INGLESIDE TURF CLUB RACECOURSE

Aintree racecourse;Ascot;Ayr;Bangor;Bath;Beverley;Brighton;Carlisle;Cartmel;Catterick;Cheltenham Festival;Chepstow;Chester;Doncaster St Leger;Epsom Derby;Exeter racecourse;Fakenham;Folkestone;Fontwell Park;Glorious Goodwood;Hamilton Park;Haydock Park;Hereford Racecourse;Hexham;Huntingdon;Kelso;Kempton Park;Leicester;Lingfield;Ludlow;Market Rasen;Musselburgh;Newbury Racecourse;Newcastle;Newmarket;Newton Abbot;Nottingham;Perth;Plumpton;Pontefract Racecourse;Redcar;Ripon;Salisbury;Sandown Park;Sedgefield;Southwell;Stratford;Taunton;Thirsk;Towcester;Uttoxeter;Warwick;Wetherby;Wincanton;Windsor;Wolverhampton;Worcester;Yarmouth;York Ebor

The Phoenix Arizona racetrack at Arizona Downs first held racing in 1949 near Scotsville and operated under the name of Ingleside Turf Club. Construction on the 40 acre site near East Thomas Road, between 61st and 64th, began in early 1948 and was led by J H Patterson. After its inaugural meeting it was in full swing by the Spring of 1949, even having its own low-profile Derby. Just 2 years later, in the Spring of 1951 it re-launched as Arizona Downs, which is shown on the map below. The track was in direct competition with another Arizona racetrack, Turf Paradise. In 1954 Arizona Downs planned to enlarge its current track, but it became clear that there would be a conflict of racing interest with the nearby Turf Paradise, whose owners were planning to build a new track. Things were not going as planned at Arizona Downs by October 1956, so drastic action had to be taken. It would clearly not be beneficial for both to host meetings on the same day, so the compromise solution was that they should share a racetrack, Turf Paradise, on 19th Avenue and Bell, each operating for half of the racing year. This was agreed and worked for a number of years until Turf decided to try to introduce a new company into the equation. This new company would try to run racing at Turf Paradise in the half year that would have been allocated to Arizona Downs. And so to court! In 1957 the owner of the Ingleside racecourse liquidated all the physical assets at the course, bringing the era of Ingleside and Arizona Downs to an end.

Local Patrons Ingleside Turf Club

Racing, in the form of both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing, continued at Arizona Downs (Yavapai Downs) until the programme lapsed in 2010. The site was sold for 5.5 million dollars in 2013 to Gary Miller, and he opened a speedway track on the site, although within 18 months the site had been relisted for sale. It took almost 4 years, and a lowering of the price to 3.22 million dollars, before it was sold to J&J Enterprises who set about the task of returning live racing to Arizona Downs in 2018.

The map below dates from 1955 and shows Arizona Downs Race Track, which had previously been named Ingleside Turf Track.
Course today The racecourse closed in 2010
If you have photos, postcards, racecards. badges, newspaper cuttings or book references about the old course, or can provide a photo of how the ground on which the old racecourse stood looks today, then email johnwslusar@gmail.com

ISBN 978-0-9957632-0-3

652 pages

774 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-1-0

352 pages

400 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-2-7

180 pages

140 former courses

ISBN 978-0-9957632-3-4

264 pages

235 former courses

Copies of the above books are only available by emailing johnwslusar@gmail.com stating your requirements, method of payment (cheque payable to W.Slusar) or Bank transfer, and the address where the book(s) should be sent.
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