Jamaica Racetrack 1907 - Now Rochdale Village This thoroughbred horse racing facility operated by the Metropolitan Jockey Club in Jamaica was a 1 mile track that opened on April 27, 1903, a day which featured the inaugural running of the Excelsior Handicap. Eugene D. Wood, one of the founders and largest stockholder, served as its first president. The Wood Memorial Stakes is named in Eugene Woods honor. Legendary Hall of Fame horse trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons was the first to train at Jamaica Race Course and Native Dancer made a winning debut here on April 19, 1952The facilitys attendance record of 64,679 was set on Memorial Day, 1945 It was home to ongoing races such as the Prioress Stakes, Frizette Stakes, Paumonok Handicap, Excelsior Handicap, Wood Memorial Stakes, Remsen Handicap, Bed O Roses Handicap, and the Jamaica Handicap. In 1955, the Greater New York Association took over management of Jamaica Race Course along with Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course and decided to undertake renovations at Aqueduct. Jamaica took on the Big A dates during Aqueducts renovation, after which it would be sold for redevelopment as the housing project Rochdale Village. On August 1, 1959, with Aqueduct reopening that fall, Jamaica ceased operations and was torn down the following year.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 02:09:05 +0000
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