 New Jersey racetrack owners George Engeman and Albert Gleason leased the Ivy City track in August 1893 with the aim of having a 25-day "winter season" of racing in November.Engeman was initially opposed by the Washington Jockey Club, which was in the process of opening a racetrack in the Benning neighborhood east of the Anacostia River.Racing began on November 22 at both tracks,

Both city and federal officials declared the resumption of horse racing at Ivy City in violation of the 1891 law.