hazel park raceway

Food is ok but the real draw is being able to sip a glaa of wine while you watch the horses cross the finish line.

After more than 30 years, thoroughbred racing is back at Hazel Park. Good drink prices on a Fri. or Sat. night. Fun way to start an evening. Plenty of parking spots and very close to 696 and 75.

I have lived in the area for many years, but this is the first time I went to Hazel Park Raceway. I read an article how thoroughbreds were racing on Friday and Saturday nights and was intrigued as only harness racing had been there for many years. The raceway was rebuilt in about 2005 and the place looks fantastic. Admission and parking are free and everything is general admission. You are able to go right down next to the track for the races or can go into the clubhouse or grandstand (covered btw). 9 races with varying lengths. Betting lines were plentiful. Estimate around 2000+ people were there on a good weather Saturday. Good time and I will go again.

Thoroughbred racing has begun at Hazel Park and along with it is a rarity, people actually coming to the track to watch live racing instead of just using off track betting. There were thousands of people at Hazel park last Saturday night, just having a good time with great weather, and a small bunch of nags racing short distances. evening was fun, but if you are a true horse bettor, only 5-7 horses per race and almost all races are 4 furlongs with smallish amount bet per race. This did not appear to bother anyone I saw. Food and drink prices quite reasonable. No charge for parking or admission...Makes for a great place for a date or to bring the family.

Glad the runners are back, fun to watch and bet a race or two. Plus it's great for the city of Hazel Park.

What a disappointment! and a total waste of money! I thought it would be a great experience to take my 2 1/2 year old daughter and husband to the circus for Father's Day, along with my mom, sister and her husband.... but boy.. were we disappointed... The picture on the Shrine Circus' website showed elephants and tigers... (now it's since changed) .. but even in their gallery.. showed elephants and tigers.. and in their 'poll' (where you could selected what you liked best).... but there were no elephants, no tigers... they only had a few horses at the beginning and near the end (We even drove around their tents at the end of the show.. and did not see any elephants or tiger cages or areas where they would even house their animals.. so they cannot even say that they had them but they didn't want to cooperate that day....... and then there was a 30 minute intermission where they really tried and push you to 'buy your kid a toy.. kids.. tell your parents to buy you a flashing stick'... way too long of intermission.. i think they lost a lot of people and kids attention.... anyways... we were all very disappointed .. and felt that most of the performers were amateurs... they missed a lot of there jumps... i wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps.. wait for the 'Garden Brothers Circus'... i hear they are much much better.. and actually have animals. (such as elephants and tigers etc) (also just to note.. .. the port-a-pottys were so disgusting.. my 2year old had to go to the washroom.. and i refused to use the port-a- potty... so we walked accross the parking lot to the mall to use their facilities... luckly it was in the mall parking lot so we could do that)

Relatively cheap beer. $2.00 bets, although rating system is a mystery to novices. Fun to watch harnace (sp?)/sulky racing. There is an all-track betting venue upstairs.

What a scam. We paid full price for VIP tickets - got yelled at by their "Marketing Director" who did not want to give us front ringside seats because she claimed they were for corporate. I waited until they filled out the seats and then personally spoke to every person who was sitting there. They were all expressing their anger and frustration because they faced a similar situation to mine. Only different was they held on to their seats and I didn't because simply I was trying to take the higher road. Their Marketing Director is rude and understands absolutely nothing of what marketing and customer service mean. She kept running away from me when I confronted her for lying about the seats. Everyone who was seated at ringside in our box was complaining of the scam and feeling ripped off. Cheap plastic seats, chaos, poor sound quality, poor visibility unless you are seated right in front of the stage in the center and not around the sides.My kids ( 7 and 4) ended up in tears and frustrated with all that happened.Over and above, the animals looked worn out and miserable. The animal acts were very disappointing to say the least.THey were selling elephant rides at 10 dollars a child and cramming 7 - 9 kids on top of one elephant. Upon queueing in line twice, after going against the crowds to make our way to the elephant rides, the rides got cancelled within minutes. Save your dosh. GO see Cirque du Soleil instead. Not worth it.

Friday nights are $1 bets and $2 draft beer. It was fun to go with a group of friends for a random and cheap night out.

Decent food, cheap drinks, great views of live horseracing. Always a fun night out and you may even walk out with a little extra cash if you bet right!

Went for the 4th of July fireworks that were awesome. Went early and saw the last few races which were actually pretty fun even for someone that has no idea about chariot racing or whatever those little carts were.

We visited the raceway for the Shrine Circus. This was a great way to start my daughters birthday- The circus was very pricey - i.e. popcorn, hotdogs etc...$10 to ride an elephant for literally 2 min. But hay what to you expect. The circus itself was pretty entertaining and lasted a long while. Kids had a good time.