A Record Turnout for Open Day at the Bowie Race Track

February 8, 1958 (55 years ago today): A record 17,971 horse racing fans descended on the Bowie Race Track for what was the earliest opening day at the track at that time. Nearly one thousand of the fans traveled by bus from New York City, and some came by train from Philadelphia. The track was nearly frozen, and fans had to contend with wind and cold temperatures.

Pictured here is a race day traffic jam from August, 1973 (photo by Arnie Miles).

Photos of Bowie Maryland 1973 through 1975 by Arnie Miles is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License