6. The Brighton Beach Race Course was a major thoroughbred horse racing site
The Brighton Beach Race Course was a thoroughbred horse racing site opened in 1879 by William A. Engeman. The one-mile racecourse was built in the back of the Brighton Beach Hotel, bounded by Ocean Parkway on the west and Coney Island Avenue on the east. The race track attracted many wealthy patrons, in part because gambling was legal until 1908.
The Brighton Derby for three-year-olds was perhaps the most popular event, but the racecourse also hosted the Brighton Handicap for all other horses. Also run were the Brighton Junior Stakes, Brighton Mile, and Brighton Oaks. After gambling was made illegal, motor racing events were held at the track. The track was then known as the Brighton Beach Motordrome as an automobile racing course, but the facility was torn down in the 1920s.