Tropical Park Race Track was a

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 built on at the current intersection of Bird Road and the Palmetto Expressway in Southwest Dade Miami part of metropolitan

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and what is now Olympia Heights. The

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

was built by Bill Dwyer, a

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

era bootlegger, and Frank Bruen with backing from

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

distilling Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

tycoon, Samuel Bronfman. It opened on December 26, 1931, and closed January 15, 1972. The track hosted meets for both for

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 ...

and

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing where they compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace its bloodline ...

horses. Tropical Park introduced the first synthetic racetrack surface for horse racing in the 1966-67 season. Known as "Tartan Turf, " it was a

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

ized surface manufactured by the 3M company. Built inside the regular dirt track, one race per day was contested on the Tartan track but for safety reasons the majority of

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

s and owners refused to run their horses on the track. Saul Silberman bought Tropical Park in 1953 after president Henry L. Straus died in a

plane crash An aviation accident is an event during aircraft operation that results serious injury, death, or significant destruction. An aviation incident is any operating event that compromises safety but does not escalate into an aviation accident. Pre ...

. A major gambler from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, Silberman was a former majority shareholder of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

who had also owned Randall Park Race Track in North Randall, Ohio and the Painesville Raceway in Northfield, Ohio. When Silberman died in 1971, new owner William L. McKnight made his intentions known. He wanted to close the track and have all of the racing dates switched to the new

Calder Race Course Calder Casino is a casino located in Miami Gardens, Florida. It includes slots, electronic table games, and bingo. The casino opened in 2010 and features a gaming floor with 1,100 slot machines, including video poker, as well as electronic rou ...

, of which he was a principal investor. Tropical Park was closed after the 1972 racing season. In 1979, the

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

Parks and Recreation service converted the facility into a public park they named

Tropical Park Tropical Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami, Florida. The park is located just southwest of the intersection of the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) and Bird Road, just west of South Miami. History The land opened as a county public par ...

The park offers a number of sports activities including

Tropical Park Stadium Tropical Park Stadium is a 7,000-seat stadium located in Olympia Heights, Florida, a census-designated place near Miami, Florida, United States. The stadium is located in Tropical Park and is the home field of Miami Dade FC and FC Miami City ...

used for

track and field athletics Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. The old racetrack's

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

s were used as part of the park's equestrian center.

Thoroughbred stakes races at Tropical Park

* Tropical Park Derby * Tropical Park Handicap * Tropical Park Oaks

References

{{coord, 25.729453, -80.320208, region:US-FL_type:landmark, display=title Defunct horse racing venues in the United States Horse racing venues in Florida Coral Gables, Florida Buildings and structures in Miami-Dade County, Florida Sports in Miami-Dade County, Florida American companies established in 1931 Entertainment companies established in 1931 Companies disestablished in 1972 1931 establishments in Florida 1972 disestablishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1931