Manor Downs is a horse racetrack located outside Manor, Texas, United States. It is Texas's oldest pari-mutuel horse racetrack. Live racing in the Spring features both quarter horse and thoroughbred racing. Simulcast racing is shown year round.
Frances Carr and Sam Cutler began development of Manor Downs in 1975 on 44 acres (180,000 m2) of land that had an old horse race track on it. They initially planned for Manor Downs to be a horse training stable and fairground facility.
Manor Downs originally hosted just quarter horse racing, but when pari-mutuel betting was legalized, the track was upgraded for thoroughbred racing in order to qualify for a pari-mutuel license
Manor Downs is licensed as a class 2 racetrack in Texas. A class 2 racetrack is a racetrack on which racing is conducted for no more than 44 days in a calendar year.
Manor Downs has also been the site for concerts through the years including Farm Aid 2 and the Grateful Dead.
As horse racing's popularity waned with the slow economy of the late-2000s recession, Manor Downs ceased operations in late July 2010 rather than continue losing money.
Read more about Manor Downs: Racing
Famous quotes containing the word downs:
“Do you see that kitten chasing so prettily her own tail? If you could look with her eyes, you might see her surrounded with hundreds of figures performing complex dramas, with tragic and comic issues, long conversations, many characters, many ups and downs of fate,—and meantime it is only puss and her tail.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)