WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JULY 5, 2018 21
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The match race that put Woodhaven
on the horse racing map
PRESENTED
BY THE WOODHAVEN CULTURAL
AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PROJECTWOODHAVEN@GMAIL.COM
Just over 200 miles to the north of
Queens is the beautiful town of
Saratoga Springs. There you will
fi nd 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 Oct. 15, 1821, and it
was the fi rst 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 fl ocked 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 seventh 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
aft er 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 4-mile race, Purdy was
pulled from the crowd for the crucial
second heat.
Purdy and Eclipse narrowly beat Sir
Henry in that match and both horses,
by now completely exhausted, fought
each other to the fi nish in the tiebreaker.
And in the end, it was Eclipse and
the North that were triumphant.
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, 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) aft er a
brave young soldier who lost his life
in World War I.
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.
link
/www.racingmuseum.org
/www.racingmuseum.org
