The Brighton Beach Race Course was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

facility in

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, opened on June 28, 1879 by the Brighton Beach Racing Association. Headed by real estate developer William A. Engeman, who owned the Brighton Beach Hotel, the one-mile race track was located in back of the hotel and bounded by Ocean Parkway on the west, Neptune Avenue on the north, Coney Island Avenue on the east, and Brighton Beach Avenue on the south. An instant success, the race track drew wealthy patrons from New York City, and harness racing was introduced there in 1901. Among its most important Thoroughbred horse racing events were the Brighton Derby for three-year-olds and the Brighton Handicap that was open to older horses. On July 17, 1900, James R. Keene's horse Voter set a new World Record of 1:38.00 for a mile on dirt at the Brighton Beach Race Course. The track prospered until 1908 when the New York Legislature passed the Hart–Agnew Law banning gambling in

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. Motor racing events were held at the facility in an attempt to keep the track from closing but even after horse racing returned to New York it was too late to save the track. At the time it ceased horse racing operations, the Brighton Beach Race Course was the oldest horse track in steady use in the New York City area. The former racetrack, later known as the Brighton Beach Motordrome was then used for automobile racing for a time and after other measures failed to make it viable, the facility was finally torn down and by the 1920s replaced by residential housing.

References

External links

History of the Brighton Beach Race Course at Scripophily.com
{{coord, 40, 34, 45, N, 73, 57, 49, W , display=title Sports venues completed in 1879 Defunct horse racing venues in New York City Sports venues in Brooklyn Brighton Beach 1879 establishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in the 1920s