Beginning of Fort Erie Race Track

Fort Erie Race Track Beginning Earl Plato
Several years ago on the north wall of one of the upper barracks of historic Fort Erie a poster caught my eye. It was a petition from local citizens circa 1890’s asking for the creation of a race track for thoroughbred horses in the town. I scanned the lists and there was the name of my great-grandfather Jacob W. Plato. His son, William Jacob Plato, my grandfather, lived on Henrietta Street just to the east of the race track. Many of my relatives worked at the track over the years. Of course they bet on horses too. During the late Depression years I remember cousin Fred Plato coming home with a winning ticket he had found along the east entrance way. There was often a myriad of colourful betting tickets strewn on the ground after the races were over. Fred was alert and one of his found stubs thrown carelessly away by a bettor was worth some money. How much I don’t recall but I remember those were the poor days of the Thirties. Fred was elated. More than once our Grandma Anderson would walk us north from our home on Highway Three along the C.N.R. track. No admission in those days for us. We would stand at the outside fences and I would peer through the boards to see those horses thundering down the back stretch. As a fifteen year old George Henningham Sr. hired me to shake out a bale and a half of straw in each race stall. That was good money for me. Two years later I was hired by Mr.Henningham to help deliver bales of hay and straw at the race track. It was an education to watch the workings of the race horse industry. Several times I was given “hot tips” if I gave one of the race track workers five or ten dollars. No deal was the advice from Bud the son of the boss. Lesson learned? Yes. On the occasional trip to the track over the years I took only $20. Never any more. My father-in-law, Sid Kew, was manager of Longmeadow horse farm in Ridgeway for over thity years. He was a careful bettor who did well over decades at the track. Every five years he had enough in winnings to pay his way over and back to his home city in Bristol, England. Some of my relatives were avid bettors and my aunt’s son was a bookie. My wife Elaine and I visited the track a while back with a group. I had $20 for eight races. As usual o luck. It was still a thrill to see the horses and their jockeys thundering down the track. Old memories, yes, and good ones. The next few articles are about the history of the track. Again thanks to Louis McDermott for his wonderful collection of Fort Erie’s race track history.