Freehold Raceway
🇺🇸 NEW JERSEY
Racing at Freehold Raceway
About Freehold
Freehold Raceway is the oldest race track in the United States with racing of various forms having taken place in the area since the 1830’s, though the track opened officially in 1854.Freehold is one of the most popular harness racing venues in the country with a leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers having taken place there between 1998 and 2010.
Freehold essentially runs two big meets per year, one starting on New Year’s Day running until the end of May and the other usually from September (end of August in 2018) until mid-December and both can be seen on TVG.
Freehold History
Although some historians say forms of racing have been held on this site as early as the 1830’s, it was in December 1853 that Monmouth County Agriculture Society was formed to hold an annual fair featuring harness racing in Freehold with the track opening officially in 1854.By 1946, Freehold started a 24-day parimutuel meeting with a record crowd of 4,000 wagering more than $1.4million over the course of the 24 days.
In the 1950’s the track was sold for $5,000,000 and after 14 years of steady growth, 1962 saw a new record crowd of over 13,000 attending with over $25,000,000 wagered throughout the year.
By 1965 Freehold had increased in value once again, being sold to Gibraltar Pari-Mutuel for over $8,000,000 with the new owners reconstructing the race track to allow for eight horses in each race rather than the previous six.
In 1970 the grandstand at Freehold was enclosed to allow year-round racing, something which has ensured the future of the track and by 1994 the venue was seen as valuable enough to be sold to International Thoroughbred Breeders for $23,000,000.
In 1999 the track was sold yet again, this time for as much as $46,000,000 to the owners of Penn National and in 2008 the current owners opened at Freehold what is New Jersey’s third off-track wagering facility.
Freehold Track Details
Freehold is a half-mile harness race track with room for eight starting horses (formerly six).
Biggest Races
Cane Pace – one and 1/8 miles, three-year-olds (held here between 1998 and 2010 and worth over $500,000).
Wager On Races At Freehold Here With TVG!
Now you know a little about Freehold’s history and facilities, don’t forget you can wager on races there with TVG. Head to our schedules page to check out the latest race times then bet and watch live!
Address
130 Park Ave., Freehold, NJ 07728, United States