Keeneland Library Thoroughbred Times Collection
This 1945 photo shows a crowd of approximately 45,000 packed into the track that featured one of the largest grandstands and racing ovals in the country.
TWO TRACKS, ONE LEGACY: THE STORY OF WASHINGTON PARK
Champion horses and horsemen frequented the famed Chicago track before its fiery demise
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By J. Keeler Johnson
en Jones was a real horseman. Not many folks would have the patience and talent to gradually turn an unpredictable, frustrating colt like Whirlaway into a Triple Crown champion. Jones’ son Jimmy learned from the best. Between the two of them, they split training duties for Calumet Farm, conditioning an abundance of high-class horses from coast to coast. Having two trainers meant Calumet Farm could tackle multiple racing circuits at once, and no lucrative prize was safe from the stable’s famous devil’s red-and-blue silks. Keeping up with the Joneses was virtually impossible. How could anyone compete with a stable that cranked out champions and Hall of Fame inductees like clockwork? Every summer during the glory days of the 1940s, the Calumet Farm contingent would embark on a journey to Chicago to patronize the summer meet at Washington Park. Owned and managed by Ben Lindheimer, a dedicated promoter of high-class racing, Washington Park and its sister track, Arlington Park, comprised a summer circuit on par with any in the nation. Through the years, Chicago racing fans enjoyed a seemingly endless parade of unforgettable exploits from Calumet’s renowned Thoroughbreds. They watched Whirlaway make a mockery of the 1941 American Derby. The saw the filly Twilight Tear go four-for-four in the summer of 1944, beating males in the Classic and the Skokie Handicap. They cheered as Armed won back-to-back editions of the Washington Park Handicap, and they applauded when Coaltown won the Whirlaway Stakes. Yes, the Whirlaway, named for Coaltown’s own stablemate.