Hialeah

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Hialeah History

The Hialeah Racetrack has undergone several transforms since it's opening on 15 January 1925. It was founded in 1924 by Joseph Smoot, Glenn Curtiss and James Bright which set up the Miami Jockey Club, and built the racetrack and grandstand. It was initially made up of a clubhouse, administrative building, paddock area, and twenty-one stables.

But in 1926, it was brutally damaged in a hurricane, and in 1930, it was sold to Joseph Widener, who appointed the architect Lester Geisler to embark upon what was to be the foremost modification of the race course. The newly revamped Hialeah Racetrack was opened to the public on 14 January 1932, and the racegoers were met with concrete and steel buildings in place of the original wooden structures. Extreme landscaping took the form of hundreds of royal palms and coconut trees towering above the enthusiast's heads, swaying towards a lake contained by the track infield that was stained pink with flamingos that had been imported from Cuba.

It's no wonder it's been vindicated as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, becoming a playground for the rich and famous. It even justified the construction of a station specifically built by the Seaboard Airline Railway to accommodate the folk who travelled by special trains from Palm Beach to attend the races.

In fact, Widener and Geisler did more than restore a hurricane battered racetrack. Little did they know, but they had created what was to be become a designated sanctuary for the American Flamingo.

The aptly named Flamingo Stakes was held at the track, which played a vital role for the Kentucky Derby 3-year-old horses, and also the revered Widener Handicap ? a key race for horses four years and older.

On 2 March 1979, Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was closed to the public in 2001.

Hialeah Contact Info

Physical Address: 2200 East 4th Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33056

Postal Address: PO Box 158
Hialeah, FL 33056