Emeryville’s Horse Racetrack

Emeryville’s Horse Racetrack. . , In 1859, Edward Wiard purchased a 115-acre plot in what later became Emeryville and built a horse racetrack that covered most of his property. The Oakland Trotting Park opened on the Fourth of July 1871. The track was one mile long and featured a rudimentary grandstand and stables for about 300 horses., "Trotting" referred to a popular style of horse racing, also known as "harness racing", where the jockey rode in a two-wheeled cart called a "sulky" pulled by a "trotting horse", as opposed to thoroughbred racing where the jockey rode in a saddle on the horse's back., The height of the Oakland Trotting Park's glory came on October 25, 1879, when 3,000 attendees, including former President Ulysses S. Grant, witnessed the famous trotting horse St. Julien breaking the one-mile world record with a time of 2 minutes, 123/4 seconds. The occasion was memorialized by an inscription on the judge's stand, which remained until the track was demolished in 1915., Wiard lost the racetrack to foreclosure in the early 1880s and died in 1885. In 1886, it was purchased by Judge James Mee of San Francisco, who operated it until his death in 1894. It was then leased to Thomas H. Williams, President of the California Jockey Club, who made ambitious plans to rebuild it., All the buildings were replaced, except the judge's stand with the inscription commemorating St. Julien's victory. The track was resurveyed and levelled, the stables were reconstructed with 344 stalls in addition to private barns, and a magnificent new grandstand styled after a Japanese pagoda was erected. It seated 3,000 spectators and had 20 "book makers' stands"., The renamed "New California Jockey Club" featured thoroughbred racing and held its grand reopening on October 24, 1896. Local newspapers hailed it as "the most modern and complete [racetrack] in the world"., The racetrack operated for another 15 years. However, in 1911 California banned gambling on horse racing, prompting the closure of many tracks. The New California Jockey Club's last race took place on February 15, 1911, won by the horse Massa with jockey Roy Selden in the saddle. A record crowd came from all over the state to say good-bye to the sport of horse racing in California. After the final race, the band struck up the strains of "Auld Lang Syne"., The racetrack hosted a variety of events after the demise of horse racing, including auto, airplane, and motorcycle racing. It also served briefly as the venue for the Alameda County Fair until that institution relocated in 1912 to its permanent home at the former Pleasanton Trotting Park. Finally, the venerable Emeryville racetrack was demolished in 1915. (It burned to the ground shortly before demolition was complete.), Following the track's demolition, the land was subdivided for industrial development, and Hollis Street was put through, connecting north and south Emeryville for the first time. California finally legalized parimutuel betting in 1933, and gambling on horse racing was reinstated, but by that time all traces of the old Emeryville racetrack had long since disappeared. ,