Horse racing memorabilia auction at Arlington International Racecourse draws fans for final farewell

After babysitting for jockeys’ kids at Arlington International Racecourse, then working the betting window for 20 years, Jeanne Hoogerhyde had spent much of her life at the track. Now that it’s closed, she wants to take a little piece of it home with her.

So she was back at the track Monday, checking out some of the hundreds of items from the facility that are being sold at a series of online auctions. She and her husband already bought a bench from the grandstand for $450. They also were checking out other items and reliving memories.

“There’s never going to be another place like this,” she said. “There was something about being outside at the track with your family and friends. The horses were beautiful, the fireworks were fun. I loved it.”

Owners Churchill Downs Inc. closed the track last year and entered a preliminary agreement to sell the site in Arlington Heights for $197 million to the Chicago Bears, who have proposed building a football stadium there.

Though the land could hold both the track and a football stadium, the Bears have said they’re not interested in conducting racing on the 326-acre site. Weeds now grow high along the rail, and the stables and rows of backstretch apartments sit empty. It seems likely the facility, which Architectural Digest once named the most beautiful racetrack in the country, will be torn down.

That means everything must go. In a series of up to 15 planned auctions, Grafe Auction is selling off furniture, signs, art work and bronze sculptures, trash cans, saddle towels and jockey numbers muddied in races, and a few jockey silks.

Auctioneers expect eventually to sell the finish line and quarter mile poles from the track, though any usable equipment could be transferred to other tracks. The standout work of art at the track, a statue of legendary racehorse John Henry, will likely be transferred or sold separately.

But a smattering of people checking out the wares at the seven-story track were interested in picking up anything to remind them of the park’s heyday in decades past.

“Anything with the Arlington logo goes fast,” track General Manager Tony Petrillo said. Office supplies had been donated to schools in Chicago, and some memorabilia was being saved for the Arlington Heights Historical Society.

One former worker wiped away tears as she contemplated the track closing, while others fondly recalled family picnics there.

“I hate that it’s ending,” Carol Elliott, of Woodstock, said. “It’s such a nice facility to be wasted.”

On the other end of the spectrum, some of those attending the auction had no interest in horse racing and had never been to the park before. Chuck Pine, owner of Chuck’s Southern Comforts Cafes in Burbank and Darien, was instead bargain hunting.

He was checking out outdoor furniture for his dining patio, a coffee table for his home and equipment for his kitchens. One sofa that sells for $3,300 new was on bid for $140.

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This was the fourth of up to 15 planned auctions, Patrons may view the items online, and the final online bidding was set for Tuesday. Similar to an in-person auction, bidders have 20 seconds to bid on an item before it’s sold, or if there’s a new bid, the timer resets for another 20 seconds.

Judd Grafe, president and CEO of Grafe Auction in Spring Valley, Minnesota, said people treasured the park as a gathering place, but understand change is part of life.

“People were married here, and had memorials and reunions here,” he said. “This is a chance to honor that history. It’s always a sad day when that goes away. But if the Bears make this a different kind of gathering place, that continues.”

Scott Jensen, 57, of Schaumburg, had made the track his “stomping grounds” for decades, and had watched the previous grandstand burn down in 1985. He hoped to buy a bench like the one on which he has a photo of himself with his sons and mother on Mother’s Day in 2014, their last time at the track before she died.

As for the future, he compared the site’s potential to that of other NFL entertainment complexes such as the ones in Dallas or Los Angeles, and said its fate depends on the Bears.

“If the Bears do it right, it’ll be awesome,” he said. “If they don’t, it could be a bust.”

rmccoppin@chicagotribune.com