Blue Ribbon Downs, Horse racing track in Sallisaw, United States.
Blue Ribbon Downs was a horse racing track on Route 64 at Sallisaw's western edge with a grandstand, barns, and training facilities covering 102 acres. The complex provided professional racing infrastructure with stalls and work areas for Quarter Horses.
Bill Hedge founded Blue Ribbon Downs in 1960 and received American Quarter Horse Association recognition in 1963. The introduction of pari-mutuel betting in 1984 marked a turning point for the track's operations.
The track's first pari-mutuel race drew twelve thousand spectators in August 1984, marking a milestone in Oklahoma's horse racing development.
The property was acquired by the Cherokee Nation in 2003 and transformed into a combined racetrack and casino facility known as a racino. The location on Route 64 made it easily accessible from Sallisaw.
The site was eventually closed completely and the grandstands removed in 2022, leaving little visible trace of the former track. Today the landscape shows few signs of its racing past.
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