Rillito Race Track - Tucson Arizona

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Rillito Race Track is Located at 4502 North First Avenue, Tucson, Arizona , the Rillito Race Track is a heritage site covering 90 acres of rich history and cultural importance. Referred to as one of the cradles of modern Quarter Horse racing, the Rillito Race Track represents a center of activity in Tucson's equestrian and community traditions since its founding. The Rillito Park Foundation helps retain this historic site in many facets of racetrack management. In addition to the actual race track, the foundation oversees the historic Jelks Stud Farm house, 11 full-size soccer fields, and facilities that host a year-round farmers' market. This blend of history, sports, and community activities makes the Rillito Race Track live with energy within Tucson's cultural fabric.

Rillito Park - Credit: Robert BourlandRillito Race Track - Credit: Robert BourlandRillito Race Track bleachers - Credit: Robert Bourland

Historical Background

The history of

the Rillito Race Track mirrors that of Jefferson Rukin Jelks, one of the founding fathers of Quarter Horse racing. He was born in 1899 on a farm

near McCrory, Arkansas

, where

had developed an interest in

animal husbandryand

horses at a very young age. His journey from rural upbringing in Arkansas to becoming one of the stalwarts of the horse racing scene in Tucson was truly one of endurance and dedication to the sport.

After serving in World War I, Jelks went to the University of Arkansas for his agriculture studies. He then, however, contracted tuberculosis, after which he moved to Tucson, Arizona, as the climate there was touted as favorable for people ailing from it. Jelks continued his education at the University of Arizona, where in 1922 he earned an animal husbandry degree. It was in Tucson that he would lay the foundations for what would prove to be future contributions related to horse racing.

The Beginning of Rillito

Jelks fared fairly well during his early years in Tucson, both personally and professionally. Having married his childhood sweetheart, Della Jeffries, the couple decided to start their life together in Tucson. Tragedy struck in 1927 when Della died shortly after the birth of a son. Jelks found comfort in work, as well as in his friendship with the Melville and Katherine Haskell couple, who would play important parts in the Rillito Race Track's development later.

In 1929, Jelks married Melville's sister, Mary Haskell, and the newlyweds moved out to a new Casa Blanca Ranch home of about 30 miles out of Tucson. This ranch was also called the White House Ranch and became the base of Jelks' horse breeding and racing activities. Over time, Jelks started to develop racehorses with a young jockey named Frankie Figueroa.

The scene for horse racing in Tucson in the late 1930s was quite informal, nothing more impressive than some match races. Still, after Jelks got him enthusiastic about the sport, he built not one, but two race tracks on his property to provide a site for more organized horse racing. In January 1937, Jelks raced his horses on a quarter mile straightaway and around a

polo field at Bob Locke's Moltacqua Horse Farm on Ajo Way and the Santa Cruz River.

These first races did not have the organized attachments of starting gates and grandstands associated with horse racing today, but they were the beginning of organized

horse racing in Tucson. Over the next

couple

years, he organized an association of local horsemen and breeders that became the Tucson Horseman's Association, whose members included Jelks, Melville Haskell, Jake Meyer, and Clancy Wollard. This association sponsored races at the Moltacqua track and was quite influential in laying the groundwork for the establishment of the first World's Championship Quarter Horse Speed Trials, which many years later would develop into one of the major segments of racing for the Quarter Horse. Also at these trials, and for the first time ever, a horse was crowned World Champion Quarter Running Horse by the name of Clabber

In 1940, Jelks purchased land

situated

between the Rillito River and River Road, east of North First Avenue.

He built on this land a

new home and stables

, a future characteristic of Sonoran revival architecture that would gain recognition from its attributes

, including saguaroribbed ceilings, doublethick adobe walls,

and

handhewn mesquite timbers

. It was this property that became the site of the Rillito Race Track, which Jelks proposed as a new public race track when the Moltacqua track closed in 1943.

The Rillito Race Track suddenly became the place for Quarter Horse racing when Jelks designed it with a feature of innovation that would soon become part and parcel of the conduct of Quarter Horse racing: a three eighths of a mile straightaway chute. This chute system, developed from 1943 to 1946, revolutionized this equestrian sport and forever etched Rillito in racing history.

The first season at Rillito, held in 1943-1944, saw the eventing of both Quarter Horse and thoroughbred racing. Each Sunday, the track was packed with a terribly interested audience. Headlining the meeting was the World's

Championship Quarter Horse Speed Trials in February,

during

which

the mare Shue Fly pulled off a remarkable third successive win of

the World Champion Quarter Running Horse

title.

Innovations and Preservation

In addition to work on the track itself, Jelks' work in the horse racing sector extended to the creation of the American Quarter Racing Association in 1944. AQRA was an association founded to provide organized and clean racing. Among its works, AQRA made the rules and regulations for holding Quarter Horse racing, which included provisions that provide for registration of horses, maintenance of performance records, and ascertaining the accuracy of registrations.

There it did not end; in 1945,

the U.S. government requested

Jelks temporarily close

the Rillito Race Track

to make way for activities of World War II. Undaunted by the interruption, Jelks continued his promotion of Quarter Horse racing and even donated use of the track

to the Tucson Livestock Show

when they needed a place to conduct the annual

speed trials.

Certainly one of the finer moments in the history of Rillito was realized in February 1945 when Queeny, a partially crippled mare owned by Jelks, established a new track record at the World's

Championship Quarter Horse Speed Trials.

This sealed

Rillito

the

leading

horse racing course and gifted Jelks with that magic touch for champion horses.

In the post war years, the Rillito Race Track continued to grow. The 1950-1951 season saw the most sweeping changes in the form of racing since its inception. Most importantly, the speed trials that had been a part of every meet since 1940 were abolished and a series of stake races named after notable people and places were substituted in their place. These changes, in addition to some of the finest horses from the entire Southwest, helped establish new attendance and betting records in both the 1951-1952 and 1952-1953 seasons.

The Rillito Race Track's historical significance was formally recognized in 2012 when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This designation underscored the track’s importance not only to Tucson but to the broader history of American horse racing.

In 2017, the Rillito Race Track received renewed support from the community and donors, ensuring the continuation of both thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing during the winter season. This support was crucial in preserving the legacy of the track, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2018.

Rillito Race Track Views

Original race track included a 'chute' straightaway and later with a five-eighth-mile oval added in 1953, Thoroughbred racing was brought to the track.

Rillito Race Track turn - Credit: Robert Bourland

Rillito Race Track inside view - Credit: Robert Bourand

Rillito Race Track clubhouse view - Credit: Robert Bourland

Rillito Race Track Art

Rillito Race Track art - Credit: Robert Bourland

Rillito Race Track Memorial

Rillito Race Track Memorial Garden - Credit: Robert Bourland

Rillito Race Track 2018

Rillito will race Saturdays and Sundays, along with two Friday programs, winter 2018 starting in February through March.

Gates open at 10 a.m. and close after the last Simulcast race.

General Admission is $5 and Clubhouse Admission is $10.

No outside food or beverages are allowed in. Please no pets.

Jockeys, Valets and Officials only - Credit: Robert Bourland

Contact Information

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 64145
Tucson, AZ 85718

Physical Address:
4502 North First Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85718

(520) RILLITO (745-5486)
[email protected]