The large Texan city of Fort Worth, with a population of 875,000, is the 15th largest city in the USA and was also home to the Trinity Meadows Raceway. Fort Worth became established in 1849, primarily as an army outpost guarding Trinity River crossings. In the early 1960s the Clear Fork Downs racecourse opened on Willow Park in Parker County, offering programmes of quarter horse racing without betting, which was at that time illegal in Texas. In due course the track was sold and reopened as Trinity Meadows Raceway on 30th May 1991, offering thoroughbred and quarter horse cards complete with pari-mutuel after the State gambling laws were relaxed. The 6 furlong oval track, with separate chutes of 6 furlongs and 8 furlongs, shared a 203 metre home straight. In its first 2 years of operation the track was extremely profitable, its profit hitting a million dollars. However, that began to change when competition emerged from Lone Star Park. It was later renamed Squaw Creek Downs, but a change of name did not bring a change of fortune. The racecourse held its final meeting on 6th August 1996 and the following year was sold at auction. |
