MILES PARK RACECOURSE

The Miles Park racecourse was located on the western side of Louisville in the state of Kentucky and was originally called Fairgrounds Speedway. At that point in time it was famous for its night race meetings involving harness racing, but by 1956 it was better known for thoroughbred racing, particularly hosting the Junior Derby.

When a new management group took over the running of the track in the early 1960's they set about extending the course and improving its facilities.Its feature races were the Fort Knox Handicap, Old Kentucky Handicap and the Oh! Susannah Stakes.

I am very grateful to Tres Delaforce who writes, " I'm a trainer in Kentucky. I grew up in Europe and somehow landed here back in 1990. A friend of mine just passed away on June 11. He was 73 years old and a great old horseman. We used to ship to races together and many times on the road, he would point out to me the old Miles Park from the highway. For the last 3 weeks, I have been on a mission to find the old location and take some photos of what remains and put it on my blog (haven't blogged in a long time and thought it would be a great way to start again- http://holyracehorse.blogspot.com ) I finally found it today. No one seemed to know the old address nor location. I had called the visitor's bureau, historical society, even took a survey at Churchill Downs. I finally just drove into the general area and started asking people around the neighborhood. The property now belongs to Whayne Supply Company. They seem to produce machinery of the heavy kind. The old state fair building is still there, although I was not allowed to take photographs, but evidence of Miles Park? There is nothing left. Not even a historical marker. I'm heartbroken. I had imagined remnants of something, anything. Anyway, it is located at the end on Cecil St. in Louisville KY. Few people have a sense of pride or history. , but if there are any like-minded people who have similar memories of Miles Park then please use my blog."

American Racing Correspondent Richard Gauthier writes " Miles Park became Commonwealth Race Course in 1974-75, and then closed. They raced some quarter horses for a couple years in the late 1970s until some disgruntled kids torched the place. This was such a shame because Commonwealth was neat, with four chutes including 4½ furlongs, 5½ furlongs and about a mile."

If you have badges, racecards, pictures of the racecourse or further details about the course, including your memories, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com