Appealing to the sporting crowd has always been a feature of Miami’s tourist attractions. Opportunities for polo, golf, tennis, and yachting have historically drawn denizens of these sports both as tourists during the winter months and, often times, as retirees in their later years. In the Roaring Twenties, Miami added horse racing to the plethora of activities that attracted vacationers.

The opening of the Miami Jockey Club in 1925 in Hialeah, the community developed by aviator Glenn Curtiss and cattleman James H. Bright, marked the emergence of Miami as a leading destination for gambling. While betting technically was illegal until 1932, spectators wagered on horse races at the elegant Jockey Club, which featured lavishly landscaped gardens and a striking French-Mediterranean style clubhouse.

Philadelphia millionaire Joseph Widener took over the Jockey Club in 1929, and reopened it in 1932 as the Hialeah Race Track. The new facility featured live flamingoes transported from Cuba, adding an element of exoticism to the site. Opening day at Hialeah has attracted such notables as J.P. Morgan, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and the Kennedy family. More recently, the race track became synonymous with Miami from the opening credits of the popular 1980s television show Miami Vice, which featured images of the Hialeah Race Track flamingoes as well the Spanish sport of jai-alai, also played in Hialeah at the Miami Fronton.