The County Line
If you ever noticed, Hamilton County has a lot of roads with unusual names. There is Jerkwater Road, Little Chicago Road, Olio Road and Mule Barn Road among them. Kind of interesting is the background of Greyhound Pass, a main drive through the Village Farms addition to Westfield.
It’s not named for a breed of dog, not for a Carmel athletic team, and not for a bus company. Greyhound Pass is named for a horse, a famous light grey trotter which held a national racing record for 31 years. But, the prized horse never saw the street named for him.
Greyhound, a Standardbred gelding, was born in Illinois in 1932. Early in life he was sold for only $900 because of his awkward appearance. But, as a two-year-old he was on his way to fame. In a few years Greyhound had won the Hambletonian and established a record in one-mile competition that stood until 1969.
Meanwhile, in Indiana, Leo McNamara was building Two Gaits horse farm, eventually a 700-acre spread in Clay and Washington townships west of U.S. 31. It had distinctive white wooden fences and barns trimmed in red. And, it was home to some very successful race horses, but not Greyhound, who died in 1965.
Following McNamara’s death, the farm was sold in 1973 to another horse lover, Ralph Wilfong. Also a real estate developer, Wilfong platted Village Farms but maintained the horse farm theme. He chose the name Greyhound Pass for the main entry road into Village Farms from U.S. 31.
In 1978 Wilfong tried to develop a pari-mutuel horse track on the east side of 31, but such betting tracks required a voter referendum, Voters shot down the plan, and Village Plaza Shopping Center was built on the land. Greyhound Pass was extended eastward through the shopping center.
So, although Greyhound – known as the Trotter of the Century – was not a Hoosier horse, in a sense, his name and legacy lives on at Greyhound Pass.