22 MARCH 5, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The history of the Union Course Racetrack in Woodhaven
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN CULTURAL AND
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Just over 200 miles to the north of Queens is the
beautiful town of Saratoga Springs. There you
will find one of the oldest tracks in operation,
Saratoga Race Course, where they’ve been holding
the Travers Stakes every summer since 1864.
Saratoga Springs is also home to the National
Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, an incredible
collection of racing memorabilia and artwork.
And one corner of the museum is dedicated to the
Union Course Racetrack that used to dominate the
landscape of Woodhaven, going back to a time
when the name Woodhaven didn’t exist.
The Union Course opened nearly 200 years ago,
on October 15, 1821, and it was the first skinned,
or dirt, racetrack in the United States (all other
racetracks were grass).
It quickly became a hot spot for racing and soon
became the site of one of the earliest (and most
famous) races between Northern and Southern
bred horses.
Most notable was the race between Eclipse
(North) and Sir Henry (South). As most of the
racing champions were bred in the South, Eclipse
was not given much chance. Over 60,000 people
flocked to the area to watch this duel, including
the current Vice-President Daniel Tompkins, Andrew
Jackson (governor of Florida at the time, a
few years away from becoming our 7th President),
and Aaron Burr (who shot and killed Alexander
Hamilton in an infamous duel).
The Union Course corner boasts a beautiful
oil painting of Eclipse (painted by Alvan Fischer
shortly after the race). This painting depicts Samuel
Purdy, the legendary jockey who rode Eclipse
to victory.
Purdy wasn’t supposed to be in the race at all
with a younger jockey selected to run the 9-year old
Eclipse in the great race. But aft er Sir Henry bested
Eclipse in the fi rst four-mile race, Purdy was pulled
from the crowd for the crucial second heat.
Legend has it that he showed up just to watch the
race but when called upon, he removed his coat
and had his jockey’s outfit on underneath!
Purdy and Eclipse narrowly beat Sir Henry in
that second match and both horses, by now completely
exhausted, fought each other to the finish
in the tiebreaker. And in the end, it was Eclipse
and the North who was triumphant. They would
briefly name a street in Purdy’s honor.
These North-South races would continue to be
popular and even feed on the growing animus
between the two regions that would develop into
war within a few decades.
The Union Course Racetrack in Woodhaven
actually ended up playing a part in the Civil War,
serving as an army encampment for several
years.
Even though the track has been closed for
nearly 150 years, there are still a few reminders
that have been left behind. For example, one of
the most illustrious figures in Union Course history,
John Snedeker, is buried in the old cemetery
behind All Saints Episcopal Church on 96th Street.
Interestingly, the museum (based on old news clippings)
spells his name Snedicor.
One can also still see touches of the old racetrack,
A group of residents on Clemente Court, which lays on one of the turns of the old Union Course
Racetrack.
most notably on Clemente Court, the hidden little
street on 82nd Street right off of Atlantic. The
boundaries of the track itself were 78th and 84th
Streets (on the east and west ends) and Jamaica
Avenue and Atlantic/Rockaway on the north and
south.
The driveway of Clemente Court lays on the far
turn of the old course; when walking down the
curve of that driveway you are walking the turn
of a track that opened nearly two centuries ago!
In fact, when they tore down the track and
integrated the land with the rest of the neighborhood,
one street pattern had to be shoehorned in
to make everything fit. That missing piece was
later named Whiting Square (84th Street and 91st
Avenue) after a brave young soldier who lost his
life in World War 1.
We happily recommend a visit to the National
Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, not only for
our Woodhaven connection but for the entirety
of their collection of racing history. Visit www.
racingmuseum.org for directions and more
information.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or old photographs
of “Our Neighborhood: The Way It Was” that you
would like to share with our readers, please write
to the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs
mailed to us will be carefully returned to you upon
request.
The Union Course / Woodhaven corner at the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in Saratoga Springs.
American Eclipse painted by Alvan Fischer in
1823. Standing with Eclipse is Samuel Purdy,
the jockey, and owner Cornelius Van Ranst.
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