Great Lakes Downs Horseracing
Great Lakes Downs was a prominent thoroughbred racing facility located in Muskegon, Michigan. The venue featured a five-eighths-mile track, with its live racing season typically running from April through October. Only a few years after its opening, Great Lakes Downs had already hosted some of the most prestigious stakes events in the state, including the Plymouth Stakes, the Muskegon Classic, the Frontier Handicap, the Michigan Sire Stakes, and the Michigan Futurity.
On November 6, 2007, Great Lakes Downs hosted its final race. Bound by restrictive state laws, the track failed to attract a buyer willing to absorb its financial losses, forcing a permanent shutdown. The following year, the grandstands and facility were entirely demolished, bringing a swift but memorable era of Michigan thoroughbred racing to a close.
Great Lakes Downs Facts
- 5/8 mile oval
- Has 1/2 and 7/8 mile chutes
- Width: 80 feet
- Homestretch Length: 580 feet
Great Lakes Downs Records
| DIST | HORSE | AGE | WGT | TIME | DATE |
| 2 fur. | Skirt in the Wind | 2 | 110 | :23.2 | Jun 22, 1999 |
| 4 fur. | Dinner Band | 4 | 114 | :45.4 | May 15, 2001 |
| 5 1/2 fur. | Deputy Stripe | 4 | 118 | 1:06 | Jul 22, 2002 |
| 6 fur. | That Gift | 5 | 123 | 1:13 | Jul 3, 2002 |
| 6 1/2 fur. | Cool Rain Falling | 3 | 114 | 1:20 | Jul 26, 2002 |
| 7 fur. | Secret Romeo | 3 | 120 | 1:24.3 | Sep 2, 2001 |
| 1 mile | Secret Romeo | 3 | 120 | 1:40 | Oct 29, 2001 |
| 1 mile 70 yds | Secret Romeo | 2 | 122 | 1:49.2 | Nov 4, 2000 |
| 1 1/16 miles | That Monetary | 6 | 115 | 1:49.2 | Aug 27, 2001 |
| 1 1/8 miles | The Bold Bruiser | 4 | 114 | 1:54 | Oct 28, 2000 |
History of Great Lakes Downs
- Great Lakes Downs opened for simulcasting on January 29, 1999.
- Great Lakes Downs commenced its first thoroughbred meet on April 23, 1999.
- Great Lakes Downs replaced Detroit Race Course on the Michigan racing schedule in 1999. After 49 years, DRC closed its doors at the end of the 1998 season and thoroughbred races were transferred to Great Lakes Downs, the site of which was the former Muskegon Race Course that hosted standardbred racing.
- Great Lakes Downs was acquired by Magna Entertainment in early 2000.