Printable View
Hoosierpark (former home track)
Indiana Downs
Scioto (former home track)
Raceway
Lebanon
Northfield
Balmoral (former home track
Maywood (former home track)
Hawthorne
Windsor
Jackson
Red Mile
Running Aces (unfortunately current home track)
Meadows
Also i have been to almost every single Ohio fair circuit track that is parimutuals.
Wagga
Leeton
Junee
Coolamon
West Wyalong
Cootamunda
Albury
Temora
Bathurst
Cobram
Kilmore
Moonee Valley
Melton
Menangle
NSW-Menangle, Harold Park, Bathurst, Newcastle, Bulli, Fairfield, Penrith, Bankstown, Tamworth, Leeton, Blayney, Dubbo, Orange, Parkes, Lithgow, Young, Goulburn, Maitland.
VIC-Moonee Valley, Shepparton, Kilmore, Geelong, Terang, Cranbourne.
TAS-Launceston, Hobart (old & new), Carrick, Burnie, Devonport, Scottsdale.
QLD-Albion Park, Gold Coast, Redcliffe, Rocklea.
WA- Gloucester Park.
This brings back a lot of memories.
First went to the races at about or 4 or maybe 5 years of age.
First track was the OLD Menangle circuit. It took about 2 hours to get there by car back then. Now it takes about 35-40 mins tops.
The huge Rooster tails of dust that used to get kicked up out there during the summer stay with me to this day. As a kid I thought it was terrific but in hindsight it must have been absolute Hell for man and beast if they found themselves back in the field. I also vividly remember one day out there in the Winter and it got so cold that in an act of what was no doubt sheer desperation some of the more rustic trackside patrons viciously turned on an innocent wooden garden bench, broke it up, tossed it into a 44 gallon drum posing as a rubbish bin and then set it on fire so they could stand around the blaze and keep warm.
These days they'd probably have been branded vandals. Back then though they were thought to be something along the lines of what we'd now refer to as 'pro-active'. The choice was simple, it was either them or the garden bench.
Looking back at all those tracks also makes me think of how many luke warm beers, cans of coke, dreadful deep over-salted fried things and soggy bleached stark white bread sandwiches containing incinerated meat of dubious origins that I have eaten over the years. When my time comes, if anything is put down as being the root cause of my ultimate demise... I have little doubt that it will be the nutritional bounty that is to be found trackside at any Harness Racing meeting.
right on guys...i would love to do the down under circuit......You should try the fair circuit in ohio....its the best
I wanted to go to The Meadowlands but will it still be racing when I get to New York in July this year?
I must sit down and work on my list includes a track on Vancouver Island but too long ago to remember the name :)
This list includes tracks no longer operating. I will break it down into wagering and non-wagering tracks, but they all offered purse races.
Parimutuel Tracks
NY - Saratoga Harness, Monticello Raceway, Yonkers Raceway, Roosevelt Raceway
NJ - Meadowlands, Freehold Raceway, Garden State Park
PA - Pocono Downs, Liberty Bell Park
DE - Dover Downs, Brandywine Raceway
FL - Pompano Park
KY - The Red Mile, Louisville Downs
OH - Northfield Park
Nonwagering Tracks
NY - Historic Track (Goshen) - also there for the NYSS Trottingbred races, Ballston Spa
NJ - Showplace Farms, Gaitway Farms, Willow Brook Farms (Tinton Falls), Capital Hill Fams (Englishtown), Egyptian Acres (New Egypt), Johnson Park (Piscataway), Flemington Fairgrounds (Flemington), Scenic View (Clarksburg) These were back when they had the NJSS Fair Division and the Garden State Stakes.
I've always wanted to go to Goshen for Historic week and to visit the Hall of Fame.
The Scottsdale meeting in Tasmania is something similar in terms of being a once a year thing. The track is small, tight and narrow, I think it's 4 of 5 across maximum and ALL standing starts because a mobile barrier would be too wide, it would hit the outside fence and hang over into the crowd by 3 or 4 feet. When the water truck comes around to dampen down the surface it oversprays about 10ft or so into the crowd on the outside fence and when the horses race they'll kick up dirt/gravel into your face as they go past, that's how close you are to the action. Before they replaced it, after a race you used to be able to tell who went the absolute widest on the home turn because they'd come back with bits of greenery from the outside fence (a hedge) stuck in the gear/in the crevices of the bike. Madness but a terrific spectacle...and most notably of all it was the one place where they actually had really good trackside food.
NSW-Menangle, Harold Park, Bathurst, Newcastle, Bulli, Fairfield, Penrith, Bankstown, Dubbo, Maitland.
VIC-Moonee Valley, Melton, Geelong, Terang, Bendigo
SA - Globe Derby Park
WA- Gloucester Park.
NZ - Alexandra Park
best atmosphere - bendigo on Breeders crown day & Menangle when Blackie won the interdom.
best pies - bathurst - no where else comes even close
best facilities - Gloucester park
worst of almost everything - alexandra park NZ
Fair Circuit. WAGERING ALLOWED.
Lima, Oh (awesome oval they score 8 wide) 2 day meet. the first meet day. There are more people and wagering than almost any other fair exluding Delaware.
Wapokenata.Oh They serve beer, need i say more?
Greenville Oh. If you dont know about the marshall partial memorial, lol you dont know about harness.
Oak Harbor Oh Huge tree on the far turn. very much a spectacle
Circleville Oh.
Paulding Oh.
Bowling Green.
Marion
Waseon
Bucyrus.
Wilmington
Cadiz.....drove 2 and a half hours for 8 races with 5 horse fields...lol
Bellefountaine
Tiffin.
Findley (unfortunately i went to this thinking that it was a parimutuals and it wasnt so I left and went the Fort Wayne In OTB....lol)
Lancaster (last Oh fair of the year always on my birthday i go every year. You can go up to the top of a mountain and look right down on the track.)
London (one of the best for betting)
Marysville
Sidney (used to be good)
Xenia (home of chip noble)
Urbana (awesome)
Celina (awesome)
Hicksville (not the greatest)
Upper Sandusky (pretty good short fields not the best for betting)
Delaware (Home of the LBJ...you aussies should know mr feel good)
I have been to most all of the these fairs numerous times and if you get to know the same horses there is quite of money to be made.
Blackie winning the inter at Menangle was absolutely unreal. Was just as good as the atmoshpere at Carlton V Sydney final this year - if not better.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbd
I have been to every harness track in New Zealand including all the grass tracks
In Australia I have been to Menangle (Loved it), Bankstown,Dubbo,Newcastle, Harold Park (my all time favourite track) Globe Derby, Glouster Park, Albion Park, Monee Valley. And one I would love to get to despite being in Melbourne twice this year is Melton. On both occassions I asked several people how to get there and no one knew! I went to the 2 TAB's and they also didn't know. I then phoned the club and was greeted with a answering machine (3 times). Then went to the tourist office and they gave me directions via tram, bus taxi. So I put it in the too hard basket and watched races at the casino. Upon returning home I was told by 2-3 people who had been there that it was simple getting to the track from the CBD. Yeah right....
My wish is to get to some tracks in the USA - any and all of them.