BRADY — In the earliest days of West Texas, towns tended to have some kind of big outdoor public event around Independence Day, and there were two kinds of town, for the most part — towns that held rodeos on the Fourth of July, and towns that did horse racing.
(Sometimes, towns including Brady did both.)
But Brady has long been known as a horse racing town — and the site of the racing action since the late 1940s has been G. Rollie White Downs.
After being dormant for 35 years, races may be returning to Brady soon.
Scott Craigmyle, along with his sister, country music and television star, Heather Myles, are leading the revitalization effort of the G. Rollie White Complex just outside of town.
How Did This Get Started?
Heather Myles said she was invited to Brady several years back and liked the town so much, she moved here.
After buying the historic Hotel Brady on the town square, which she renamed the Trucountry Inn, she has made Brady her new hometown.
But Myles comes from a racing family, and — with the G. Rollie White Complex just sitting there — mostly unused, an idea began to take shape.
Doing Something New
After kicking that idea around a while, Myles and her brother began negotiations with the City of Brady to lease the complex, which the City of Brady approved a few weeks ago, and she announced the project to her Facebook followers June 7.
The family is working in collaboration with the local FFA and 4H programs, who have been the main users of the complex, and they have pros like Mason native and rodeo expert Tyler Magnus, to help transform G. Rollie White into a training facility for all kinds of equestrian and rodeo action: Roping, junior rodeos, and a return of the classic Brady races were just a few of the plans discussed.
The Racing Side
After 18 years working his way up at Los Alamitos, eventually rising to general racing secretary and director, Scott Craigmyle knows the costs and logistics involved.
“We’ve spoken with the Texas Racing Commission, and they want us to make it a training center,” he explained. “A lot of these little racetracks in Texas have closed, because — frankly — the land they’re on is worth more as other developments.
“All these Texas horses have to be shipped out of the state.
“They run at Retama, Sam Houston … People are training these horses in their backyards, and if they have to ship them, that’s a long way to ship a young horse.”
“We’d love to see this become the center of a classic old-time county fair,” said Craigmyle, reminiscing about all the time he and his sister spent at the L.A. County Fair, and the grounds at Pomona.
Once permits, insurance, and all the fun stuff is out of the way, he said the work of cleaning and refurbishing will commence. The land ownership will not change.
A lap around the track
We hopped into his little Honda Pilot and crossed the highway into Richards Park.
Many of the stables are being used by the local groups, and their activities will remain on site, and are expected to benefit from the overall improvements, Craigmyle said.
Crossing through the gate, we drove around the entirety of the 5-furlong track (five-eighths of a mile) while he pointed out unique details that make this a promising venture.
Built Right
“You can see this rail, here” He gestures to the main guard rail along the eastern side of the track “this work was done right. This main rail is still straight as an arrow — not so for other tracks I’ve seen.
“Likewise, this outside rail here is wide.”
Small nuances, like the width and trueness of a guardrail may seem inconsequential, but for a track manager like himself, it’s the first thing you notice.
Track design is an artform that must consider not just the strength of the facility, but also what the horses see.
Having a wider outside rail means the horse can confidently gauge its distance, an important detail to a critter whose eyes are set up quite differently than our own.
All these details add up to a track that is safer for horses, and easier for riders.
All-and-all; a better facility for the community.
“The rail will be painted white… that gives a really good outside for the horses to follow. It’s all done correctly.”
Fireproof Construction
Craigmyle said the stalls and other appurtenant structures also were well built, and don’t need too much work.
The stalls are all in very good shape. Welded up from two-inch pipe and sturdy fence panels, the largest barns have 54 stalls, totaling 270 stalls at the complex.
“All I need to do, in order to put my horses here, is fill them back up with dirt.”
At older tracks, Craigmyle said, many of these stalls are less than ideal.
He finds they’re often built from cheaper materials, and sometimes so old and brittle they shouldn’t hold show horses — or any other kind of livestock.
“You can knock holes into the side of those with just a kick,” he says gesturing to the enclosure, “Now; these stalls here … these are built right.”
Other Improvements
The grandstand itself just needs some cleaning and a fresh coat of paint to bring it back to life.
The boards of the bleachers are still solid and in good shape, and the stadium seats up front, though a bit sun faded, have largely been spared over the years of dormancy.
Craigmyle slaps and pokes at the infrastructure as we walk along under the giant canopy of the grandstand, to underscore the inherent integrity of the components, and then points up to a single hole in the sheet-metal roof that needs to be fixed.
“You can see that hole way up there, but that’ll have to be someone else’s problem,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not climbing up there.”
Getting Back to the Basics
Shifting the focus from revenue and racing, the organizers emphasize repeatedly who this project is for: the kids and the community.
Behind the grandstand lies an older barn which was converted into a pavilion. This space could host county fair-style markets, where local crafts and foods would be sold.
“Pies, jellies, jams: the ladies setting all of it up on their blankets. You could have competitions.
“Of course, I would have to be the judge of that.”
History of Racing in Brady
The oldest thing that could be called an organized sporting event in Texas was almost certainly a horse race.
Experts say racing horses goes back to the first week humans started riding horses, and suggest the betting on races must have followed right after.
In early Texas, affluent populations in Galveston, Houston and Velasco built grand racetracks, and it was seen as a real sign of civic progress if a town in this section had a real track.
Early Texas newspapers are full of stories of horse races being held somewhere or another in conjunction with festivities of every kind.
According to an article about Camp San Saba published by J. Marvin Hunter’s “Frontier Times” Magazine published in March of 1933, there was a track near Camp San Saba, one of the earliest settlements of McCulloch County in the early 1860s.
When the railroad came to Brady City, as it was known in 1903, the size of the town’s gatherings began to grow as passengers rode the train into town to take part in celebrations.
By 1909, the town was advertising its big fall fair in the Fort Worth Record and Register, announcing special rates at local hotels. And races of course.
They held races in almost every season of the year in Brady, for years and years.
The original downs were located about a half mile closer to town, in Richards Park, featuring a 3-furlong track.
The summer event was an especially big draw for the town, and by the mid-1920s, they held their first July Jubilee event, with three days of racing, July 3-5.
The event was very popular, and attracted thousands from around the state who wanted to attend a classic country fair, and watch the famous horse races that crowned the event.
In a 1929 issue of the Brady Standard, there are six listed races, top purse for the mile free-for-all was a whopping $200 grand prize, about $3,700 in todays money.
At this time, it appears the Jubilee received special allowance for pari-mutuel bets, as seen in an advertisement from 1934.
In 1935, Texas Gov. James V. Allred was flown in to attend the festivities, even though he campaigned on a promise eliminating the “vile practice” of betting.
The following year, under pressure from church groups, the governor got serious about that promise, and in 1937, he called a special session for the 45th Legislature so they could “outlaw and prohibit the so-called pari-mutuel betting or gaming on horse races, at racetracks, legalized by the Acts of the 43rd Legislature in 1933.
However, this did not stop the July Jubilee from taking place.
A twister did.
Around midnight on June 12, 1945, the original track in Richards Park was swept away by a tornado that plowed a path along Brady Creek, damaging several buildings, including the Brady Hotel.
But Brady got busy cleaning up, and one of the first things they had to figure out was what to do about the races.
Enter G. Rollie White
It took a little bit to get races going again in Brady, and for a couple of years the July Jubilee was held in February and then September.
At this time, the most influential citizen of town was Mr. George Rollie White.
White’s family were pioneers in the area, and prospered through hard work and shrewd investments.
Born in 1899, he went to college at A&M and then prospered himself.
To give you a sense of his level of involvement various organizations, in 1946 he received the first local Distinguished Service Award, where it was noted that during the past year he served as a member of the McCulloch Co. Selective Service Board; president of the Brady July Jubilee, Inc.; a member of the vestry of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church; chairman of the Highway Committee of the Brady Chamber of Commerce; chairman of the McCulloch Savings Bonds Committee, president of the board of directors of Texas A&M College; director of the National Livestock Marketing Association, director of the National Finance Corporation of Texas; a director of the Texas Goat Raisers Association, and held honorary positions with several influential groups.
In fact, he served Texas A&M in a leadership position for 30 years.
So, with some donations from White and public subscription, funds were raised to purchase new grounds near Richards Park by the Jubilee Association.
The new track was being built in 1946 in anticipation of the first post-war Jubilee the following July.
Other Projects on the List
Several improvements undertaken during the overhaul of the facility in the late 1980s included offices, a brand new track rail, and an elevator shaft.
Down below the risers, you will find the concession stands, snack bars, and betting galleries remain.
Craigmyle said the bathrooms will need extensive repair after being vandalized in recent years.
Above the grandstand remains a vast skeleton of what was originally going to be a clubhouse with an elevator where race enjoyers would have been able to look directly down on the finish line.
Below there are more offices, including one dedicated office specifically each for DPS and EMS.
In 1989, peri-mutuel betting was legalized in Texas, and plans formed around the old G. Rollie Downs, set up by specialist Dennis Moore, who was recognized by Trainer Magazine in 2024 as “the world’s foremost race track superintendent”.
Everyone had high hopes for the project, but the demand for this level of racing did not meet expectations, and in December of the same year the season was cut short. In 1990, no return was made to the track.
A Closer Look: Scott Craigmyle
For Scott Craigmyle, there’s no magic, or whispering, or anything like that.
He’s just been around horses his whole life, working at the track since he was fourteen, and horse racing is what he knows best.
The Craigmyle family’s history in American equestrianism dates back three generations. Scott’s godfather, Johnny Longden, was at one time the most successful jockey in the world.
His father’s name can be found in dozens of racing results in California newspapers dating back to the 40s and 50s.
“Racing is my life. There’s a photo of me on horseback when I was a year old.
My teacher told me I could bring anything to school to read; well, I brought a copy of the racing forum.
My math teacher would steal it while I was out to recess so he could place his bets!”
Longden gave Craigmyle his big break working for the Los Angeles County Fair, where his natural horse-sense proved itself from the start.
“I went to work in the barn area, driving the tractor to clean out the stalls. You can’t just hire anybody to work around horses. They need to be able to handle them correctly.”
Rodeo and Roping
Tyler Magnus is a legendary rodeo competitor with almost 40 years of experience, which he is expected to bring to scheduling rodeo and roping events. A nine-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier, he is also a former NFR average champion in team roping, and was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame at a museum at the Fort Worth Stockyards in 2009.
More about racetracks in Texas
According to the Texas Racing Commission, Class 1 horse tracks can be granted an unlimited number of racing days.
- Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie
- Retama Park in Selma
- Sam Houston Race Park in Houston
Class 2 tracks can be granted a maximum of 60 racing days per year.
Class 3 licenses are issued to county or nonprofit fairs, and allow 16 racing days at most.
The only current class 3 license is held by the Gillespie County Fair in Fredericksburg.
Class 4 licenses can be issued to county fairs and allow 5 racing days.
Authors note: Special thanks to the UNT Library and the Texas Historical Commission is due; whose invaluable archive and preservation efforts makes stories about Texas gems like this possible. Photos, original newsprints, and publications are available through the Portal To Texas History.
Source: Article in “Trainer” magazine
Photographs by Will McDaniel
