Windy City Pace Explained

The Windy City Pace was a harness race for 3-year-old Standardbred pacing horses. It was run annually from 1983 to 2015 at Maywood Park in Melrose Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

The race was originally run during Maywood's spring meet but, after 1991, it was run in the fall. Elimination heats were required to determine the finalists for the main race. It was the top race of a program that also featured Maywood's other top stakes races — the Abe Lincoln, the Galt and the Cinderella.

A notable running of the Windy City was in 1987, when Bomb Rickles won the final at odds of 190-1.

In 2015 the purse was $180,000.[1] Maywood park closed that year.

Windy City Pace winners

Year
Winner
Driver
Time
1983Trim the TreeDick Macomber1:57 1/5
1984Carl's BirdCarl E. Allen1:56 3/5
1985PinocchioNeal Shapiro1:56 0/0
1986Incredible FinaleTom Harmer1:53 3/5
1987Bomb RicklesNeal Shapiro1:56 2/5
1988Wealthy SkipperWalter Paisley1:55 0/0
1989Just the TicketLavern Hostetler1:56 1/5
1990Jake and ElwoodHervé Filion1:57 2/5
1991Precious BunnyJack Moiseyev1:57 0/0
1992Western HanoverWilliam Fahy1:55 0/0
1993Presidential BallJack Moiseyev1:54 2/5
1994Pacific RocketJack Moiseyev1:53 0/0
1995Village ConnectionPaul MacDonell1:53 4/5
1996Oye VayDouglas S. Brown1:54 1/5
1997ArturoDave Palone1:54 2/5
1998Take Down the FlagPaul MacDonell1:53 3/5
1999Looking for ArtEric Ledford1:54 2/5
2000CamotionDale Hiteman1:51 4/5
2001Rattle & RockRyan Anderson1:51 4/5
2002Three OlivesJohn Campbell1:52 4/5
2003Allamerican CaptorLuc Ouellette1:52 2/5
2004Western TerrorBrian Sears1:53 4/5
2005Thin Blue LineMichael Oosting1:52 3/5
2006Jereme's JetDave Magee1:52 2/5
2007Booze CruzinSam Widger1:51 3/5
2008Shadow PlayDavid Miller1:50 4/5
2009 In Over My HeadDale Hiteman1:52 2/5
2010 Aracache HanoverDoug McNair1:51 4/5
2011 BetterthancheddarGeorge Brennan1:52 2/5
2012 Pet RockDoug McNair1:51 4/5
2013 Word PowerScott Zeron1:51 4/5
2014 Big Boy DreamsTim Tetrick1:51 0/0

References

Notes and References

  1. News: Balmoral/Maywood announce 2015 stakes . Jul 18, 2021 . HarnessRacing.com . February 10, 2015.