Dixon Then and Now: Racing Was Once the Main May Fair Attraction

Horse and bicycle racing were once major attractions in Dixon, especially during the annual May Day, or May Fair events.

People have always been drawn to speed, and prior to the automobile horses especially provided that thrill. On the farm, there were work horses, and they may have offered a decent speed when ridden with just a saddle. But here and there, some horses were bred and kept primarily for their speed. I assume that before formal horse racing began in Dixon, there were impromptu races between such horses, with bets. At minimum, bragging rights were at stake.

In 1885 the Driving Park Association was formed to lay out a half-mile oval track in Dixon, primarily for horse racing. The track, which replaced a baseball diamond, was built in a large space occupying the part of Dixon’s fairgrounds now used by the May Fair for food stands, carnival rides and the arena space used for major musical shows.

Apparently in 1892 the Association also built a bicycle track within or near the horse track. With the introduction of the safety bicycle in the late 1800s, bicycles had come into popular use. The bicycle’s front and rear wheels were now of equal size, air-filled rubber tires made riding more comfortable, a chain-driven rear wheel was commonplace, and the classic bicycle frame had been developed that's still in use today. Riding the safety bicycle was also taken up by women and symbolized their increasing freedom.

In 1891 a Dixon Bicycle Club formed which offered group rides and several bicycle dealers opened up shop in town.  

If bicycle speeds approached those of today, speeds in the 20-mile-per-hour range were possible.

In 1893 six men competed in a May Day bicycle race, with Fred Hutton winning. Later that year in September, more bike races were held, which the Dixon Tribune called one of the largest meets north of San Francisco. Twelve men competed in a five-mile race on May Day in 1895, including members of the Crescent Wheelmen.

Unfortunately, the coming of the automobile spelled the doom of bicycle racing in Dixon at the turn of the century, as mechanically inclined young men switched from tweaking their bicycles to fiddling with engines and attaining the hair-raising speeds of 30 and even 40 miles per hour in horseless carriages! By 1910, in the popular eye, bicycles were more often seen more as kids’ vehicles. I don’t know when the last bike races were held at the fairgrounds.

Horse racing in Dixon enjoyed a much longer run which ended only when the county fair (which Dixon hosted beginning in 1916) was moved to Vallejo around 1950. Both traditional saddle-horse and harness races (where the rider is perched on a simple cart drawn by the horse) were held in Dixon. Harness-racing horses had shorter legs than the thoroughbreds used for saddle racing, and in harness racing, strategy is more important than speed alone.     

For a mental picture of a typical horse race during the May Days, I lean on the memories of 95-year-old Arnold Collier of Dixon, who remembers going to races as a boy and young man in the 1920s and 30s. After the traditional May Day parade, families would take lunches to the fairgrounds and have picnics. Then many – mostly men – would head for the grandstand or track to take in racing. He remembers three races per May Day at first, when mostly local men and horses competed. Later, the racing became more of a professional, regional affair. He remembers that approximately two-thirds of the races were harness races. His uncle, “Cav” Collier, was the marshal in charge of policing the racing area from atop his horse Black Beauty, making sure spectators didn’t wander onto the track.  

At first, there was informal betting between the spectators who attended, with some hard liquor probably making the betting more spirited. Men would wear a hat, sport jacket and necktie. The small number of women who came to the grandstand would sit by themselves.

Stables near the track held the horses prior to racing. Collier remembers one particular racing day in the 1930s when a local horse broke its front leg and went down, killing its rider (and the horse itself was put down). This put a damper on racing enthusiasm for a time.

A Dixon Tribune article mentions two days of horse racing accompanying May Day in 1887, drawing 1500 spectators. In 1888, a May Day race offered a $75 first-place prize and $25 for second place. There are mentions of race variations too: in 1895 a race for mules, and in 1917 a race between a horse and automobile. Buggy races were also held. Eventually, there were also auto-only races. In 1932, there were cow-pony races.

In 1933, California legalized horse race betting and in 1936 the May Fair and accompanying racing were put under the auspices of the newly formed 36th District Agricultural Association. Annual pari-mutuel betting on May Fair racing then reached a high of $41,000.   

Interestingly, during World War II in the 1940s, all horse-racing tracks in California were closed except for Dixon’s, making local racing a statewide draw.

In later years, some high school sports were played on fields within the horse-racing track oval, with spectators sitting in the old grandstand, which was finally dismantled during the 1980s. I don’t know precisely when the racing track was removed. It clearly shows up in an aerial photo taken in 1975.

Today, the May Day (now called May Fair) fairgrounds are state owned. As the number of horse-race tracks in California decline, including the recent closure of the Bay Meadows track in San Mateo, the Solano County Fair in Vallejo wants to end horse racing there.

But Dixon had a brush with renewing its former glory as a horse-racing venue a few years ago when the Magna Entertainment Corp. pulled out all the stops to obtain approval for its 260-acre Dixon Downs horse racing, hotel and retail project in the northeast section of town. After the city council voted in favor of the project in 2006, citizens’ groups forced a special election which ultimately rejected the development. Not long after, Magna filed for bankruptcy.

A racing remnant remains with the auto and truck demolition derbies that are part of the current May Fair and Fourth of July celebrations at the fairgrounds. Also, a Dixon Downs mural still adorns the side of Bud's restaurant.