Jerome Park Racetrack

Jerome Park Racetrack was an American thoroughbred horse racing facility from 1866 until 1894. It was located in a part of Westchester County, New York that was annexed into the city of New York in 1874. Jerome Park Racetrack was the home of the Belmont Stakes from 1867 until 1889. Today, Jerome Park is the name of a neighborhood adjoining the Jerome Park Reservoir, Bedford Park and Norwood in the northern Bronx.

History

The racetrack opened in 1866 in the northwest part of Fordham, Westchester County (now in the Bronx), New York. Built on the old Bathgate estate, and operated by the American Jockey Club, its owner/members were led by financier Leonard W. Jerome and August Belmont, Sr. A luxurious clubhouse was built near a rise that looked over the race course on what was known as "The Bluff".

In those days, many would come to the racing park by horse, coach and carriage, or by railroad at Fordham Station, located at the bottom of Fordham Hill and Rose Hill in Old Fordham Village. Later in the century, it would connect to Bedford Park Station.

The first Belmont Stakes, the oldest of the three U.S. Triple Crown races which was named in honor of August Belmont, Sr., was held at Jerome Park Racetrack and continued to be run there until 1890 when it was moved to nearby Morris Park Racecourse. Jerome Park Racetrack was also the home to the Champagne Stakes from its inaugural running in 1867 through 1889 and the Ladies Handicap, created in 1868 and which today is run at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens and is the oldest stakes race in the United States exclusively for fillies and mares.

In the spring of 1876, a group of polo enthusiasts founded the Westchester Polo Club at Jerome Park Racetrack. On May 13 of that year, the track was the site of the first outdoor polo match ever held in the United States.^[1]^[2]

It is alleged that Lord Randolph Churchill first met Jerome's daughter, Jennie Jerome, later to be courted and married, at the race park, but this allegation is false. As attested by Sir Winston Churchill in his biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill was never in America before his marriage, and the couple actually met in August 1873 at a ball on board the Imperial Russian cruiser "Ariadne" while it was moored at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.^[3]

The track closed on October 4, 1894 to make way for the Jerome Park Reservoir that was needed for the metropolitan New York City water supply system.^[4]^[5]

Thoroughbred stakes races at Jerome Park

Later land usage

The land that formed the western half of the Jerome Park Racetrack was turned into the Jerome Park Reservoir. The eastern half of the land was later used for:

Kingsbridge Armory
Walton High School
Lehman College
The Bronx High School of Science
Jerome Park - a park of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
DeWitt Clinton High School
High School of American Studies
Jerome Yard
Concourse Yard
High Pumping Station
Harris Field - a park of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
Tracey Towers, and Scott Tower- residential buildings built over the Jerome Yard.

During the 1920s, the eastern half of the land was considered as a possible site for the Museum of the Peaceful Arts.

Other defunct New York race tracks

References

^ "Playing Polo; The Games of the Polo Club, the Players and the Manner of Playing". The New York Times. May 14, 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
^ "History of the Equestrian Sport of Polo". sportpolo.com. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
^ "Lord Randolph Churchill". 1906.
^ "The Racing for the Week; Close at Jerome and Opening at Morris Park". The New York Times. October 1, 1894. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
^ "The End of Jerome Park; A Famous Race Course to be Turned into a City Reservoir". The New York Times. December 30, 1894. p. 20. Retrieved 2010-01-16.

McNamara, John "History in Asphalt: The Origin of Bronx Street and Place Names" (1993) Bronx County Historical Society ISBN 978-0-941980-16-6

40°52′42″N 73°53′43″W / 40.87833°N 73.89528°W / 40.87833; -73.89528

[1] "Playing Polo; The Games of the Polo Club, the Players and the Manner of Playing". The New York Times. May 14, 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-01-16.

[2] "History of the Equestrian Sport of Polo". sportpolo.com. Archived from the original on 2011-02-19. Retrieved 2010-01-16.

[3] "Lord Randolph Churchill". 1906.

[4] "The Racing for the Week; Close at Jerome and Opening at Morris Park". The New York Times. October 1, 1894. p. 8. Retrieved 2010-01-16.

[5] "The End of Jerome Park; A Famous Race Course to be Turned into a City Reservoir". The New York Times. December 30, 1894. p. 20. Retrieved 2010-01-16.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Belmont Stakes
Jerome Park	1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
Morris Park	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904
Belmont Park	1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 ~~1911~~ ~~1912~~ 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962
Aqueduct	1963 1964 1965 1966 1967
Belmont Park	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Saratoga	2024
Related	Top three finishers Broadcasters August Belmont Trophy "The Sidewalks of New York" "Theme from New York, New York" Triple Crown
Belmont Stakes Winners