Fairmount Park Racetrack facts for kids
| Horse Race Track | |
|---|---|
Quick facts for kids Fairmount Park |
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| Location | Collinsville, Illinois |
| Date opened | 1925 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred (current), harness (through 1999) |
| Website | Fairmount Park web site |
| Principal Races | |
| St. Louis Derby (no longer run) | |
Fairmount Park Racetrack is a special place where horse racing happens. It is located in Collinsville, Illinois, which is near the big city of St. Louis. At Fairmount Park, you can watch amazing Thoroughbred horses race.
This racetrack is one of only three places in Illinois where you can see live horse races. It's also the only one outside the Chicago area. Until 1999, Fairmount Park also hosted Standardbred harness racing, but that type of racing no longer takes place there.
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History of Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park first opened its doors in 1925. This means it has been a place for horse racing for almost 100 years!
The racing track itself is a big oval made of dirt. It is one mile (about 1.6 kilometers) long. There are also straight sections called "chutes" for races of different lengths. These include races that are six furlongs long or 1¼ miles long.
Ownership Changes Over Time
Over the years, Fairmount Park has had a few different owners. In 1969, a company called Ogden Corporation bought the track. Then, in the year 2000, Ogden sold it to Bill Stiritz. He was the chairman of a well-known company called Ralston Purina at the time.
How People Bet on Races
Fairmount Park offers different ways for people to bet on horse races. You can bet on races happening right there at the track. This is called "live racing."
You can also bet on races happening at other tracks across the country. This is called "simulcast wagering." It means the races are shown live on screens at Fairmount Park.
Off-Track Betting Locations
Fairmount Park also runs special places called "off-track betting" (OTB) facilities. These are places away from the main racetrack where people can go to bet on races. Fairmount Park has four OTB locations in different Illinois cities: Alton, Carbondale, Springfield, and Sauget, Illinois. There used to be a fifth one in Grayville, Illinois, but it closed in 2007.
Challenges and Changes
In the past, Fairmount Park used to have many more racing days. For example, in 1997, they had 232 days of live racing in a year! That's a lot of races.
However, things changed when riverboat casinos opened in the St. Louis area. These casinos offered other ways for people to gamble and have fun. Because of this, fewer people came to the racetrack. The number of racing days at Fairmount Park went down to about 90 days per year. Races are usually held on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Plans for the Future
In 2007, the people who manage Fairmount Park had an idea to make the track more popular. They wanted to build a large outdoor concert venue, called an amphitheater, at the track. It would have seats for 20,000 people.
They also hoped to bring back more live racing, including harness racing. For these plans to happen, they needed state lawmakers to approve allowing slot machines at the track. Places that have both a racetrack and a casino are sometimes called "racinos."
The track's general manager explained that the prize money for horse owners at Fairmount Park was much lower than at similar tracks in nearby states like Kentucky and Indiana. This made it harder to attract the best horses and racers. Even though lawmakers didn't approve slots right away, the track was allowed to continue with 90 days of racing, hoping for future changes.
