North America's longest dirt race?

Slew83 · Postby **Slew83** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:32 am

Whats the longest dirt race in North America?

Joltman · Postby **Joltman** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:46 am

I seem to recall a 2 mile race as part of a claiming endurance series not too long ago.

jm

wilf · Postby **wilf** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 1:24 pm

There are several going more than 2 miles. Fort Erie has one at the end of the meet going 2m 70yds. Mountaineer Park has a starter alw going about 2 miles and a sixteenth at the end of it's marathon series. Beulah has a 2 miler and so does Thistledown at the end of their meets. Presque Isle of course has an articial "Tapeta" surface but they also have a marathon finale going 2miles and a quarter. Is that enough for you? I see that you are in Northern California so you may be enquiring because Ferndale runs a feature going a mile and 7 eighths during it's marvelous carnival. Wish that it were closer as I love marathon races.

Slew83 · Postby **Slew83** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:24 pm

The C.J. Hindley Humboldt County Marathon is a 1 5/8-mile

Maureen · Postby **Maureen** » Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:33 pm

To add to Wilf's post...in the 'Tour de Fort', the horses cross the finish line three times!. It's usually won by the horse that gets the lead first. Had a little gelding finish third in it one year. Just couldn't catch the leader after that distance. The purse money was always pretty good, too!

wilf · Postby **wilf** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:25 am

That's right Slew about the Humboldt Marathon in fact I claimed the best horse I ever had because he had won that race the year before. He had been shuffled around North America and even ran at Rillito before I took him for $3,500 at Turf Paradise. After a 4 month break he won for me going short but only 3 starts later ran a mile and a half in 2.29 to smash the dirt record at Fort Erie. It was almost the fastest dirt 12 furlongs ever run in Canada and his record stood for about 18 years until a monster who was eligible for starter races narrowly beat it. Of course bad things happen to good horses and he died of colic , a torsion I believe . His name was Chalk Sound and I was devastated but I love marathon races and wish the Ferndale was not such a long haul. The tracks in Ohio, Pa and Wv offer too much choice to marathoners to go elsewhere.