The one destination I really wanted to get to on this 3-week road trip was Evansville, home of the Otters of the Frontier League. This city is not easy to get to from NYC and if I could avoid flying here next year, all the better. What I did not know is that Evansville is right on the border with Kentucky, and just across the Ohio River is Ellis Park Racetrack. My wife really enjoys the horses, and when I found out there were some races on Sunday afternoon, we headed over.
Parking and admission are free, and it was dollar day, which meant hot dogs were a buck and beers were $2. That's all you really need to know, and let me tell you, the locals knew. It was busy here, as you might expect with a racetrack in Kentucky.
Still, I feel like if you've been to one racetrack, you've been to them all. There aren't a lot of unique aspects, usually just a grandstand, a paddock, some concessions, and the parimutuel area. Here, there were box seats that you could purchase, though most fans settled with the benches above.
I did find the sign below interesting; the track was initially called Dade Park when it opened in 1922. In 1954, the track was renamed to honor Dade Park's longtime owner, James C. Ellis. I always enjoy historic venues and this is certainly one, though not nearly as old as some other tracks, with Saratoga having opened in 1863.
We stayed for five races, most of which were pretty unexciting. A lot of scratches means that in some cases, only five or six horses were running.
Some of the races were on the dirt track, while others were on the turf. I always appreciate how things move so quickly between races. It was too hot for us to meander over to the paddock, so we just sat in the shade and enjoyed our cheap beers and hot dogs.
There is nothing like an afternoon at the racetrack and I hope to see more of these places as I've pretty much run out of ballparks and hockey rinks that are worth traveling to. There are about 75 thoroughbred tracks and 30 harness tracks in the USA alone, so this could be a future road trip plan, especially since my wife and daughter both enjoy it.
Best,
Sean
This is Mike B., one of your Twitter followers. Ellis Park actually is on the same side of the Ohio River as Evansville, IN. The Kentucky border is about 1,000 feet north of the race track and the river and bridge is about 1/3 of a mile south. This is a strange quirk and the original owners of the track decided to put it north of the river.
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