Agricultural fair used to include horse racing at track in Albion

This photograph taken by Marc Cole at the 1903 Orleans County Agricultural Fair captures the excitement of a closely run race.

By Catherine Cooper, Orleans County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Volume 4, Number 22

ALBION – Horse racing was a popular attraction at the early Orleans County agricultural fairs.

In 1881, “trials of speed” were held for “green” horses owned in the county.

Races at the 1900 Fair were open to all trotters and pacers owned in the county. Prizes were 1st – $15, 2nd – $10, and 3rd – $5.

A “hitch-up” race was also offered – competitors would hitch up to any style of wagon, race one-half mile and then unhitch. By 1895, a grandstand had been built to provide a more comfortable viewing area.

By 1919, prizes had increased to $300-$400 per race, which attracted more competitors. There were 50 entries in the 1921 fair, many of them professional runners. This 1926 program, for example, shows entrants from Jamestown, Hilton, Hamburg, Rochester and Batavia.

1926 Program

  It rained for three of the four fair days in 1927 and 1928, and in 1929, rain caused the cancellation of races on two afternoons.

The 1931 Orleans County Agricultural Fair offered “the largest racing program ever presented at the County Fair. Over one hundred harness and running horses representing fifteen regional stables were entered in ‘pace’ and ‘trot’ races. Races were held in the afternoon and “at night on a brilliantly illuminated track.”

Horse racing continued as an annual feature at the Orleans County Fair through the 1930s but the stresses of World War II interrupted an event that had started in 1856.

Racing personnel at the 1926 Fair