Families Bringing Thoroughbred Horse Racing to Illinois: Families in Thoroughbred Horse Racing

By Roger Salvino

Although horse racing started in the seventeenth century, high-level horse racing didnt come to Illinois until 1909. The history of horse racing in Illinois was largely due to families in the horse racing industry. Included is some of the glorious history of famous tracks: Hawthorne, Arlington, and Sportsmans Park.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Oct 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781504388252

Roger Salvino

From the age of reasoning, Roger enjoyed horse stories on the radio (Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy) and movie houses (Gene Autry, Roy Rogers). He grew up in a time when horses were a part of everyday life, regularly seen drawing carriages, used for peddler’s wagons, for riding, and as pets. His father had a pet horse that he rode and used in the family business, then became a trainer and owner of Thoroughbred horses; thus Roger’s interest in Thoroughbred horse racing was inherited. He felt that the beginning of racing in Illinois was unknown and untold, so he wanted to research it a vocalize it. Researching, he found that families were the ones who brought horse racing to Illinois. Roger Salvino races horses and lives in Cicero, IL.

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Copyright © 2017 Roger Salvino.

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-8824-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-8825-2 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 09/29/2017

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Horse racing in America dates back to the 17th century. Illinois has had horse racing since the 1830s, at tracks located in Chicago, Northwest Indiana, Brighton Park, Dexter Park (at 42nd and Halsted), Garfield Park, Harlem Race Track. In 1883, five hundred businessmen established Washington Park Race Track for $150,000 at 61st Street and Cottage Grove. The 1883 American Derby was run at Washington Park— purse 50,000. Winner: Boundless.

In 1890, Edward Corrigan, the owner of