Phoenix
HistoryOriginally published in Phoenix Magazine, May 2004
Phoenix
History
For 25 cents per person, racing enthusiasts packed the grandstands at Phoenix Greyhound Park on January 26, 1954. The new $1 million park at 38th Street and Washington seemed to provide just what the sleepy Valley was craving, when roughly 10 percent of its some 100,000 residents turned out for opening day. Within a few years, Turf Paradise followed suit on the west side of town – or actually, on the far outskirts of town, on an expanse of desert accessible only by dirt road near what is known today as 19th Avenue and Bell Road – to bring horse racing to the Valley. And all at once, Phoenicians had all the sweaty, heart-pumping live-racing action they could dream of.
While the original racetracks each were the creation of enthusiastic local entrepreneurs, today’s operations are corporate behemoths with state-of-the-art amenities that continue to hold their own among the Valley’s many other entertainment options.
Greyhound racing was actually introduced to the state in 1943 by local businessmen and brothers David and Arthur Funk. The Funks originally ran a small track near 17th Avenue and Roosevelt – just a stone’s throw from the house of a boy that would become one of their most loyal patrons. As a child, Bill Reagan attended softball games at the park next door to the dog track.
“I found that if I stood up on the scoreboard, I could watch the races and the game at the same time,” he recalled. “Even as young as 12 years old, I liked to watch the dogs run.”
After his discharge from the Marines in 1957, an unemployed Reagan began hanging out at Phoenix Greyhound Park.
“I was quite lucky and became a very good handicapper,” chuckles Reagan, who also courted his future bride at the dog track that year. “We’d go to the dogs until about 9:30, and then we would go out dancing. All her friends thought it was unusual that I always had more money than anyone else, and that I was getting it from the dogs.”
The Funk brothers ran Phoenix Greyhound for nearly 37 years, when Delaware North Companies of Buffalo, N.Y. purchased the operations and built an all-new $20 million facility in 1988. Through the years, the track has maintained a loyal fan base.
“There is a core group of people that are here every day and many others who come pretty regularly, people of all age groups,” said Daniel Luciano, president and general manager of the track and a greyhound racing veteran of nearly 40 years. “They meet up with their friends and it’s kind of a social club for a lot of people. In this day and age, it’s a lot of fun to see a place where everybody seems to know everybody else.”
In the West Valley, Turf Paradise rose from the dust in the mid-50s. Walter Cluer, a successful businessman and horse owner, purchased 1,400 acres of desert land in 1954 and aspired to build a first-class track in Phoenix. Turf Paradise opened its doors January 7, 1956, and Phoenicians responded by filling the grandstands. Cluer remained as head of the track for nearly 25 years.
Turf Paradise changed hands several times in the years that followed and, in 2000, its sixth owner entered the scene – a self-made multi-millionaire from California named Jerry Simms. Under Simms’ leadership, the track has undergone more than $5 million in improvements, including a renovated Clubhouse, all new turf and track, and the addition of a state-of-the-art equine swimming pool.
“I was fortunate to inherit a really good staff and group of horsemen,” said Simms. “Their families have worked here and their grandparents worked here. I have an aunt who worked here as a teller 30 years ago. It’s been a part of Arizona for a long time and it’s deep rooted in the community.”
More than 800,000 fans attend live pari-mutuel racing events in Arizona each year, according to a 2003 report by the Arizona State University Center for Business Research. With off-track attendance factored in, the number more than doubles to nearly 1.7 million racing fans. The overall economic impact of the industry is also impressive, creating nearly 6,000 jobs and more than $240 million in demand for goods and services.
But for long-time racing fans like Reagan, those numbers are no surprise. He and his wife of 46 years, Liz, still enjoy “going to the dogs” for some fancy handicapping and a visit with old friends. “It’s a weekly adventure,” he said.
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Copyright 2004 Jessica McCann
Photo caption: Hollywood actors William Demarest, of My Three Sons fame (front, left), and William Bendix (front, center) are pictured with friends in the Clubhouse, circa 1957 (Photo courtesy of Phoenix Greyhound Park)