As the sun set over Northville Downs, Michigan’s last horse racing track, drivers and harnessed standardbred horses warmed up under the golden light one final time.
Inside the building, thousands of people — devout regulars and bright-eyed newbies alike — flooded through the front doors, simultaneously eager and saddened to witness history as the Downs hosted its last live horse race.
“It’s busier now than when they show the Kentucky Derby,” said Beth Coleman, of Burt, eyes scanning the packed stands and lengthening lines at the betting booths and concession stands.
Once the No. 1 spectator sport in the country and accounting for nearly $1.2 billion in Michigan, horse racing reigned supreme among gambling practices until other forms of betting opened up, ending racing’s monopoly and leading to its downfall in the state.
Northville Downs survived as the last remaining racetrack in Michigan for years, but even the Downs couldn’t outrun fate. With the property sold and set to be razed later this year, and after a deal for a new location with a neighboring township flopped, the owners are scrambling to find a new spot. Otherwise, horse racing is over in the Mitten.
When Northville Downs opened in 1944, among six other existing or soon-to-be racing tracks in Michigan, betting on horse races was the only legal form of gambling in the state. Additionally, it was the first track in the state to offer parimutuel gambling.
Michigan racetracks thrived throughout their first couple of decades, bringing in 3 million visitors and wagering $260 million a year by the end of the 1960s, but their success halted in 1972 when the Michigan Lottery started and subsequently knocked horse racing out of the lead.
As casinos opened in Detroit and on Native American reservations, more betting was whisked away from the tracks.
Between 1993 and 2001, economic activity from horse racing throughout the state fell nearly 19%. Year-round racing and the introduction to simulcasting in 1996 helped to keep the racetracks alive a little longer, increasing wagering by 50% compared with 1995, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to sustain the sport.
Online sports betting was the fatal blow. One by one, the racetracks closed — Saginaw Harness Raceway, Great Lakes Downs (built on what was originally Muskegon Race Course), Jackson Harness Raceway, Mount Pleasant Meadows (built on what was originally Glendale Downs), Sports Creek Raceway and Hazel Park Raceway — until only Northville Downs remained by 2018.
Source : Kylie Martin, “Northville Downs closes after 80 years: How horse track outlasted others in Michigan”, Detroit Free Press, February 8, 2024.