Good Time Park

A largely unmaintained field for the first century of its existence, the area that would become Good Time Park was originally called Fiddler's Green. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was a common meeting place for local races, training, and breeding. Use died out around 1820, and it was largely forgotten until 1899, when it was refurbished to be used to train trotters. Sports promoter and horse owner William H. Cane bought the land in 1926, named the new track Good Time Park, and began to hold races there. By 1927, it had become a Grand Circuit track, with a large stables and a 2,224-seat grandstand.^[1]

The first Hambletonian in Goshen was held on August 27, 1930, and was broadcast on the radio by the Columbia Broadcasting System. The victory purse of $58,859.00 was won, after three heats, by Tom Berry driving Hanover's Bertha.^[2] The Hambletonian was held at Good Time Park for the next 26 years, with the exception of 1943, when wartime gas shortages caused it to be moved to Empire City Track in Yonkers. After Cane's death in 1956, conflicts over the administration of the sport caused the race to be moved out of New York State, to DuQuoin, Illinois.^[3] It was intended as a two-year stopgap measure, but the Hambletonian never returned to Goshen.

Auto races were occasionally held at the park. The Goshen 100 Champ Car race was run on June 20, 1936, won by Rex Mays for his first national series victory. He acquired $2,200 for the victory.^[4] Tony Bettenhausen won the 1946 version of the George Robson Memorial Classic on October 6. Mays, who won the last race held at the track in 1936, blew a rod during qualifying and was unable to participate.^[5] Bettenhausen repeated the feat on August 17, 1947, winning the second edition of the race.^[6]