Reminds me of the Rhinebeck (NY) Fair closing down harness racing on opening day. Rhinebeck raced for like 150+ years until the Fair Manager got pissed at the horsemen and shut it down giving the same reason - too expensive. Rhinebeck had the fastest 1/2 mile fair track in NYS - miles going in 2:00 back in the 1980's... great barns for the horses, food concessions, kids and families hugging the fence to watch. Some of the names back then were Crawford and Lee Bryant, Harold Traganza, Percy Davis, the Funks - father and son, and many, many upstate farmers/trainers. The one day card touted up to like 15 races. It was a great day for decades. A couple of years later Chatham bit the dust too.
The grandstand remained in place for has been entertainers and events like pig racing. SAD!
