Elanor was a party girl back in the day. I was there when she clocked Duke after he was treating Pat wrong in front of patrons. Ended up marrying well and lives in Streeterville.
As for Spk / Spk 7/8...it was the place to race simply because the summer weather, the 3 race (open air) paddock right next to the grandstand, and the very good series of stakes - culminating in Super Night. It was close to the city limits and easily accessible from I-55 and I-290 or Cicero and Laramie Aves. Maywood and Hawthorne didn't race in summertime back then and Balmoral was the far south suburban track that raced lesser stock mostly. When it was 5/8th it had the highest handle in the country for that sized oval. Best of all the Johnstons didn't own it; the Bidwells did. Billy Johnston leased the track after the t-breds cleared out and headed to Arlington park.
IMO the place was over glorified but you didn't freeze your butt off watching outside, or burn 1/2 a tank of gas getting there. Maywood could compare with RR, YR, Nfld, and the other popular 1/2 mile joints but it was still 1/2 mile racing. You could make huge scores at Spk too. JMO
