It really did begin at Roosevelt Raceway
by Bob Heyden
“Where it all began, where it is today” was Roosevelt Raceway’s slogan in the 1980s.
And they were right, because it did begin at Roosevelt, meaning Off Track Betting (OTB).
Two weeks from now on April 8, it will be 55 years since the very first $2 bet was placed at any OTB.
Philip Gross, 61, sat down in a folding chair in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal — first on line — and he placed a bet on a Roosevelt race, Adoras Nicki. Years later, seven nighttime pari-mutuel tracks would be operating in New York on any given evening.
Howard Samuels, head of OTB, took the wager. Gross was followed next by Mayor John Lindsay who bet $2 on a horse named Money Wise, also on the Long Island track, Roosevelt Raceway, where nighttime racing debuted in 1940.
The very next OTB shop opened two hours later at 1 p.m. in Forest Hills, NY. Both closed at 5:15, tallied up the wagers, and transmitted them to Roosevelt. Total first day handle at OTB: $62,036, six times what the officials had expected. The following day was the first legal day of wagering in the United States.
Yes, that was the beginning. At-home wagering, simulcasting, Call-A-Bet, you name it, all trace back to this OTB opening the floodgates.
Some thought John Campbell turning 16 on that same day might be the actual highlight, but the direction/ trajectory of the industry was now different. Far, far different, leaving many of the sport’s purists thirsting for yesteryear. As we have found out 55 years later, there was absolutely no turning back.
OTHER MILESTONES AND UPCOMING ANNIVERSARIES
1. Ron Pierce will turn 7-0 on June 21. It’s been 11 years and counting since the Hall of Fame driver last competed.
2. It’s the 30th anniversary of Ellamony setting The Meadowlands track record of 16 straight victories. Oddly, she did it over a four-year span: 1993, 1994, then 1996 at ages 3, 4, and 6. Sadly, the daughter of Cam Fella had to be put down late in 1996.
3. On May 20, it’s the 60th anniversary of Cardigan Bay holding off Bret Hanover at Yonkers in the “Race of the Century.”
4. It’s the 10th anniversary of the sport’s last Triple Crown winner Marion Marauder (2016). Remember he was just 1-for-13 as a freshman (13 1-5-3, $350,334).
5. It’s the 20th anniversary of Glidemaster’s 2006 Triple Crown and HOY. John Campbell actually drove Marion Marauder early on and was the regular pilot for Glidemaster.
6. April 12 will mean Deweycheatmnhowe will be fully legal at 21. Still the only undefeated Hambletonian champ (2008). He was the first of two straight $3 million career earning sons of Muscles Yankee. Muscle Hill followed in 2009.
7. It’s the 50th edition of the Meadowlands Pace. It started on a Tuesday in July 1977 in two elims and a final won by Escort. John Campbell with seven wins and Tim Tetrick with six are the two all-time Pace kings.
8. April 18, 2026 would have been Windsong’s Legacy 25th birthday, but we lost the 2004 Triple Crown winner on March 1, 2008 at age 7. He did sire Chapter Seven though guaranteeing he’ll constantly be heard from even today.
9. Has it been 40 years already since Ulf Thoresen cleverly handled the 1986 Hambletonian winner Nuclear Kosmos? He was a four-time World Driving king, that we lost just six years later.
10. Though not a milestone year or an anniversary, we are coming up on 48 years since a turning point harness racing moment that happened on April 3, 1978. It was the very first time Mike Lachance, 27, and John Campbell, 22, appeared in the same race together.
