Major racetracks

Major horse racetracks in the U.S. were opened

• at Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, New York in 1863;
• at Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, Maryland in 1870;
• at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky, opened in 1875;
• at Belmont Park, Elmont, New York (just outside New York City on Long Island) in 1905.
• at Fairmount Park Racetrack, Collinsville, Illinois in 1925.
• at Hialeah Park Race Track, Hialeah, Florida in 1925.
• at Santa Anita Park, in the San Gabriel Valley community of Arcadia, California, in the Los Angeles area, in 1934.
• at Keeneland Race Course, Lexington, Kentucky, opened for racing in 1936

Belmont Park is part of the western edge of the Hempstead Plains. Its mile and a half main track is the largest dirt Thoroughbred race course in the world, and it has the sport's largest grandstand.
In March 2009, Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Pimlico Race Course, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after defaulting on a US$40 million loan.^[11]
The latest major horse track opened in the US was the Meadowlands Racetrack opened in 1977 for Thoroughbred racing. It is the home of the Meadowlands Cup.
Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has its own Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Hall of Fame honors remarkable horses, jockeys, owners and trainers.