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The DuQuoin State Fair was founded in 1923 by local businessman William R. "W.R." Hayes, who owned the fair and ran it. (It did not become run by the state of Illinois as a true "state fair" until the 1980s; it is now officially called the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin, as opposed to the longtime one at state capital Springfield.)
Soon after, a new one-mile (1.6 km) racing strip was built around the existing 5/8's mile oval. But in 1991, the Illinois Racing Board took away the racetrack's thoroughbred dates, making Balmoral Park an exclusive harness racing facility. By 1993, Balmoral Park became a national leader in the use of standardized saddle pads.
Note: Harness racing is sometimes conducted at short-term meets at various fairs and similar events. Many notable harness races are held at such venues, such as the Fox Stake at the Indiana State Fair and the Little Brown Jug at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio .
The track also featured Standardbred harness racing, but discontinued it in 1999. [1] View of the spectator stands at Fairmount Park Horse Race Track in Collinsville, Illinois. The track opened in 1925. The racing surface is a one-mile (1.6 km) dirt oval, with straight chutes for six furlong and 1¼ mile races.
In Illinois, the State Fair Grandstand, originally built as a place to watch harness racing (and still used for that purpose as of 2022) became a venue for concerts and recitals. The "state fair circuit" became a recognized part of the overall live-music industry for many performers, especially but not exclusively in country music .
The Illinois State Fair mile currently hosts the Allen Crowe Memorial 100 ARCA stock car race, USAC Silver Crown dirt cars, UMP Late Models and Modifieds and the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. The only driver who has won races in three disciplines of racing in Ken Schrader who won in ARCA cars (1998), UMP Modifieds (1998), and midgets. [2]
Defunct horse racing venues in Illinois (1 C, 11 P) L. ... Great Lakes Downs; Green Mountain Race Track; H. Hamilton Park (New Haven) Harrah's Pompano Beach;
The race meeting schedules are posed on each track's website and on the website of the Racing Board. Subsidiary race meetings, typically between harness horses, are held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack, the DuQuoin State Fair, and at several of the county fairs of Illinois. [1] The Illinois Racing Board was founded in 1933. [1]