Photo Gallery of Hialeah Park, America's one-time premier horse racing track - click on image to enter Photo Gallery by Don Boyd at pbase.com

Photo Gallery of Hialeah Park, America's one-time premier horse racing track - click on image to enter

Beautiful Hialeah Park is now in their fourth season of quarter horse racing that will run through February 17, 2013. I missed the first season due to a broken leg but I've been to the track several times in their second and third seasons and plan on attending several times this season. Free admission, free parking, reasonable prices for beverages and food and good times at the beautiful track - what more could you ask for?

Please visit our "Support Hialeah Park" gallery at:
https://pbase.com/donboyd/memories_support_hialeah_park

High stakes for Hialeah: Is the city's 1925 race track - a national landmark - in imminent danger?	1931 - Miami Jockey Club Race Track at Hialeah Park	Derby Day at Hialeah Park in 1931	Hialeah Park in its heyday (postcard)
The Clubhouse at Hialeah Race Track	Clubhouse Entrance to the Miami Jockey Club at Hialeah Park - postcard	Miami Jockey Club at Hialeah Park - postcard	Aerial view of Hialeah Park
1939 - horse racing fans at Hialeah Park	Crowd at Hialeah Park (postcard)	Widener Fountain and Club House lawn, Hialeah Park - postcard	Flamingos and nests at Hialeah Park - postcard
Miami Jockey Club at Hialeah Park - postcard postmarked 1938	1947 - Hialeah Race Track	Late 1940s - horse racing at Hialeah Race Track	Late 1940s - horse racing fans at Hialeah Race Track
Real Photo postcard of The Flamingos Nesting at Hialeah Park	1969 - a view of the gardens and grandstand at Hialeah Park

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Al lynch		29-May-2016 22:48
I grew up in Hialeah in the 50s 60s, 70s and 80s and remember my mother working for Pete and Cy's dry cleaners in the early 50's. She made deliveries to the jockeys for their colors and the trainers would put me on the backs of the Thorobreds while they walked them around to wam them up.

Horseman		30-Jan-2013 03:42
Hialeah was a horsemen's haven in the early 70's. The early dawn breeze whispering in the palms spooked our two year olds on the way to the track. My barn had an outside ring for hotwalking and we only walked the tracked horses under the shedrow if it rained hard. After completing the morning barn work, I would don my short blue Hialeah Park "information girl" uniform and answer questions from inside the Information Booth. I remember the smell & sight of the barn fire that burned & left carcasses of racehorses overnight. The 7th race afforded everyone an opportunity to take time to stretch & enjoy the clipped wing flamingos that would soar in a circle around the infield, with a little employee prompting. I always looked forward to the infield lake's canoe being freshly painted every year featuring the Widener winner's silk colors. I miss you, Hialeah.

Guest		09-Sep-2011 21:16
I grew up in Hialeah. My first house was 3511 Palm Avenue. That was 1952. I could hear them call the races from my porch. Needless to say I'm pretty good at picking the ponies. I was in Hialeah last year and revisited the track at the end of the racing season. I had forgotten how beautiful it is. I have only good wishes for it's future and have no doubt that it should remain intact for as long as it will stand. I'd love to see racing return. I know the new owners are trying. Maybe they need to get investors to buy up all the "stuff" around it so it can be developed into the attraction it used to be.

Don Boyd		31-Jul-2011 12:56
Thank you for posting, Ethel, and all the other posters too! The future of Hialeah Park looks a lot better now than it did from the time they stopped racing until starting with quarter horses two years ago this coming December. Don

Guest		31-Jul-2011 00:19
Ethel Barrett Crosby: I lived at 226 E. 15th st. from the time I was born in 1935 until getting married and moving to Carol City. As someone said the Hialeah track was the first place we took family to visit from the north. It is one of the last places left with beautiful architecture. There has to be someone with lots of money that will preserve it.

William 'Billy' Poirier		07-Jun-2011 17:33
Hope the park does'nt close. What a great place. I was born in Hialeah in1966. my family, "Poirier" used to go to the race track & speedway all the time. My dad, Harold did security at the racetrack in the 70's. It was a beautiful place with its trademark pink flamingos in the infield. as well as its tall pine trees surrounding it! Thanks for the awesome memories of our beloved Hialeah!

Guest		24-Nov-2009 13:04
I used to winter in Florida and gallop horses for a few well known trainers at Hialeah Park. I remember riding through the back gate from the barn area to the paddock and being amazed at how beautiful it was. fountains, the aviary and the ladies in the big flowered hats on race days were just amazing. This track has given too much to racing and Florida as a whole to let it just die.

Guest		02-Nov-2009 22:00
I have lived in Hialeah since summer of 1973. As I look back and remember the track was a beautiful and wonderful place to spend the day. The Architecture, trees, greenery and the fountains were amazing. A few of my friend took thier 15 and wedding pictures there. I have also been there when it closed down and it really brought tears to my eyes. This structure should not be teared down to make developers more money. I have very glad someone is trying to preserve it and bring back the races. Hialeah needs it.

Howard		07-Apr-2009 23:07
Someone already posted this comment: "I am older than most of you here. I lived with an aunt at 133 E. 40th street in Hialeah. I worked at A steak house on 36th called Bahama Steak house. I met a jockey, Kenny Godkins,at the track and we dated until he went back to New York. I moved to California, married and finished my education. Still treasure the memories of Hialeah!!" My family owned the Bahama Steak House! It was fun to read that someone remembers it. I ate there once or twice a week for years. The track was indeed a gorgeous place. I think the last time I was there was 1986, when Badger Land won the Flamingo Stakes.

Guest		03-Mar-2009 19:39
i went to my first thoroughbred race at hialeah, early in 1976. continued to go while living in south miami until 1978. saw honest pleasure, alydar and seattle slew race among others. will always have a place in my heart for this amazing piece of history. hope to visit before it is gone forever.

Guest		07-Jan-2009 21:58
I lived in Hialeah from 1955 to 1979. I remember my first trip to Hialeah Park was with my uncle who was a valet at the track in 1956. I was only 9 years old but I fell in love with the track. I attended races there from 1966 to about 1971. I last saw the barn area in 2006 and it almost brought tears to my eyes! What a job the politicians did on Hialeah Race Track. It was a grand old lady and I will remember the good 'ole days! Ken Griese kgriese@sc.rr.com

Guest		28-Oct-2008 16:55
I recently revisited Hialeah after being gone for 40 years. I was devastated to see the current condition of what was once one of the most beautiful places in south Florida, Hialeah Race Track. I grew up in Hialeah in the 50's and 60's and we always took visiting relatives and friends to see "the track" and I remember many days of hearing the race announcer while walking down Palm Ave from work at the old A&P on Palm and E. 32 St. Everything should be done to save this great facility and to restore it to it's once gtrand style and beauty. It's abhorant that developers destroy our once proud history for the sake of a few dollars to line their pockets. We need to do to them what Jesus did to the money changers in the temple, throw them out!

Dawn		23-Oct-2008 05:18
I worked and lived at beautiful Hialeah in the 90's. When I close my eyes and think of Hialeah, I can still see hall of fame trainer Woody Stevens sitting in his golf cart outside his barn. The best winters were spent here. Every Friday we would go across the street to Cohen's to cash our pay checks and then to Valencia for their ribs or next door for a Cuban sandwich! On an occassion we would stop by Los Establos for a fun night out. It is hard to believe that the barns that once stabled the greatest thoroughbreds of all time have been destroyed. I hope one day that Hialeah will re-open as the premier racing facility that it once was. Until then, I will hold my memories of this great place close to my heart. Te estrano, Hialeah! Te quiero, Hialeah!

Normy Cisneros-Acosta		04-Aug-2008 00:51
We came on the Mariel Boatlift on May 1st. 1980 and one of the first things things we went to do was visit the Hialeah Race Track. My father since he was a child in Cuba would dream of only two things: baseball and horse racing. He would have never imagined that he could actually visit the legendary Hialeah Race Track. We grew up in Hialeah, and we took our Hialeah Senior High School superlative pictures there and of course I took my Fifteens Birthday pictures there. So after graduating from UM with a Bachelors and a Masters Degree and becoming a succesful professional and meeting an amazing artist, after visiting various sites in Miami such as Vizcaya and Hotels in South Beach, there was no competition when we revisited our Hialeah Race Track and that is where we got married on May 11th, 2002. We took pictures with the statue of Citation and remembered times when we had visited the park and had even been front and center to watch Celia Cruz give a never forgetting performance. We are horse racing people and continue to visit GulfStream which is becoming more and more a copy of the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino and have no choice to go to the esthetically challenged Calder. But everytime we go to those places, we cannot wish enough that our Hialeah was still open because it was not only about the horse racing, but it was about visiting a beautiful historic park that the whole family could enjoy. For whoever is doubting the location of this racetrack, Calder is in a worst neighborhood and although Gulfstream sits beside Aventura, that is all it does because it really faces a trailer park in Hallandale (no offense to trailer parks) but people should not be afraid to go to Hialeah. I do not know the history of the park as well as the other people on this site, but my father surely does and I think it is a damn shame because of all the history and all the potential this place has because the other race tracks do not compare.

Pattie Benedix		29-Jul-2008 16:49
I grew up near Hialeah in the early 1960's & loved to watch the horses race. Hialeah is the most beautiful Horse Track in America. There is so much history intertwined with Hialeah. Many famous horses and jockeys raced there. Citation, Bold Ruler, Spectacular Bid, Alydar, Seattle Slew and Foolish Pleasure all won the Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah. The jockey list is just as impressive, Eddie Arcaro, Bill Showmaker, Jorge Velasques, Ron Turcotte, Angel Cordero Jr., Edgar Prago and many more. Plus, Secretariat stayed at Hialeah at the beginning of 1973, prior to winning the Triple Crown. I pray Hialeah is saved for the furture.

Guest		26-Jul-2008 21:38
What a trip down memory lane!! I am older than most of you here. I lived with an aunt at 133 E. 40th street in Hialeah. I worked at A steak house on 36th called Bahama Steak house. I met a jockey, Kenny Godkins,at the track and we dated until he went back to New York. I moved to California, married and finished my education. Still treasure the memories of Hialeah!!

Don Boyd		20-Jul-2008 01:58
There may be a saviour for Hialeah Park after all. See the "Save Hialeah Park" gallery for the news story or go to: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2008/07/19/0718hialeah.html Let's all pray this comes to fruition! Don

pam		08-Jul-2008 18:02
It is really a shame that they let Hialeah Park go. I grew up in Hialeah and my uncle had a barber shop across the street. I can remember going there with one of my friends, we would meet her mom there and eat breakfest and watch them walk the horses. I loved the flamingos. I left Hialeah when i was 20 in 1979, but i have great memories of growing up there. Pam

Don Cheatham		26-Jun-2008 22:31
I moved to 331 E 58th street Hialeah in 1950 I graduated from Hialeah Jr. High in 1952. I have a long history in Hialeah. I have been to the track many times. Don Cheatham

john gibson		06-Jun-2008 02:33
my name is John Gibson we lived by the old stck car track in the 50"s and my mother worked on Palm Av. in the Hialeah Park rest. and for Bill Kilgore in his resurant on 26 st. when the horses ran in the winter. As a kid I ran wild inside that wonderful place i work in the winter for Homer Pardue ,Woody Stephans, and others walking hots, I go back ther A few times a year just to pull back the memories.All the great horses of the day i saw and the great trainers,jockies that I knew still live inside those gates,for me. It's sad to see it close or the be torn down by delevopers. It was to whole support for Hialeah from the 20's until the late sixties. the Donn family of Gulfstreanm tried for years to kill racing there and finaly did it in the 70's. Old man Don wanted to buy it from Gen Mori, whose father had it for thiry years an before John Brunnetti bought it,and tear it down Mori and Donn hated each other because Hialeah had the best dates to race and the biggest stables and great three year old. After Hialeah close for the season all left to go to Kentucky for the Derby and that left only the smaller stables and no big name horses to run at Gulfstream. sorry for spilloing all those memories but it's just one more sad story of how we here in s.Florida don't kep out past, we tear down and build on top of many historic sites. shoojohn@aol.com thanks for this site and while i'm here there is a pic of my mother taken in 1955 at a resturant in the old Pure station at 29 st. and Okee.Rd.

Robbin P. Learned		20-May-2008 18:02
I hope sincerely, that at the very least, The Clubhouse, and The Grandstand, at Hialeah Park, are left alone, But for all of us, and old times sake, I also hope that the track oval, and Infield, with the lake, and the Flamingos, are spared. I would absolutely cry, or be very upset, If one day, I see Condos, or a Shopping Center there. We don't need that !!!! Hopefully, MR. Don, and others, in charge, will by some Miracle, not do that !!!! This is History, and Culture, not only for us, but for future generations, to enjoy, and learn from. Robbin P. Learned

Robbin P. Learned		20-May-2008 17:47
Don, I grew up in Hialeah, and have been here, all of my 57 years, and I would most certainly agree with Alex Fuentes, and all of you writing in about Hialeah Park. Such a shame, how it went down the drain,such a Beautiful Place and Historical. It put Hialeah on the map, and started out Hialeah toward civilization, as compared to how it was then, with Alligators, Snakes, Mosquitoes, and Swamp, all around the Track. I Hot Walked Horses At Hialeah Park, when I was just out of High school, at Hialeah High. Good Luck, with your Efforts, Alex, so nice of you to fight for Hialeah Park, The Most Beautiful Race Course in the world, I Salute You Sir, and as always, Also Mr. Don Boyd. Thank you Gentlemen !!!!!!! Robbin P. Learned

Bill Smith		01-May-2008 22:37
Graduated HHS 1971. Worked at the track as a tram driver/tour guide. I just found out it's closing. What a shame. Some great memories.

Guest		17-Apr-2008 02:36
Hi,my name is kathy cassity and my dad is james cassity who rode at hialeah in the late 40's to early 60's. i had a lot of his win pictures stolen. would you have any idea how to get copies of any that he would have gotten from hialeah?? any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks somuch, kathy

Alex Fuentes		10-Apr-2008 01:13
Hi Don! I just wanted thank you once again for keeping this site alive. It is amazing. We are still working to save this amazing place. We have some exciting events and projects coming up for Save Hialeah Park. We will keep you posted. Thank you!!! Alex Fuentes Save Hialeah Park Inc. www.savehialeahpark.com www.myspace.com/savehialeahpark

Roberta Perry Hughes		07-Feb-2008 23:36
Don...Thank you so much, for this link! I won several vintage post cards, & post card folders, on the Hialeah & Tropical Race Tracks. It's great, to see images of some that I have yet to find. I intend to follow up, on the links to save Hialeah Race Track, & the flamingos habitat, which, as you know, from your Old Miami Memories Galleries' comments section, I have been standing-on-my-head, trying to learn what's going on, & the future of "my" big pink birds. Thank you for this, & also, to Joanne, for the links she posted, to help me join in the fight, to preserve this wonderful treasure, & save those wonderful birds. Roberta, Flamingo fanatic, nostalgia buff, & former Miamian, now in the Peach state

Carl		02-Dec-2007 18:41
1950-1965. I remember one day in 1955 (age 10) I played hookey, and snuck into the park with some friends, found a row boat, and rowed to the island where the flamingos were. Had the whole park to myself. Felt like Hucklebery Finn.

Herb Sever		27-Oct-2007 03:33
My brother, Ted, sent me this link and am I glad to get it. We were raised in Hialeah. Our family moved from Miami to Hialeah in 1937. We lived on E. 9th St. and E. 15th St. before moving to Palm Ave. and 26th Street in 1940. There were 10 children in our family and we all remember parking cars for the races o n our property which was one block from the stable gate. Our parents sold the old homeplace in about 1965, when my father retired and moved to No. Georgia. In 1948, I hopped a horse train and went to New York and worked on the tracks there for a couple of months.

Steve Kroeger		06-Jul-2007 23:21
1968 - 1970 used to go to the track with Woody Easley to see his uncle and mess with the horses and do a little betting. By the way his Uncle was the great trainer Woody Steven's. Used to get into the barns and paddock areas to look at these spectacular animals.

Guest		30-Jun-2007 04:43
This is a beautiful race track! At least I had the chance to visit and to take pictures of my daughter and my niece for their Quince's Birthday. I hope it can be save since its part of a unique small town when I moved in the early 60's there and now its a Metropolis of a City! WOW! Gracias, Ofelia

Ann Clark GatlinAnn		11-Jun-2007 21:42
My first apartment when I moved away from home (in Miami Springs) at age 20 was at 35 W. 32nd St. It was a furnished studio apt., and rent was $85.00 per month, and that included the gas and water. I loved living by Hialeah Race Track, and regret never seeing a race there. But I met a couple of jockeys who rented in the same apt. complex and they showed me through some of the horse stables and around the grounds. A couple of years later,in 1971, I married. My husband and I moved into a 1 bedroom apt. and lived there for 3 more years until we had saved enough money to put down on a small house (900 sq. ft.) in Hollywood. Those were wonderful days. Thanks so much for jogging my memory of our early years!

Guest		06-Jun-2007 16:49
It is such a shame that this has happened to this Grand Old Place.. I can only think of what the atmosphere was like back in the day.. Basically I think it was and is the way horse racing is supposed to be... I hope that Hialeah gets slots or some one buys the place and tries to restore it... Having gone to the dismail tracks of today, I wonder how many new fans we could generate if we were able to go to the event of the races....I wonder if the community could by the track and develop it around the return of the horses....

Don Boyd		23-May-2007 21:11
Thank you Alex for writing. I hope everyone supports Alex's efforts to keep Hialeah Park from being developed with condos, warehouses and Lord knows what else instead of being preserved. Please visit his sites at: <http://www.myspace.com/savehialeahpark and <http://www.savehialeahpark.com

Alex Fuentes		15-May-2007 18:43
Thank you so much for this site. I am fascinated with Hialeah's dynamic history and all those that lived here in it’s hey day. It is unfortunate that the original Hialeans are long gone. I do however foresee Hialeah’s renaissance in the not too distant future. At least I will be a part of that. Thanks again and please keep this site up. Alex Fuentes Citizens to Save Hialeah Park Hialeah, FL E-mail: Hialeah2200@aol.com www.myspace.com/savehialeahpark www.savehialeahpark.com

Guest		26-Apr-2007 05:27
Thank you for this beautiful page and photos of Hialeah AND of our beloved Hialeah Park (Race Track). We are currently on a race to save Hialeah Park. Visit us at: www.SaveHialeahPark.com On MySpace at: www.MySpace.com/savehialeahpark. Feel free to contact me at: herrera101@aol.com. Milly Herrera Hialeah High Class of 1978

David Hartgrove		20-Apr-2007 19:31
I graduated from HHS in '65. More than a few times I skipped 6th period to go to the track and bet what few bucks I had to spare. I was never a big bettor and thus, never a big winner but the beauty of the track, the people watching and standing there on the rail cheering on horses like, "Frankie's Nod", "Can She Run", and "Mr. Brick" were a highlight of a misspent youth.

Guest		14-Apr-2007 19:05
Gloria Click Zimmerman Mayberry, 1943 MiHi grad. 315 E. 13 St. was our 1945 Hialeah address after returning from WWII. We rented rooms for Hialeah fans and made more than our own rent payment. It was a very small 3 br house. One bus ran into Miami. The road by our house was dirt. There was a guest drive-through each year that our family enjoyed. The flamingoes, the beautiful grounds. I lived at 1620 S. W. 23 St. in high school, so the Dog Track was closer, but we still enjoyed showing visitors the splendor of Hialeah before Gulfstream.

bbill		27-Mar-2007 21:23
Thanks so much for doing this. A definite trip down memory lane. I graduated from HML in 1976. Went to DuPuis and Palm Springs Jr. I lived in the "unincorporated area" of Hialeah. It was a great time, and a great place to grow up. It is startling how far downhill it has gone. Bill Cassara

Ed Puccio		18-Dec-2006 04:13
All of the old stables on Palm avenue from 32-21 St are gone!

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