The famous and well-renowned Roosevelt Raceway was located in the town of Westbury on Long Island in New York State. The 4 furlong oval racetrack, with 560 metre home straight, was leased in 1939 to the Old County Trotting Association under the directorship of George Morton Levy, and held its inaugural meeting on 3rd September 1940, welcoming a crowd of 5,000 who cheered on the first winner, Martha Lee, although prior to this date the track had been a successful motor racing circuit. The track was blessed with a five-storey grandstand with the capacity to hold a staggering 50,000 racegoers, and equally surprising was that it often welcomed crowds of up to 30,00 people. The track had sound claims to being the first to operate a mobile starting gate, and had as its principal race the Messenger Stakes, which was a leg of the Harness Race Triple Crown along with the Cane Pace and Little Brown Jug; but the track also staged the Roosevelt International Trot. From 1956 through to 1988 the Messenger Stakes was held at Roosevelt Raceway, with winners during this period shown below. In 1984 the track was sold to a group led by Bill Hopkins, although it was stipulated in the terms of the sale that the track should remain open for racing. The final meeting took place on 15th July 1988, although it was a while before the site was developed. The grandstand was finally demolished in 2002 and a shopping mall named in its honour. |
