He discovered the fire, still marvels at rebuild

Tommy Trotter thanks God every day that something woke him about 1:30 a.m. the night that Arlington Park burned almost 25 years ago.

On July 31, 1985, Trotter, his wife, Sally, and their son, Danny, were sleeping in the Post and Paddock Club, which was attached to the grandstand. Trotter had come to Arlington from New York to be director of racing, and his family was bunking at the track waiting for their new house in Prospect Heights to be finished.

Sally and Danny went back to sleep. But the odor that reminded him of a fluorescent bulb burning kept nagging at Trotter.

And when he finally traveled down to the kitchen below his family's quarters he saw smoke up by the ceiling - the beginning of a very long night.

Now retired and living in Hallandale, Fla., Trotter talked about the fire that destroyed the Arlington Park grandstand and its remarkable rebirth four years later.

He said that soon after he discovered the fire, it burned through the roof of the club at the west end of the grandstand. It wasn't until hours later, when flames burst out the opposite end, that he knew all was lost.

The horses were in barns quite a ways from the clubhouse. Still, it was a relief when a light rain started and the wind died down, making it less likely a flying spark could spread the fire to that area.

Remarkably, no person or animal was injured in the fire.

But the horse people were concerned about their possessions, too.

Unable to get permission from the firefighters, Trotter allowed the jockeys to go into a part of the buildings where no fire was visible to retrieve their expensive saddles and equipment.

Then he and several other men braved the exposed electric wiring and water pooled on floors to find the foal papers, which are like birth certificates for horses. In the days before computerization it would have been difficult to run races without them.

And the stage was set for the Miracle Million.

"Dick Duchossois is that type of man. He wanted to carry it through," Trotter said. "They put the tents up and temporary seating. It was great. It was very successful and fun - countrylike. It was something to see. Mr. Duchossois went right about rebuilding.

"To look at it you would say there was no way he could run the Million. You didn't know would he rebuild. It's the most beautiful track there is. He did it first class."