Ben White Raceway Papers
Scope and Contents
The Ben White Raceway Papers include historical background, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, and directories of the many champion horses that trained at the facility throughout its 30 year existence.
Dates
- created: 1946-1978
Creator
- Ben White Raceway (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
The entire collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished records are protected by copyright. Permission to publish quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Biographical or Historical Information
Ben White Raceway was the largest training facility and winter home for champion racehorses. Located in Fairview Park, a 120-acre tract about 3 miles from downtown Orlando, the raceway was owned and maintained by the City of Orlando. The track was named in honor of one of the nation's most famous trainers, Ben White, who won numerous titles and chose Orlando as a training site in 1920. As a result of White's international reputation, the track became known as "the colt capital of harness racing".
Ben White Raceway, however, lost popularity as it proved to be too expensive to ship horses to Orlando. In July 2001, the name was changed to Trotters Park at the request of Ben White's family because the track no longer had anything to do with harness racing. By January 10, 2002, the City of Orlando decided to close the already struggling facility and use the property for a city park.
Extent
0.50 Linear Feet (1 Box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Ben White Raceway located on a 120- acre tract in Fairview Park, near downtown Orlando, Florida, was the largest training facility and winter home for champion racehorses. The track was named in honor of one of the nation's most famous trainers, Ben White, who won numerous titles and chose Orlando as a training site in 1920. The track lost popularity as the expense to ship horses to Orlando became too great. In July 2001, the name was changed to Trotters Park. In January 10, 2002, the City of Orlando decided to close the struggling facility to convert the property into a city park.
Method of Acquisition
The collection was donated to the University of Central Florida Libraries during or after 1978 (CFM1978_01).
Processing Information
Collection processed by Nadine Helm; finding aid prepared by Nadine Helm. Material is housed in one box and separated into folders by content. Directories, minutes and programs are then arranged in chronological order.
- Title
- Ben White Raceway Papers
- Author
- Nadine Helm
- Date
- -0/0-/2005
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the UCF Special Collections Repository
Special Collections & University Archives
University of Central Florida Libraries
P.O. Box 162666
Orlando Florida 32816-2666 US
(407) 823-2576
speccoll@ucf.edu