Atlantic City Race Course is shutting down leaving the state of New Jersey with only three remaining horseracing tracks—Monmouth Park, Freehold Raceway and the Meadowlands.
The track’s owners say the facility has suffered major losses for the last eight years.
“We regret to announce that we must close Atlantic City Race Course immediately due to continuous business decline in the industry, the current regional economic climate, and the absence of alternative revenue opportunities,” Joe Wilson, president of Greenwood ACRA Inc., owner and operator of the track, said in a press release. “Most importantly, we would like to thank our dedicated employees and the supporters of Atlantic City Race Course who have contributed to its proud legacy in the racing industry over the years.”
Wilson said the racetrack had lost at least 60 percent of its business over the last eight years. The track has a year-round simulcast operation and has offered six days of all-turf racing in the spring each year.
However, the announcement of the closing quickly brought interest in the track from the operators of Monmouth Park racetrack.
Dennis Drazin, an adviser to Darby Development, which operates Monmouth in central New Jersey, told the horseracing website bloodhorse.com that he called Wilson after hearing the track would close.
“We had no forewarning they weren’t going to operate a meet,” Drazin said. “Joe Wilson later that day called me as a courtesy to tell me what was happening, and I inquired if Greenwood was interested in leasing or selling Atlantic City. He said we would talk about it another day.
“We are all certainly saddened by the fact there would be no horse racing in South Jersey,” Drazin said. “The local community appreciates that meet and the history there, and there is an appetite for horse racing there. So we want to make an effort to enter a lease or purchase the track. “We look forward to hearing from them if they are interested. If they are, we will pursue it. Wilson did not lead me to believe they wouldn’t be interested.”
Greenwood has not announced any future plans for the facility or property.
According to the website, in 2014 Atlantic City raced five days. Average daily parimutuel handle topped $800,000, with an average of about $150,000 bet on track. More than $500,000 in purses was paid during the short meet. Atlantic City Race Course was approved to race six days in April this year.
The Race Course was hurt by the opening of casinos in nearby Atlantic City in the 70s, but the decline became more serious in 2007 when Pennsylvania and New York tracks added slot machines and could offer higher purses. New Jersey then began losing breeders and jockeys to the new competition.
In March 2008, the state approved a $90 million subsidy from Atlantic City casinos over three years as compensation for not installing video lottery terminals. Atlantic City Race Course, however, never ran enough races annually to benefit from the subsidy.
The state is currently waging a legal battle to allow sports betting at tracks and casinos, but that process, while ongoing, has been met with repeated failure in the courts.
Greenwood ACRA is a subsidiary of Greenwood Racing Inc., which owns Parx in Bensalem, Pennsylvania’s top-grossing casino. Parx also has a racetrack. Greenwood ACRA also co-owns Freehold Raceway with Penn National Gaming Inc. and operates Favorites at Vineland, one of five off-track wagering sites in the state.
“Atlantic City Race Course used to run a full schedule of races when the casinos opened in the late ’70s,” Wilson told Philly.com. “That certainly drew a lot from the racetracks. When we bought it, there were only so many races we could run. The problem in the last eight years is that business has declined about 60 percent or more, and there are no signs of that trend reversing. We reached a point where we can’t stay open.
“We looked and tried everything,” he said. “We’ve lost money there for several years. You keep holding out and exhaust every possibility you could. Unfortunately, we can’t keep going. We’re at the end.”
In its heyday, the track was known for seeing show business personalities—often playing Atlantic City—in its grandstand. Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope were early shareholders in the track. The track’s turf course is considered one of the best in the country.
According to the local Press of Atlantic City, on opening day, July 22, 1946, 28,000 fans packed the facility, the largest inaugural day racetrack crowd in history. Among those in attendance were Sinatra, Hope and Princess Grace of Monaco. Princess Grace was the daughter of John B. Kelly, the track president and one of the four businessmen who founded it.
2014 was the 68th consecutive year of live racing at the track, but a full season hasn’t been held at the track since 1998.
