Tropical Park Race Track was a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

facility built on at the current intersection of

Bird Road Bird Road, co-signed State Road 976 (SR 976) from the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (SR 821) in Westwood Lakes, Florida to U.S. Route 1 ( SR 5) in Miami, is a main east–west road running south of downtown Miami in Miami-Dade Count ...

and the

Palmetto Expressway Palmetto (meaning "little palm") may refer to: Palms Several small palms in the Arecaceae (palm tree) family: *in the genus ''Sabal'': **Bermuda palmetto, '' Sabal bermudana'' **Birmingham palmetto, ''Sabal'' 'Birmingham' **Dwarf, or bush palm ...

in Southwest Dade Miami part of metropolitan

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and what is now Olympia Heights. The

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

was built by Bill Dwyer, a

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

era bootlegger, and Frank Bruen with backing from

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

distilling Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...

tycoon,

Samuel Bronfman Samuel Bronfman, (February 27, 1889 – July 10, 1971) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He founded Distillers Corporation Limited, and is a member of the Canadian Bronfman family. Biography Samuel Bronfman was born in Otaci, ...

. It opened on December 26, 1931, and closed January 15, 1972. The track hosted meets for both for

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

and

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

horses. Tropical Park introduced the first synthetic racetrack surface for horse racing in the 1966-67 season. Known as "Tartan Turf, " it was a

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

ized surface manufactured by the 3M company. Built inside the regular dirt track, one race per day was contested on the Tartan track but for safety reasons the majority of

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

s and owners refused to run their horses on the track. Saul Silberman bought Tropical Park in 1953 after president

Henry L. Straus Henry Lobe Straus (March 10, 1896 – October 25, 1949) was an American electrical engineer, horse and cattle breeder, sportsman, entrepreneur and computer pioneer. Biography Straus was a 1913 graduate of the Baltimore City College high school a ...

died in a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

. A major gambler from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Silberman was a former majority shareholder of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

who had also owned Randall Park Race Track in

North Randall, Ohio North Randall is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,027 at the 2010 census. History Settlement at North Randall began in earnest in the 1850s when the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad was extended to that poin ...

and the Painesville Raceway in

Northfield, Ohio Northfield is a village in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,541 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. History A post office called Northfield has been in operation since 1837. Some say t ...

. When Silberman died in 1971, new owner William L. McKnight made his intentions known. He wanted to close the track and have all of the racing dates switched to the new

Calder Race Course Calder Casino is a casino located in Miami Gardens, Florida. It includes slots, electronic table games, and bingo. The casino opened in 2010 and features a gaming floor with 1,100 slot machines, including video poker, as well as electronic r ...

, of which he was a principal investor. Tropical Park was closed after the 1972 racing season. In 1979, the

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

Parks and Recreation service converted the facility into a public park they named

Tropical Park Tropical Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami, Florida. The park is located just southwest of the intersection of the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) and Bird Road, just west of South Miami. History The land opened as a county public par ...

The park offers a number of sports activities including

Tropical Park Stadium Tropical Park Stadium is a 7,000-seat stadium located in Olympia Heights, Florida, a CDP near Miami, Florida, USA. The stadium is located in Tropical Park and is the home field of Miami Dade FC and FC Miami City. Also, many local high-school foo ...

used for

track and field athletics Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of ...

. The old racetrack's

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

s were used as part of the park's

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

center.

Thoroughbred stakes races at Tropical Park

* Tropical Park Derby *

Tropical Park Handicap The Tropical Park Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Tropical Park Race Track in Florida run from 1938 until the track closed in 1972. Open to horses age three and older, it was contested on dirt over a distance of a o ...

* Tropical Park Oaks

References

{{coord, 25.729453, -80.320208, region:US-FL_type:landmark, display=title Tropical Park Race Track Defunct horse racing venues in the United States Horse racing venues in Florida Coral Gables, Florida Buildings and structures in Miami-Dade County, Florida Sports in Miami-Dade County, Florida American companies established in 1931 Entertainment companies established in 1931 Companies disestablished in 1972 1931 establishments in Florida 1972 disestablishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1931