Winning Ponies

The popularity of horse racing in Chicago was not to be rivaled in any other metropolitan area. Since the 1800’s, the Windy City’s enthusiasm for both harness and Thoroughbred racing led to 10 major racetracks being built in the Chicago area. Sadly, it appears that racing in the area will be dealt a major blow with the apparent demise of Arlington Park which has hosted racing since 1927. Our first guest, Kimberly A. Rinker, a 1983 graduate of the Ohio State University, has been involved with Chicago horse racing since 1984 – both as a writer and as a participant. An award-winning journalist, she is a licensed trainer-driver of Standardbreds and represented the U.S. in the International Drivers Championship in Moscow, Russia. She has documented the racing history of the Chicago-area tracks in two published books – “Chicago’s Horse Racing Venues” and “Arlington Park Racetrack.” Our guest handicapper will be Bob “Railbird” Roberts, a veteran turf writer, handicapper and author of “ Writings of a Railbird.“