The racecourse of Wheeling Downs was situated at Wheeling Island in the state of West Virginia. Its inaugural thoroughbred race meeting was held on 2nd September 1937 and it maintained good flat racing, and even extending its appeal by launching harness races on 14th September 1961. All of that success went up in flames when a fire destroyed the grandstand on 20th December 1962. It meant that racing lapsed for a number of years. The new 4 furlong oval track, with separate 5 furlong and 7 furlong chutes, sharing a 100 metre home straight, reopened for both flat and harness racing in 1968, with the additional bonus of a new 2500 seater grandstand. By 16th February 1969 the final thoroughbred race was run, leaving the track to offer a programme of harness races. It closed its gates to harness racing for the final time on 16th February 1975. It was then transformed into a prominent greyhound racing track, holding its inaugural meeting on 18th August 1976, and still continues to operate today.
