The last time horses raced around the famed oval at Atlantic City Race Course was January 2015. The track closed by the end of that month. Now only ghosts roam the legendary track: the ghosts of Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Kaye, investors as well as fans of the Mays Landing, New Jersey track that opened in 1946, and the ghost of Thoroughbred Iceberg II, who won the initial United Nations Handicap in 1953 with Jorge Contreras atop. The UN was considered perhaps the richest U.S. turf race ever run.
Then there are the ghosts of Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker and B. B. King, who headlined the three-day Atlantic City Pop Festival, held two weeks before the legendary Woodstock festival 50 years ago.
Blame the casinos in Atlantic City for hastening the track’s demise. In the years since Atlantic City introduced gaming, plans and schemes have surfaced to replace horse racing. Some of the surrounding land morphed into the Hamilton Mall. According to the Press of Atlantic City, in 2004, a town-center complex lacked support. In 2005, a rep from Cabelas thought about purchasing the parcel for a $1.6 billion outdoor sportsmen’s retailer. In 2010, plans for an offshoot of the aviation research park fizzled. In 2014, the open-air Mercato Market opened but suspended operations after only one month.
Hamilton Township has declared the site an area in need of redevelopment, says Township Administrator Michael S. Jacobs. Earlier this month, the Township Committee approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with owner Greenwood ACRA so both entities can work together on a proposal for the 250-acre site. Greenwood, which also owns Parx Casino and Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, purchased the race course in 2001 for $15 million.
“We want to promote proper development,” Jacobs said.
The MOU is just a declaration of intent to negotiate a plan for redevelopment of the racetrack,” said M. James Maley, Jr., an attorney with Maley Givens & Associates. “We are in the early stage of discussions. The plan will establish zoning laws for the site, so there will like by broad parameters set for the types of uses that would be permitted at the site. The Township has no specific plans beyond seeing a productive reuse of the property in a way that benefits the township at large.”
Hamilton Township set 180 days as a target to come up with a proposal. Why so long? “It’s a big project,” Jacobs said.
The question is begged: Why will this time work? The answer may lie in the May 2018 Supreme Court decision overturning the 1992 ban on sports betting, which opened the floodgates for sportsbooks, both brick-and-mortar and online in the state. New Jersey, which brought the lawsuit that rolled back the ban, has jumped out in front as a leader in sports betting, much of it linked to existing casinos in Atlantic City.
How does that play into the future of the Atlantic City Race Course? Simple. When New Jersey drew up the rules and regulations for sports betting, in addition tying sportsbooks to casinos, sportsbooks could be associated with two tracks, Monmouth Part and Meadowlands.
But the rules said something else too. Former tracks can also build a sportsbook, so long as it’s on the site of the physical track.
“Per the New Jersey sports wagering statute, Atlantic City Race Course is one of the New Jersey racetracks and former racetracks eligible to apply for a sports wagering license,” said Leland Moore, spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. “The state statute allows the owners of a closed racetrack to apply for a sports wagering permit within the oval of the racetrack. That application would be made to the New Jersey Racing Commission.”
Bingo.
With the success of sportsbooks at Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that one in Hamilton Township stands to be profitable, especially surrounded by other amenities like a hotel.
