A photo history of the Rose City’s race track
“Under lights as bright as a thousand moons, big-league horse racing comes to Portland Saturday,” The Oregonian wrote on Sept. 14, 1946.
The newspaper called the new, “ultra-modern” Portland Meadows racetrack a “long-courted dream for race-minded” locals, one that cost “considerably more than a cool million” to build.
The track’s proponents heralded it as the Rose City’s arrival on the national sports stage.
“This is not a ‘pocket edition’ of any other track but a full-scale race plant of which the Northwest can be proud,” declared developer Bill Kyne ahead of the inaugural race.
Just over 72 years later, what was likely the track’s last live horse race took place with much less fanfare. The venue’s owner, The Stronach Group, says Portland Meadows has been running in the red for years. It’s looking to turn the property into a warehouse/distribution complex. The racing season at the facility ended in February.
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