By Len Chapel
“And they’re off…..”
I can still remember those words as they reverberated loudly throughout the grandstand and clubhouse of the old Bel Air Race Track. Gone are the track, the horses, the people, the trumpeter’s ‘Call to post’, and the announcer’s ‘call’ of the race from “And they’re off” to “Down the stretch they come…”. Those days ended for me in 1957 when we moved, and for everyone else in 1966 when the track closed, but the memories endure.
In the mid-1950s, I was just a kid…born in 1946…trying to earn a little spending money to buy the niceties of that era that all kids wanted, and one of the ways I did so was by hawking newspapers at the race track. I can vividly remember my ‘chant’ of “Hey, late Nine-Star News (the defunct News American) and Sunpaper here!”, hoping to sell a newspaper for five-cents…one I had paid three-cents for from the supplier that brought them up from Baltimore.
We would come home from school and head straight to the race track…a short walk from Bill Hicks’ Lone Pine Trailer Park where we lived. The park is long gone, as is ‘Pop’ Hicks. His brother, Henry, was the caretaker for the Bel Air Race Track during the long off-season. He, too, is gone. The only other thing that happened at the race track was the Harford County Fair held each August, but that is another story left for another day.
Most of the paper-sellers were old…or they seemed so to me at the time…and due to the pecking order, they were always the first in line to get newspapers for resale when the truck arrived. These same older ones also commanded the ‘prime’ selling locations. I remember some of them running me out of the clubhouse…they wanted the big-tippers to themselves…so I was left to bottom-feed on the poorer of the bettors…the ones who would give me a dime and then stand and wait for their nickel change.
There were quite a few ‘sellers’, but my best memories were of just three; my older brother, John, and two Rexroth brothers, Ralph and Robert. The older ones that chased me/us off the prime locations are of no concern…now…so I don’t remember their names. No need to. We youngsters did our best to earn what we could during the short amount of racing dates awarded to the track, and we did fairly well…even at two-cents/paper.
One instance, even after all these years, stands out over all the others. I was positioned at the base of the walkway ramp located at the western end of the grandstand selling late edition newspapers containing the scratch sheets for all the tracks. Folks were buying them before rushing to get another one of the tracks for the night racing. This one particular day, a gentleman came by me and bought a newspaper, handing me a dollar. As I dug for his change, he said, “Keep it, son. I had a good day.” He left. I smiled. I had just hit the lottery!
On more than one occasion, as I headed home I stopped by a house on Toll Gate Road where a Black family lived. They made some extra money selling parking spots and running a food stand that catered to the track’s patrons. It was hard to pass by the delightful aroma of one of my favorite foods…fried chicken. So there I was, buying fried chicken with my earned money…and dinner waiting on me less than a scant quarter-mile away. So what…I was a growing boy, and those folks did chicken right!
Some days we had to wait on the newspapers to arrive, and on those rare occasions we slipped into the grandstand to watch a race or two. We even bet on a race now and again…amongst ourselves…a nickel. If no one’s horse won, we each got our money back. Many a grey I picked, not always winning either. Happens.
I can remember horses ‘breaking down’ during a race. One such time was in front of the grandstand, and they euthanized the horse then and there…not with a needle like they do today. Different kinds of ‘shots’ were used in those days.
Memorabilia from the race track exists from photographs to the furlong poles to sections of the railing. The track dump was a playground for us kids, as was the water storage on top the hill beyond the third turn. Many Harford Countians ate Pennsylvania mushrooms grown in the horse manure generated at the track, too. Ahhh, the smell of memorabilia.
The Bel Air Race Track was in operation for nearly one-hundred years until its closing, and the song says it well…“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot”. The land is now occupied by the Mall, the stores behind the Mall, and the condos behind that.
I miss the track. I miss the horses. I miss the people. I miss the trumpeter’s ‘call to post’. I miss the announcer’s call. I wonder if they ever missed me.
Thanks for the great article. I really enjoy the stories about Harford County in the ‘good old days’ and yours really brought them to life.
Thanks for the kind words.
I remember the race track. my grand father was a big contributer to there support. I also remember it closeing, being used for car stunt drivers, one group called them self’s the Hell drivers.
That would have been Jack Kochman’s Hell Drivers. (http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/alfa/45/helldrivers/hell03.htm) I saw them at the York Fair, along with Joie Chitwood’s Thrill Show back in the ’50s.
I spoke with Eleanor (Hicks) Edwards yesterday; it was her father, Henry Hicks, that was the caretaker of the old race track up until it was sold and converted to the Harford Mall.
She had read this article, and she mentioned that the name of the Black family that did the fried chicken was Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Copeland. They not only did it during the racing days, they often did it for their church as a fundraiser.
Was Mr. Hicks the gentleman that got the quaterpost when the track closed? Do you remember Elray Farm in Kingsville MD, and George Ray Bryson?
Georgia,
I’m not 100% certain who got the various furlong posts from the track, but I believe they still exist.
I remember the Elray farm. It was on the right side of Route 1 just south of the Kingsville Inn, however I never met the owner that I know of.
I remember so much about the track. Pop Hicks and Henry Hicks were my uncles. They were my grandmother’s brothers. My grandmother owned many horse that raced there. My father was the trainer and my uncle was a jockey. Two horses that remain foremost in my memories were Pop-Pop and Harford Rose. Harford Rose had two foals, Rose Case and Rose Zayne, both winners in the early 1960’s. This article brought back many memories.
Thanks for the story. I love local history, and it doesn’t get any more local for me than this property, as I live on it now.
I too have very fond memories of the Bel Air race track. I grew up on Elray Farm in Kingsville. The owner of the farm had been the head of the race track, George Ray Bryson. Racing was a big part of my life. My dad Bill Pruett was a former jockey in VA. The farm is a shadow of the former glory. The best thing that could happen to it now is a match. Very sorry to say that. Horse racing in Md is also a shadow of the former glory. I miss it all, even the smell of the horses and the barns. I was so very lucky then and didn’t know it. Oh for just one more day at the track or the farm.
What a wonderful article. And please keep the stories and comments coming. I went to Bel Air Track a few times years ago, but did not realize at the time that George Ray was a distant relative. The rest of his family were farmers and river boat captains; he certainly broke the mold!
Wow, what a great story. I grew up right down the street from the race track. I was at the last race and decieded to collect as many tickets as posible that day. I currently still have several tickets to the last race at that track with the logo and I also have a check that was written to the track from the Commercial and Savings Bank that was in the town of Bel Air. I do not beleive anyone has seen these items since the day of the last race. Perhaps some day they will be something to show to someone with some interest or for the history of my home town.
Thanks for the article
Dan
I remember going to the track when I was a kid. Does anyone have any photographs?
I have the flag that was flown the last day of the racing meet at the Bel Air race track. I also have a few programs and pictures of the horses that my family owned when they ran. My grandmother was Catherine Pugh and my dad was Bill Pugh who trained the horses. The Hick’s were my grandmothers’ brothers. I would like to see if anyone else has pictures of the track or the fair?
Very nice article. “Boots Malone” the 1952 movie about the horse racing industry has a prominent final race that takes place in Dellington, north of Baltimore. One scene is a an approach to a passenger train that states the destinations as Baltimore, Dellington & Aberdeen. I read a comment about the movie that refers to Dellington Park. Did Dellington, MD or Dellington Park exist?