The demise of Freehold Raceway, the oldest racetrack in America
In the end, it was all about a casino.
Always lingering in the background was the question: what was really behind the decision to end Freehold Raceway’s run as the oldest racetrack in the country?
The owners have declined multiple interview requests since it was announced the final harness race after 171 years would be run on Dec. 28.
But earlier this month, Penn Entertainment, which co-owns Freehold with Greenwood Racing, held a conference call to discuss the company’s third quarter earnings, and CEO Jay Snowden was asked specifically about Freehold.
His answer makes clear an inability to land a casino was at the heart of the track’s demise.
“I think as you look at the rest of our horse racing portfolio,,” Snowden said, “one, they are either at or above break even on a stand-alone basis, and they’re also, we believe, some of those are great development options for us down the road for potential land-based casino legalization or expansion in some of those markets. Certainly, Texas is top of mind there.”
Penn was one of the pioneers of the racino model, where revenues from gaming, primarily slot machines, supporting the associated racetrack. Among the properties it owns, manages or co-owns are eight racinos, a racetrack with a casino, and five stand-alone racetracks, including Freehold, according to Penn Entertainment’s 2023 annual report,
It now looks like Freehold Raceway was a speculative venture when it was purchased for $46 million in 1999, with the 25-year wait for a casino set to end.
“It was expendable. That was pretty obvious the fact that they hadn’t invested a dime into the place in years,” said Freehold mayor Kevin Kane, who has deep ties to the racing industry locally. “A lot of different things that over the years have just accumulated and them not really caring about what happens there.
"That was their whole thing. The Penn Gaming part of it is casinos, and they should have seen that on the front end or explored that on the front end a little bit, knowing the ties to Atlantic City that the state has."
Kane believes it was just business to the owners.
“They’re looking at the casino option, the horse racing was just a sidebar, not caring about the ripple effect it creates throughout the community in that industry," he said. "The farms, the people that work there. The people in the industry, they don’t really care. It’s a business to them. They don’t care about this property and if they can’t develop it into a casino operation, they don’t care.”
\'Dangerous disrepair\'
A lawsuit filed by the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey backs up that assessment, alleging breach of contract by FR Park Racing, a partnership between Penn Entertainment and Greenwood Racing concerning the operation of Freehold.
The owners allowed the track to fall into “dangerous disrepair,” including a lack of cleaning and painting throughout the grandstand and allowing a non-operating escalator remaining sealed off and unrepaired "for years", resulting in losses of patronage and revenue, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
While SBOANJ president Mark Ford has declined to comment, citing the pending litigation, the lawsuit says ownership, “announced the closure of the Raceway one week after Gov. (Phil) Murphy signed legislation providing Freehold Raceway with a $1.6 million annual purse subsidy for the next five years, and even though the SBOANJ members made significant investments on racing in Calendar Year 2025.” The lawsuit also said SBOANJ "tried to resolve these issues without litigation, but to no avail.”
It also claims the SBOANJ is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars from sports betting via a revenue-sharing agreement, with PlayUp Interactive, ownership's partner in sports betting, named in the complaint.
Fierce casino competition
The majority of Penn Entertainment’s revenues derive from gaming, and approximately 85 percent of its gaming revenue traces to slot machines, now known as video lottery terminal, according to its annual report. Racing makes up a small portion of the company’s revenues, it said.
The New Jersey casino expansion amendment (2016) would have allowed casino gambling outside of Atlantic City. Voters rejected the ballot question by a margin of 77% to 23%. And the amendment said the casino could not be within 72 miles of Atlantic City, thus eliminating Monmouth Park and Freehold even if it had passed.
There is growing sentiment that the state should revisit casino gaming outside Atlantic City with New York City expected to receive approval for casinos in 2025. But the competition for one is expected to be fierce.
“In my opinion, the key to the referendum is it has to make it clear the only location would be at the Meadowlands,” said Meadowlands Racetrack operator Jeff Gural, who has two racinos at New York harness tracks Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs. “The last time the referendum came out it was actually the northern half of the state and people don’t want a casino in their neighborhood.
"The Meadowlands, on the other hand, no one lives there. It’s designed for this, a great location with all the highways that go by there. Most people think a casino at the Meadowlands would be the most successful casino in the country.”
Freehold a \'one-off\'
Penn Entertainment’s purchase of Charles Town Races in West Virginia serves as a blueprint for its racino model. Penn agreed to purchase Charles Town in 1996 if Jefferson County approved the installation of video lottery terminal machines. After the vote passed, Penn bought the track, refurbished the facility and built a casino, and added a simulcast center.
In theory, that’s what would have happened at Freehold were it to receive a gaming license.
Three of the company’s stand-alone racetracks are in Texas, where there has been a legislative push in recent years to bring gaming to the state’s tracks. And among its entire gambling portfolio, which includes 43 properties in 20 states, Freehold Raceway is the only one being shut down.
“I would consider (Freehold) a one-off,” Snowden said on the conference call. “That was stand-alone horse racing and so, really, as you look at our portfolio, it looks like we’re in really good shape. All of our land based and barge, riverboat casinos, all of them are profitable, both before and after rent, not even close to being unprofitable any of them, so there really wouldn’t be any thoughts around any necessary closures or anything of that nature.”
In the quest to move forward, Freehold Borough has authorized a redevelopment study that has been approved by the mayor and council, and been approved by the planning board, which is currently working on the study.
There is supposed to be a meeting in the coming weeks between Freehold Borough officials and the track’s ownership.
“We want to schedule a meeting with track ownership to see exactly what their plans are,” Kane said.
“I think there’s a tremendous opportunity if we think outside the box a little bit. Create a really nice sports and entertainment complex with a lot of different components to it. We’ve been speaking with a lot of the horsemen who have some ideas.”
Stephen Edelson is a Paste BN NETWORK New Jersey sports columnist who has been covering athletics in the state and at the Jersey Shore for over 35 years. Contact him at: @SteveEdelsonAPP; sedelson@gannettnj.com.