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Playfair Race Course

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Coordinates: 47°40′N 117°22′W / 47.66°N 117.37°W / 47.66; -117.37
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Playfair Race Course
LocationN. Haven St. and
E. Sprague Ave.
Spokane, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates47°40′N 117°22′W / 47.66°N 117.37°W / 47.66; -117.37
Date openedSeptember 10, 1901[1]
Date closedJuly 2001,[2] final races on
December 17, 2000[1]
Course typeFlat oval, five furlongs
1,100 yd (1.01 km)
Notable racesPlayfair Mile
Spokane Derby
Inland Empire Marathon
Spokane is located in the United States
Spokane
Spokane
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Location in the United States
Spokane is located in Washington (state)
Spokane
Spokane
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Location in Washington

Playfair Race Course, (known as the Spokane Interstate Fair from 1901–1935) was the home of horse racing in Spokane, Washington, from 1901 to 2000.[1][3][4] The track started out as a four-furlong (half-mile) flat oval, and expanded to five furlongs (1,100 yards (1.01 km)) in 1946.[5] The grandstand was on the west, with the home stretch heading south, and the stables were on the east side.[5][6]

The premier races run at the track were the Playfair Mile, Spokane Derby, and the two-mile (3.2 km) Inland Empire Marathon.[7] The final races were on December 17, 2000,[1] and the track officially closed the following July.[2]

Closed

Located in the East Central section of the city between Sprague Avenue and the railroad, the facility assets were auctioned in March 2004,[8][9] and it was demolished shortly after.[10] The 63-acre (0.25 km2) site was bought by the city of Spokane in 2004 for $6.3 million,[11] with the intent of partnering with Spokane County for a new sewage treatment facility.[12] The deal soured and 48 acres (0.19 km2) was sold in 2009 to SCAFCO, a steel-framing manufacturer.[13]

Aerial view in 1995: parking lot, grandstand, track, and barns

Now owned by SCAFCO/The Stone Group and known as Playfair Commerce Park,[6] the site comprises eleven industrial lots.[14] Large metal silhouettes of race horses mark the entrance to the park.[14]

Ferris Field

Ferris Field,[15] a wooden baseball park, was adjacent to the parking lot west of the track.[16] Built in 1936,[17] it was the home of the minor league Spokane Indians through 1956, and was named for city attorney George M. Ferris, a former player and manager for the Indians (at Natatorium Park) who secured funding from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to build it.[18] The baseball diamond was aligned east, toward the horse track, resulting in challenging sun conditions for the fielders in the late afternoon and early evening.

A fire in late October 1948 damaged most of the Ferris grandstands,[19][20] and it was rebuilt in steel in the spring of 1949.[21] It hosted high school football in 1948 and 1949, between the condemnation of wooden Gonzaga Stadium and the opening of Spokane Memorial Stadium in 1950 (renamed Joe Albi Stadium in 1962).

Spokane went without minor league baseball in 1957;[22] the new Triple-A Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League arrived in 1958 (formerly the Los Angeles Angels) and moved about a mile (1½ km) east to the new Avista Stadium (originally "Fairgrounds Park") on Havana Street.[18]

Playfair Mile Winners

Year Horse Jockey Trainer
2000 Sunshine Scholar Larry Munoz Kim Wright
1999 not run
1998
1997 Che Meza Frank Best Fred Davis
1996 not run
1995 Ought to Burn Vince Graffagnini Kenneth Cheff
1994 Native Rustler Vince Ward Richard Wright
1993 Amber Jett Brett Pierce Chuck Findlay
1992 Lincoln Logger Mark Hadley Gordon Platt
1991 Crab Salad Larry Lacoursiere Ken Whitted
1990 Chan's Dragon Jerry Pruitt[23] Don Roberson
1989 Nakeen Jose Corrales Jack Steiner
1988 Native Act Jerry Pruitt
1987 Chan's Dragon Jerry Pruitt Don Roberson
1986 Uncle Barrydown Jerry Pruitt
1985 Holme Run Kid Terry Motsenbacher
1984 Marlene's Boy Doug Moore Bill Stewart
1983 Eagle Joe Akifumi Kato
1982 Grey Barbarian Todd Stephens Allan Morris
1981 Idaho Tribe Ray Youngren
1980 Kam Tam Kan Terry Motsenbacher
1979 Charmhersweet Akifumi Kato
1978 Chief Yakima Jerry Pruitt[23]
1977 Hyali Talk Akifumi Kato
1976 Cup Of Merc. Mike James
1975 Refusal Wendell Matt
1974 Mass Confusion Wendell Matt
1973 Ima Hitter Akifumi Kato
1972 Charity Line Jerry Taketa
1971 Fleet Ahead J. Hathaway
1970 Ruler's Whirl R. Jensen
1969 1st Div. Ruler's Whirl F. Inda
1969 2nd Div. Turbulator D. Castle
1968 Uncle Georger Richard Wright
1967 Uncle Georger Richard Wright
1966 Sixpenny Lane Paul Frey
1965 Late Bet Fred Sheppard
1964 Current Account Joe Baze
1963 1st Div. Smart Prince Lenny Knowles
1963 2nd Div. Tizza Doge E. DeAlba
1962 Cold Bay J. Palmer
1961 Aryess Gilbert Simonis
1960 Fleet Charge Carl Schilling
1959
1958 Collaborator
1948 Lighted Way

References

  1. ^ a b c d Price, Jim (April 28, 2013). "Playfair memories rekindled 10 years after its demise". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Spokane's Playfair Race course for sale". ESPN. Associated Press. May 22, 2002. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  3. ^ Price, Jim (July 29, 2001). "Galloping ghosts for nearly 100 years". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington).
  4. ^ Hansen, Pia K. (February 26, 2004). "Final stretch". Inlander. (Spokane, Washington). Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Playfair: a history in photos". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). April 22, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Tinsley, Jesse (September 4, 2017). "Then and now: Playfair race track development". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  7. ^ "Playfair opens its richest horseracing season ever". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). April 3, 1983. p. D4.
  8. ^ Graman, Kevin (March 5, 2004). "Auction leaves only memories". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  9. ^ "Racing fans bid adieu to Playfair". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). March 6, 2004. p. 2B.
  10. ^ Thoroughbred Times - February 19, 2004
  11. ^ Brunt, Jonathon (May 28, 2009). "City may sell Playfair property at loss". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  12. ^ Brunt, Jonathon (September 1, 2007). "City weighing Playfair site options". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. B1.
  13. ^ Brunt, Jonathon (June 8, 2009). "SCAFCO gets go-ahead to buy Playfair land". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Playfair Commerce Park evolves from racetrack roots". Spokesman.com. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  15. ^ May, Danny (June 13, 1939). "What the outfielders saw of Spokane's largest crowd at Ferris Field". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (photo). p. 1.
  16. ^ Price, Jim (June 21, 2003). "Indians stadiums of the past". Minor League Baseball. (Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington). Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  17. ^ "So Spokane ball fans can sit in comfort while diamond stars perform". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). June 30, 1936. p. 1.
  18. ^ a b Price, Jim (June 21, 2003). "Five homes to call their own". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. H12.
  19. ^ "Fire destroys Ferris Field's grandstand, parts of bleachers". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). October 30, 1948. p. 1.
  20. ^ "Investigators seek cause of $100,000 Ferris Field fire". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). October 30, 1948. p. 1.
  21. ^ "Ferris Field construction rushed; line-up named". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). April 8, 1949. p. 15.
  22. ^ May, Danny (February 16, 1957). "Spokane Indians fold; need $75,000 miracle". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 8.
  23. ^ a b [1]
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