Santa Anita Turf Club & Mandalay Bar- Over50Vegas.com

113 Fremont

Las Vegas, NV

Santa Anita Turf Club

1948 to 1952

Mandalay Bar

Circa 1940's

The Mandalay Bar

at 113 Fremont St.

Next door is the

White Spot Cafe at

109 Fremont St.

circa 1947.

It is listed in the 1944

Las Vegas phone book and the 1945 Murphy’s Business Directory

A very rare ashtray from the Santa Anita Turf and Bar in downtown Las Vegas.

The Santa Anita Turf Club opened July 7, 1948 and was licensed for slots, 21/blackjack, craps, roulette, and racebook. It closed in 1952 at this location.

January 19, 1949 the owners/licensees included:

Dave Stearns, Sam Stearns, and Edward Margolis

These three men had colorful backgrounds and "associates".

At one point in 1948, unable to secure their own race wire they resorted to bootlegging racewire results from a clandestine radio operation from across the street.

On March 23, 1950, they plead guilty to a reduced charge of illegally operating a low-power radio station. This was due in part to their lawyer's efforts to have the search of the Eldorado Casino and Apache Hotel, which yielded an old B-29 radio transmitter, deemed an illegal search.

The trio were unable to secure a race wire from Continental Press, so they allegedly stole race results from the Eldorado and then rebroadcast them to their own club, the Santa Anita Turf Club.

The Santa Anita Turf and Bar 113 Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas in the 1940’s

A very rare ashtray from the Santa Anita Turf and Bar in downtown Las Vegas.

The entrance to the Mandalay Bar and next door is

King Jewelry Co at 111 E Fremont

Telephone number 2058 as listed in the 1944 Las vegas phone directory.

In November of 1948, Dave Stearns, Sam Stearns, and Edward Margolis sued Continental Press and its owners Tom Kelley and Arthur McBride, on charges of monopoly and violating the Sherman anti-trust act for refusing to provide the club with race results.

McBride, owner of the Cleveland Browns, later tried to remove himself from the lawsuit by saying he had no ownership in the company and that it was wholly owned by his son Edward J. McBride.

The other defendants in that suit were Moe Sedway, Morris Rosen, and Connie J. Hurley, all of the Golden Nugget, whom they accused of having a monopoly on the race wire service in Las Vegas.

Other locations for the Santa Anita Sports book included:

3207 S. 5th (1954 Harold Hengson)

3207 S. Las Vegas Blvd. (1954 to 1985) (1986-1987)

(from Fuller's Index Plus)

The Santa Anita Turf Club at 113 Fremont St. was different from the Turf Club at 15 Fremont St.

It always surprises me to find something as fragile as a cocktail napkin has survived in great shape for 70 years!

Guy McAfee and his associates opened the Mandalay Bar next to the Frontier Club in about 1940.

"... He opened the Frontier Club and a swanky bar called the Mandalay Room adjacent to it. The bar also was a stab at appeasing his wife, June, Gaffey said. "June Brewster hated Las Vegas," he said. "She had been a star in a New York in a sexy revue and went to Hollywood. She was really into nightlife and the big city, and even Hollywood was a step down for her from N.Y.C. (Las Vegas) was a dump as far as she was concerned."

Archived article from the LVRJ

113 Fremont

Las Vegas, NV