Horse Race Track
Arlington Park
Location	Arlington Heights, Illinois
Owned by	Churchill Downs Inc.
Date opened	October 13, 1927
Race type	Thoroughbred
Website	www.arlingtonpark.com
Principal Races
Arlington Million (G1)
Beverly D. Stakes (G1)
Secretariat Stakes (G1)
American Derby (G2)

Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. A race track (or 'racetrack' or 'racing track' is a purpose-built facility for Racing of animals (eg Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois and a northwestern Suburb of Chicago. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks (six) than any other major metropolitan area. Arlington Park was the site of the first horse race with a million-dollar purse in 1981. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981

History

Arlington Park was founded by California businessman Harry D. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. "Curly" Brown who would later serve as president of Oriental Park Racetrack in Havana, Cuba. Oriental Park Racetrack in Marianao, Havana, Cuba was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility operated during the winter months by the Havana-American Havana ( IPA: aˈβana officially Ciudad de La Habana, is the Capital city, major port and leading The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la [1] The track officially opened in 1927 to 20,000 spectators. Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Jockey Joe Bollero, who later became a successful trainer, rode Luxembourg to victory in the first race ever run at Arlington. In Sport, a jockey is one who rides Horses in Horse racing or steeplechase racing primarily as a profession In Horse racing, a trainer is responsible for preparing a horse for races

The Arlington Park grandstand

Arlington was the first track to install a public-address system and employed the pioneering race caller Clem McCarthy to describe the action. A race caller is a public-address announcer or Sportscaster who describes the progress of a race either for on-track or radio and TV fans Clem McCarthy ( 9 September 1882 in Rochester New York - 4 June, 1962 in New York City, New York) was an American It added the first electric totalisator which allowed a credible tote board and decreased time between races, in 1933. In 1936 it added a photo finish camera. It introduced the first electric starting gate in 1940, the largest closed circuit TV system in all of sports in 1967 and the introduction of trifecta wagering in 1971. In Horse racing terminology a trifecta is a parimutuel bet in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first second and third in exact order

From Arlington Park Horse Race Track, on Memorial Day Weekend of year 2007

In 1981 Arlington was the home of the world's first million dollar race: The Arlington Million. The result of that race is immortalized in bronze at the top of the paddock at Arlington, where a statue of jockey Bill Shoemaker riding John Henry to a thrilling come-from-behind victory over 40-1 long shot The Bart celebrates thoroughbred racing's inaugural million dollar race.

Arlington entered a new era when Richard L. Duchossois led an Illinois investment group to purchase the track from its former owners and made a pledge to continue presenting championship racing. That was tested on July 31, 1985, when a small fire spread quickly out of control and completely destroyed the grandstand and clubhouse.

Unsure of the future of Arlington, the meet was moved to Hawthorne Race Course. History and information In 1890 Edward Corrigan, a Chicago businessman who owned the 1890 Kentucky Derby winner Riley (by Longfellow) Yet it was announced that the Arlington Million would still be held at Arlington Park. On August 25, 1985 they did just that by using temporary bleachers. The track fully reopened in 1989.

In 2000, Arlington reopened after a two-year shutdown. In September of that year, Churchill Downs Incorporated completed its purchase of the track. Churchill Downs Incorporated ( is the parent company of Churchill Downs.

Arlington hosted the 2002 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at their track. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races operated by Breeders' Cup Limited a company formed in 1982

Physical attributes

The track has a one mile and one-eighth dirt oval and a one mile turf oval. The track is capable of seating at least 50,000 with extension. There is stabling on the backstretch for over 2,000 horses. The Backstretch is the area in a Horse Racetrack where horses are Stabled and the training and daily work of maintaining the horses occurs

Arlington Park replaced its dirt course with a synthetic track prior to the opening of the 2007 season.

Racing

The following graded stakes are run at Arlington Park: Grade I

• Arlington Million
• Beverly D. Stakes
• Secretariat Stakes

Grade II

• American Derby
• Washington Park Handicap

Grade III

• Arlington Classic Stakes
• Arlington Handicap
• Arlington Matron Handicap
• Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes
• Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes
• Chicago Breeders' Cup Handicap
• Hanshin Cup Handicap
• Modesty Handicap
• Pucker Up Stakes
• Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap

Listed

• Isaac Murphy Handicap

References

• The Encyclopedia of Chicago (online version)
• Arlington Park: History