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There was a time when horse racing tracks were built with grace and elegance in an effort to make the track itself an attraction.  Those days seem to be long gone.  More and more race tracks seem to be less about racing and more about slot machines and other casinos games.

The glory days of thoroughbred racing tracks in Florida is best embodied by Hialeah Park.  To this day a life sized statue of the Triple Crown winner Citation as a tribute to the good old days.  The track opened in 1925, but by 1931 it was renovated into an elegant racing venue and dubbed “the racetrack that made Miami famous.”

Hialeah and the rest of the racing industry soon changed after the appearance of competition from tracks like Calder and Gulfstream.  In addition, the public interest in horse racing as a spectator sport began to taper off as well.  Hialeah’s last race in 2001 only had 3,280 people in attendance.

Now, horse tracks are not even about horses anymore.  About five years ago South Florida parimutuals won the right to offer slot machines.  Slot machines have long been looked at as the savior of the horse racing industry, but the truth is many of these venues are really a venue to showcase slot machines, while horse racing are and added bonus; like some expensive side show.

However horse racing is looked at as an American tradition and there are several states that are fighting to keep that tradition alive.  Allowing online wagering and slot machines are all efforts to keep horse racing alive until, hopefully, the public regains interest and classic venues like Hialeah get a second birth.

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