I have some great memories from the Atlantic City Race
Course. When I heard that it would be
closing its doors forever, I had to take one last look. I remember spending many an evening with a, let's say, "unique" group of gentlemen; each of us holding a racing form in one hand and a cheap
cigar in the other. We had a blast. It wasn’t so much the betting – although we
did so to make the races interesting. It
was participating in a live and very real event. There is something about hearing the thunder
of hooves rounding the track and watching them, in close ranks, tear towards
the finish line. It gets the blood up and the heart pounding. It something that should
not so much be described as it should be experienced. Sadly, for South Jersey, the possibility for that
experience is now gone.
I had a conversation with some locals before I visited
the track. I asked them about their
memories. “Oh, that place was really
something,” the man said. “My uncle was
there all the time,” said the woman. I
asked them what they thought would eventually happen with the property. “No one knows.” The woman said to me. “They wanted to make it a NASCAR track some
years back. We signed a petition against
it. It would have been awful. Can you imagine the noise and the traffic?” I asked her if she could imagine the jobs it
would have created. “Yes, but then where
are you going to house the all the people who would come?” she asked. I said that I suppose they would have had to
build more hotels creating thousands more jobs.
I said that with the multiple casinos
closing it would have been a nation-wide draw to the Atlantic
City area. I mentioned that
I could care less about NASCAR (which dropped her jaw) and preferred the horses
but having that juggernaut
of an industry right here, right now would have helped save the community.
“Oh well,” I said and thanked them for their time. My next stop was the Atlantic City Race
Course.
I took some pictures of the outside of the complex. My first stop was the staging area where the
horses were paraded around by their jockeys so the crowds could see them before
they placed their bets prior to the races.
It was once a place where owners and trainers proudly showed off their
prized thoroughbreds. Indifference and
time have now done their work and what was once a showcase has slipped into its
current state.
It was a cold day so I was happy to go inside for more
than just nostalgia. I asked an older
man who was selling racing forms if I could take some pictures of the
inside. He directed me to talk to management. I did so and was told that I could but that I
could not publish them anywhere (for publication of for a blog). They said I could take them for private
use. I thanked them and walked back over
to the gray haired man selling the race forms and we struck up a
conversation. I told him that I saw
Willie Shoemaker race here back in the nineties.
"All the greats raced were here," he said and
then he rattled off the names of about a dozen jockeys that I never heard of
but I have no doubt were part of the artistry of the sport and the history of
this track. I asked whatever happened to
Joe Bravo. He said that he still races
out in California, which, surprised me since the guy must be in his sixties.
Stepping into the Atlantic City Race Course is stepping
back in time. The man I spoke with was
correct, there is a lot of history here.
One half expects to see a fedora adorned ghost ascending the staircase
to the second level or a woman in garb from a by-gone age standing in line to
place a bet from one of the agents. All
the human agents have been replaced by machines. This was odd to me, it shouldn’t have been,
but it was. It seemed to make the experience
just a touch colder. Deep green and
white have always been the colors that of the interior of the complex. The pipes, columns, and trim are all
green. The great doors that lead to the
downward slope of the track are now covered over with blue tarps to prevent
people from exploring them. I took a
look around and saw the empty seats lining the wall with all of the photographs
from days gone by. The thoroughbreds,
the trainers, the owners, and celebrities – smiling faces with names lost to
history. Simulcasting was still
happening when I was there and the banks of televisions that sit above white lattice
board shelves were broadcasting races from across the country. There are still people who come to place
their bets on who will win, place, or show.
They sit huddled over their tickets waiting for their races to begin. Over their heads is a Daily Double slate
where workers one time chalked the names of the winning horses for the first
and second races. Hanging in antiquity,
it hasn’t been used in years. I wonder
what will become of it... I wonder
what will become of the gray haired man selling the race forms.
Yesterday, 1/16/15, after 69
years of operation, the Atlantic City Race Course closed its doors. It has been dying a slow death for the last
few decades. Deterioration and rot have
crept in throughout the grounds. The
main building; however, is concrete and is built to last. It was a must see destination where people
rubbed shoulders with Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope. What happens next for the Race Course? I don’t know.
I do know that once upon a time it was something to see. I’m thankful that I saw some of those days up
close.
