The New York State racecourse of Sheepshead Bay was the principal site of the Coney Island Jockey Club which was founded in 1879 predominantly by Leonard Jerome and James Keen. In the very early days it held races at Prospect Park Fairground, but within a short while it had built its own course which held its inaugural meeting on 19th June 1880. The racecourse was dual purpose, ultimately offering thoroughbred flat races and the facility to stage steeplechases, for on 10th June 1886 it opened the first turf racecourse in the USA, replacing its steeplechase course with an 8 furlong turf course built on the inside of its main dirt track. Appropriately enough the Green Grass Stakes was the first race to be run on the turf course and it was won by Dry Monopole. The principal races at the track were the inaugural running of the Suburban Handicap on 10th June 1884, and the Sheepshead Bay Futurity first run in 1888. Terminal disaster struck in 1908 when a Bill was introduced by Governor Charles Evans Hughes banning betting on racetracks, sounding the death knell for Sheepshead Bay. Although the track remained intact hoping for a repeal of the Bill, that did not occur and the track was sold for development in December 1919. |
