Where is this harness track?..

[kiwi steve]

Hippodrome de Montreal was formally known as Blue Bonnets raceway.

[maria sharapova]

ah yes.The quebecois language rules.think the track
had the best jugheads in canada at one time,but probably
the elite of the harness game have moved on to woodbine
mohawk, along with a good portion of quebec's anglo-saxon
population.
Ciao

[dinque]

nickawampus leroy got a mention in this thread.i cried when i read of his passing at the age of 26 in 2003,i saw his first new york race at yonkers,a move from lsat to first with russell rash in the sulky.george phalen became his regular driver.the passage of time is the saddest passing of them all.....

[TheGuesser]

I recently did some research about old Harness Tracks in NYC. I was fascinated to find out there was a huge track near where I'm from, on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, which is now all apartment houses, at the turn of the Century, Gravesend Race Track, as well as tracks in Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay, also near there. Also there were Tracks in the Bronx, Morris Park Race Course and Jerome Park Track. A bill in 1910 that stupidly outlawed betting on horse races in New York, which was rescinded in 1913, sadly killed all those tracks.

[h_upmann]

I can't believe I didn't see this thread before. CDP was my first exposure to the ponies in the 70's. The announcer (Ed Watters was his name, I think) still walked around the deck of the judge's stand at that time.

It was/is a beautiful spot, but for some reason what I remember most was the big Island Fertilizer building on the backstretch. And the french fries. And a horse called Darn Good Charger.