Course type Flat & Steeplechase | Opened 28 June 1879 | |
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Location Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, United States Owned by Brighton Beach Racing Association Date opened June 28, 1879 (137 years ago) (1879-06-28) Notable races Brighton Derby, Brighton Handicap, Brighton Mile, Brighton Oaks Similar Capitoline Grounds, Fleming Field, Jerome Park Racetrack, Jamaica Race Course, Dexter Park | ||
The Brighton Beach Race Course was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility opened at Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York on June 28, 1879 by the Brighton Beach Racing Association. Headed by real estate developer William A. Engeman, who owned the Brighton Beach Hotel, the one-mile race track was located next to the hotel and bounded by Ocean Parkway on the west, Neptune Avenue on the north, Coney Island Avenue on the east, and Brighton Beach Avenue on the south. An instant success, the race track drew wealthy patrons from New York City and harness racing was introduced in 1901.
Among its most important Thoroughbred horse racing events was the Brighton Derby for three-year-olds, and the Brighton Handicap that was open to older horses. On July 17, 1900, at the Brighton Beach Race Course, James R. Keene's horse Voter [1] set a new World Record of 1:38.00 for a mile on dirt.
The business prospered until 1908 when the New York Legislature passed the Hart-Agnew Law which banned gambling in New York State. Motor racing events were held at the facility in an attempt to keep the track from closing but even after horse racing returned to New York it was too late to save the track. At the time it ceased horse racing operations, the Brighton Beach Race Course was the oldest horse track in steady use in the New York City area. The racetrack was then used for automomobile racing for a time and after other measures failed to make it viable, the facility was finally torn down and by the 1920s replaced by residential housing.