Penn National

🇺🇸 PENNSYLVANIA

777 Hollywood Blvd, Grantville, PA 17028, USA

Racing at Penn National

The busy schedule of live racing at Penn is what makes it so unique and means there is always a race meeting for local bettors to come and see and you can catch all the results righthere.

About Penn National

Grantville, Pennsylvania plays host to Penn National Race Track where racing is held all year on the one-mile dirt track and seven-furlong turf course. The track sits 17 miles east of Harrisburg just off the I-81. The track sits within commutable distance to two other major cities; 100 miles from Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Its unique selling point is that it offers racing for 52 weeks of the year with the previous highlight being when it hosts the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governer’s Cup Handicap, a five-furlong sprint race on turf however the jewel in the crown now is the Penn Mile, run since 2013.

The Penn Mile is a Grade 2 event on the turf for the three-year-olds, held each June and worth approximately $500,000.

Penn National History

The history of this great track stretches back to 1972 when the track raced for the first time in front of over 10,000 people on August 30.

Penn National had been the brainchild of a bunch of civic leaders from Central Pennsylvania who managed to establish the track very early with 100 racing dates in the first year alone – this is closer to 200 these days.

Back in ’83, Penn was instrumental in the invention of telephone betting, i.e. “account wagering” which went on to be a well practiced way of betting until the internet age took hold.

Penn National became a public company in 1994 when offering $18million worth of stock on the NASDAQ, something which has helped the business grow over the last 20-something years and has resulted in the track being able to host such races as the half-million dollar Penn Mile.

As well as providing a place for people in Pennsylvania to come and see live racing, Penn National had by 2000 opened 11 off-track betting facilities around the state which means bettors do not have to travel all the way to Grantville to place a wager.

Penn National Track Details

The main track is a one-mile dirt oval with two chutes and a seven-furlong turf course to the inside. There is a run of just under 1,000 feet from the final turn to the wire on the home stretch.

With the advent of the Penn Mile, the turf course at Penn National has taken more prominence in recent years.

Biggest Races

Penn Mile (Grade 2) – one mile (turf), three-year-olds (June).
Penn Oaks – one mile (turf), three-year-old fillies (June).
PA Governer’s Cup – five furlongs (turf), three-year-olds and older (June).
Fabulous Strike Stakes – six furlongs, three-year-olds and older (November).
Swatara Stakes – one mile and one sixteenth, three-year-olds and older (November).

Place Your Bets At Penn National With TVG!

Now you know all about the track at Penn National, 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

777 Hollywood Blvd, Grantville, PA 17028, USA

Contact

Chris McErlean (christopher.mcerlean@pngaming.com)