NEW YORK \u2014 New York City\u2019s last horse racing track, where Seabiscuit, Man O\u2019 War, Secretariat and other legendary thoroughbreds graced the winner\u2019s circle during the sport\u2019s heyday, is on its final stretch.<\/p>\n
After more than 130 years, the once grand Aqueduct track is set to run its last live races this weekend. The final race, appropriately titled, \u201cIt Was a Good Run,\u201d is posted for Sunday at 5:44 p.m.<\/p>\n
The track, located next to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, will remain open for betting on televised races \u2014 known as simulcasting \u2014 through Sept. 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of history here. Just so many good horses,\u201d said David Donk, a veteran horse trainer, in between afternoon races at Aqueduct earlier this month. \u201cIt\u2019s had its use. But, you know, times change. Everything changes in life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Racing is a contracting industry<\/p>\n
The end of the \u201cBig A\u201d comes amid increased competition for gambling dollars. Slot parlors, casinos, state lotteries and, more recently, legalized online and sports betting have all steadily eroded the allure of what once was dubbed the \u201csport of kings.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are roughly 75 thoroughbred tracks nationwide, compared to the more than 300 facilities offering some form of horse racing during the sport\u2019s Gilded Age peak in the late 1800s, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, an industry trade group.<\/p>\n
Among the other major tracks that have closed in recent years are Arlington Park<\/a> in Illinois, which was purchased by NFL’s Chicago Bears for a potential new stadium<\/a>, and Golden Gate Fields<\/a> in the San Francisco Bay Area.<\/p>\n \u201cFor over 100 years, thoroughbred racing was one of very few sports outlets you could legally bet on,\u201d said Tom Rooney, the association\u2019s president. \u201cWith the expansion of sports gambling, our sport will naturally condense and coalesce around a more pragmatic number of marquee tracks and locations, similar to other sports.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, a large chunk of Aqueduct’s hulking site, where a crowd of 75,000<\/a> celebrated Mass with Pope John Paul II in 1995, has for years been home to a Resorts World casino. The gambling hall began offering<\/a> live table games like blackjack, poker and craps earlier this year after winning a lucrative state license to operate a Las Vegas-style resort, and has plans for a glitzy, multibillion dollar expansion.<\/p>\n Some 9 miles (14 kilometers) east, just over the city line on suburban Long Island, the famed Belmont Park racetrack \u2014 home to the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes \u2014 is set to reopen in September after a roughly $550 million renovation<\/a>. State funding for that project was contingent on the New York Racing Association, which operates the tracks, returning Aqueduct’s more than 100 acres (40 hectares) to the state for future redevelopment and consolidating thoroughbred races at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course upstate.<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have gotten the money to rebuild Belmont and continue to race at Aqueduct. You have to make these choices,\u201d said Andy Serling, the track’s longtime television analyst and race handicapper. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll find anybody here that\u2019s not gonna tell you they\u2019re gonna miss Aqueduct, but we\u2019re also incredibly excited to be opening this beautiful new building at Belmont.\u201d<\/p>\n Aqueduct had humble beginnings <\/p>\n Originally opened in 1894, Aqueduct took its name from an old aqueduct running through the property that brought fresh water from Long Island to New York City.<\/p>\n It was a relatively modest operation until a dramatic reinvestment in 1959, which brought a dedicated subway stop, air-conditioned restaurants and lounges along with a roughly 35,000-seat grandstand complete with escalators, elevators and other amenities. The Associated Press, at the time, declared the transformed track \u201cthe world\u2019s most modern and luxurious horse plant.\u201d<\/p>\n Legendary Triple Crown winner Secretariat won the first race of his storied career at the track in 1972, then trotted out for a final farewell the following year.<\/p>\n Seattle Slew\u2019s big win at Aqueduct in 1977 served as the final tuneup en route to sweeping the Triple Crown later that year. And in 1994, Cigar launched his historic, 16-race winning streak at Aqueduct.<\/p>\n Top jockey remembers track fondly<\/p>\n Taking a break between races on a recent Friday afternoon, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez recalled how his decorated career began at Aqueduct.<\/p>\n The 54-year-old native of Puerto Rico said it took weeks going up against some of the top horse riders of the time for him to win his first career race. Velazquez has since notched more than 6,700 victories and holds the most purse earnings<\/a> of any jockey in North America.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where I developed my craft, where I learned everything that I know,\u201d Velazquez said after winning his first race of the day. \u201cThe years that I spent here made me the jockey that I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside the cavernous grandstand, longtime gambler Roy Brown reminisced how he tried getting into the business himself after one big win at the track.<\/p>\n The 68-year-old retiree from Queens said he hauled in around $60,000 on a \u201cpick-six\u201d in the late 1980s \u2014 a difficult bet in which a gambler has to pick the winning horse for six straight races.<\/p>\n The native of Jamaica, who had no experience in the industry outside of gambling, used some of his profits to buy two horses. But he and the thoroughbreds ended up having brief racing careers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s best to bet on them, not own them,\u201d Brown said with a laugh. \u201cIf you\u2019re really passionate about it, it\u2019s your best two minutes. Nothing’s sweeter than seeing your horse coming down the stretch or coming from behind and at the wire, knowing you got it.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n