Site of Arlington Downs Racetrack

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at this site tells it: and it's quite a tale. Now, if you want to talk about a man who did things big, you start with W. T.

Waggoner. Born in 1852, died in 1934; wealthy rancher, oilman, and a fellow who apparently decided that if you were going to raise Thoroughbreds and quarter horses, you might as well raise them right here in Tarrant County in the nineteen-twenties. That's exactly what he did, out at his ranch on this very ground.

But Waggoner wasn't the type to stop at a fine stable. No, he looked at this land and saw something more. What he built here was Arlington Downs: a one-and-one-quarter-mile racetrack with a six-thousand-seat grandstand.

Six thousand seats. You let that number sit a moment. This wasn't a dusty little oval with a few hay bales for the crowd.

This was a destination. Racing days drew thousands of spectators, and not just any spectators; the marker notes numerous celebrities made their way out here. Something about fast horses has always had a way of pulling people in, famous or otherwise.

Now here's where the story gets a little complicated, in that way Texas politics tends to. Waggoner and his sons (Guy, born in 1883, and Paul, born in 1889) they campaigned hard for pari-mutuel betting. That's the kind of wagering where the odds and the payouts are set by the pool of bets placed, and it was not a simple thing to get through in Texas.

But they pushed, and it was legalized; from 1934 to 1937. Three years. That window opened, and then it closed.

After the betting era ended, Arlington Downs kept going in other ways: rodeos, other events; but eventually the years caught up with it. By 1958, the buildings were razed. That grandstand that once held six thousand people, the track that once thundered with Thoroughbreds; gone.

What W. T. Waggoner built here was, for its moment, something genuinely grand.

And now all that's left is the marker, and the story it tells.

What the marker says

Wealthy rancher and oilman W. T. Waggoner (1852-1934) developed a stable of fine Thoroughbreds and quarter horses at his ranch here in the 1920s. At this site he built Arlington Downs, a one-and-one quarter mile race track with a 6,000-seat grandstand. Racing days drew thousands of spectators including numerous celebrities. Waggoner and his sons Guy (1883-1950) and Paul (1889-1967) campaigned for pari-mutuel betting, which was legalized in Texas from 1934 to 1937. The Racetrack was used for rodeos and other events before the buildings were razed in 1958. (1978)