Rare real estate for sale: Just $1.29M
68 acres, a race track and a horse swimming pool in Crete on market
Just off the corner of East Bemes Road and South Klemme Road in Crete is a 68-acre property with a sprawling horse racing track, a 85 stall barn and a swimming pool for horses.
The price tag? A cool $1,299,000. Perhaps the most interesting part of this rare listing is who is listing the space. Real estate broker Nick Oosting of McColly Bennett Real Estate Bourbonnais has a rich family history that is tied into one of the most storied race tracks in the state.
“My family has been in the horse racing business my entire life. My dad is actually a jockey or he’s a driver, for harness race horses,” Oosting said of his father, Michael. “He was driver of the year for Balmoral Park six, seven, years. I actually sold Balmoral Park not too long ago.”
Balmoral, which operated races in Crete beginning in 1926, hosted its final harness races the day after Christmas in 2015 after track owners filed for bankruptcy when no 2016 harness racing dates were issued by the Illinois Racing Board.
More recent, Balmoral is been used by ground’s owners as truck parking lot.
The Oosting family is horse racing royalty in Chicago, according Standardbred Canada, which tracks horse racing events around the world. Standardbred called Michael Oosting a “veteran reinsman” “who has become a fixture atop the driver standings on the Chicago circuit over the past 10-plus years.” Michael has more than 7,000 total wins.
“Oosting started his driving career nearly four decades ago and has since steered the winners of over $48 million,” Standardbred wrote in September 2021.
Now, Nick Oosting hopes the property he is listing will be bought either by a business or group of people looking to revitalize the local horse racing industry or by an individual who has long wanted to privately own a one-ofa-kind equestrian’s dream.
“We’re trying to target people that are in the business already,” said Oosting. “We target a lot of not-for-profits. These farms are really big for not-for-profits.”
While there is no home on the property, there is a 85-stall barn and a horse therapeutical pool.
“A lot of people will swim their horses. It’s very good for them,” he said.
Oosting made one last selling point for a prospective buyer. At present, a racing-casino can be built in Cook County but not in Will County where this track is due to state gambling laws. But Oosting indicated that could change.
“If someone wanted to own this thing they could probably ... make some pretty good money off this property,” he said.