the early years it regularly drew over 50,000 people for its Saturday card.

The feature race on the track’s inaugural was the appropriately named Aqueduct Handicap. It was won by California raced, Indiana bred, Hillsdale who bested Bald Eagle in the one-mile contest. Considered a top older horse, Hillsdale, owned by Clarence Smith and trained by Martin Fallon Jr. remained in New York after his victory to face the previous year’s Horse of the Year Round Table and top three-year-old Sword Dancer in a memorable renewal of the Woodward Stakes.

Round Table, owned by Travis Kerr and trained by William Molter had become legendary for racing frequently, carrying excessive weights and being equally adept on dirt and grass surfaces (except for wet conditions). Brookmeade Stable’s Virginia bred Sword Dancer was also a hearty campaigner, after finishing second in both the Kentucky Derby (by a nose) and the Preakness Stakes, the chestnut son of Sunglow won the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, Metropolitan and Monmouth Handicaps, in the last two, defeating older foes.

The Woodward run on Saturday, September 26, at 1¼ mile at weight for age conditions was the race set to determine Horse-of-the Year honors. Only one horse, Inside Tract, was entered other than the “Big Three”.  There was a significant and eventful jockey switch. William Shoemaker who had assumed the mount on Sword Dancer after the Kentucky Derby, was also the regular rider on Round Table. He chose the five-year-old over the three-year-old. Sword Dancer’s trainer Elliot Burch contracted the veteran big race rider Eddie Arcaro to highlight the importance he attached to winning this race. Hillsdale’s connections showed remarkable restraint in retaining his regular rider, Tommy Barrow, who was hardly a household name in the racing world.

As a horse race, the Woodward Stakes was a thriller as witnessed by some 53,000 on track. As often in a small field there was race riding that may have determined the outcome. Hillsdale went to the front and set a leisurely pace with Round Table a close second. Inside Track and Sword Dancer traded places for third and fourth with the three-year-old saving ground on the inside. As the field entered the stretch, Sword Dancer seemed trapped on the rail as Hillsdale was fighting off Round Table’s bid. It appeared that Barrow aboard Hillsdale was so intent on beating Round Table that he allowed his mount to drift off the rail just sufficient to allow Arcaro to slip Sword Dancer through and in a desperate finish win by a head.  Round Table was a clearly beaten third. 

Sword Dancer (on right) winning the 1959 Woodward Stakes

That was the only meeting among these three equine stars. Hillsdale was retired after the Woodward.  Sword Dancer and Round Table would face each other one more time in the two mile Jockey Club Gold Cup at Aqueduct which the former won by 7 lengths on a sloppy race surface. In the end of the year awards Sword Dancer was voted Three-Year-Old Champion and Horse of the Year and Round Table was Champion Male Older Horse and Turf Champion.

My first attendance at Aqueduct was on Saturday, October 17, 1959. The feature was the 88^th renewal of the one mile Champagne Stakes, the premier race in New York for two-year-olds. It was the seventh race on the nine race program. The weather was cool and the track was labeled fast. The Champagne’s total purse, some $230,000, made it the richest race in New York. In the 10 horse field were just about all the major juveniles of that year. The pro tem leader was C. V. Whitney’s striking brown colt Tompion who after close finishes in California and New York had won the 7 furlong Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Racetrack. Also in the field were East Coast campaigners Bally Ache and Vital Force who faced each other several times during the year. Another West Coast invader was Warfare, a hulking coal-gray son of 1954 Kentucky Derby winner Determine owned by Bellehurst Stable and trained by veteran conditioner Hack Ross. He, like Tompion, had found California racing too quick and the distances too short, his best race a good finishing third in the Hollywood Juvenile Championship to Noble Noor and Tompion. After a second place finish in an allowance race at 6½ furlongs at Aqueduct, Warfare would not taste defeat as the distances stretched out. In the 7 furlong Cowdin Stakes, prime prep for the Champagne Stakes, he decisively defeated Vital Force, Bally Ache and Tompion.

In looking at the past performances of the contestants, it is astounding how many races these juveniles had participated in prior to the Champagne. Tompion had run 10 times (he would race two more times in 1959), Bally Ache had run 14 times (two more), Vital Force 12 times (once more) and Warfare 12 times (two more). Note the variance with the current scarcity of starts in top two-year-olds, where anything more than three starts is considered a heavy campaign.

As I recall, there was some change in equipment and tactics on two of the contenders. Tompion was outfitted with blinkers so that he would be more forwardly placed, and Bally Ache, a noted front runner, was held back to conserve his finishing ability. Tompion, indeed showed more early speed, contending with Four Lane for the early lead. Warfare, ridden by Ismael Valenzuela, was content to sit just off the leaders in third, and Bally Ache after a quick beginning was throttled back in fourth place. At the top of the stretch, Valenzuela asked Warfare for run and the son of Determine readily went up to challenge the leaders. Warfare and Tompion battled down the stretch with the former prevailing by a length. Bally Ache finished third, 5½ lengths further back after an unsuccessful attempt at rating. Four Lane was fourth and Vital Force finished 10^th and last. The time for the one mile contest was a track record for the one month old facility.

Warfare at Garden State Park
(Horse Racing Legends)

Warfare would go on to win the 1 1/16 mile Garden State Stakes in New Jersey, solidifying his Two-Year-Old Championship. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury early in his sophomore year, precluding any Triple Crown hopes and was subsequently retired to stud. Of the others, Bally Ache (a favorite of mine) was the highest achiever, finishing second in the Kentucky Derby, but winning the Flamingo Stakes, Florida Derby, Preakness and Jersey Derby. After incurring an injury suffered in the fall, Bally Ache was retired but soon after contracted an internal ailment that led to his death. Tompion after winning the Santa Anita Derby and the Blue Grass Stakes finished fourth as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby. He would go on later in the year to win the Travers Stakes and be a sturdy campaigner through age four.

Through the years, I recall being at Aqueduct seeing such great horses as Kelso, Buckpasser, Damascus, and Dr. Fager (in the 1960s); Secretariat, Forego and Ruffian (in the 1970s). It was a utilitarian racetrack, built not for beauty, but as a convenient venue for fans to see top class thoroughbred racing. For all the history and memories it provided me, I bid The Big A a fond farewell.