NJ Horse Betting Sites
Home to the oldest racetrack in the United States, New Jersey boasts a rich horse racing history. The NJ horse betting industry dates back to the 1830s at Freehold Raceway, a track that continues to operate almost 200 years later. Now, you can watch and wager on live standardbred and thoroughbred racing at three racetracks in the Garden State, as well as through legal off-track and account wagering at Atlantic City casinos.
Horse racing has continued to rise in popularity, not just in New Jersey but nationally over the years. There’s been plenty of buzz so far in 2026. Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby after posting 23-1 odds, but did not compete in the Preakness Stakes. In turn, Napoleon Solo won that race with 10-1 odds.
With just one leg of the Triple Crown remaining, the Belmont Stakes on June 6, consider this page your complete overview of horse racing in New Jersey. That includes everything you need to know about the state’s racetracks, the most popular races in the country, and a full guide to New Jersey horse betting, both online and off.
Best NJ horse race betting site
When it comes to online horse betting, New Jersey bettors have a few options. Among those, we rate FanDuel Racing the best choice right now.
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How to bet on horse races in NJ
In New Jersey, horse racing dates back to the 1830s at Freehold. But it was still illegal to bet on horse races in New Jersey until 1939, when voters backed an amendment allowing pari-mutuel betting at in-state racetracks.
Many years later, New Jersey lawmakers passed the Off-Track and Account Wagering Act in 2001. The law means NJ horse betting online is fully legal for adults 18 and older through licensed account wagering platforms. In fact, the law authorizes horse betting in New Jersey in four types of places:
- Online at sites like FanDuel Racing
- NJ racetracks
- Casinos with racebooks
- Off-track wagering facilities
NJ online horse betting at FanDuel Racing
New Jersey’s horse betting law makes account wagering on horse races perfectly legal in the state. That means NJ residents 18 years old or older are free to open an account and wager on local and simulcast races from around the world.
The best option for NJ online horse betting is to join FanDuel Racing. Once you do, you can place bets on horse races taking place at over 200 tracks in the US and around the world. If you’re looking for a solid NJ horse betting app, FanDuel Racing is your answer there as well.
Opening a FanDuel Racing horse betting account
You can open a FanDuel Racing account to bet on horse races using just a minimal amount of personal information, including:
- Your name
- A valid email address
- Your phone number
- Your date of birth
- A personal password
- Your current address
Funding your FanDuel Racing horse betting account
Once it’s open, you’ll need to fund your account before you can place wagers. Fortunately, FanDuel Racing offers a variety of deposit options for you to choose from, unlike TwinSpires Racebook, including:
- Debit/credit cards (Visa and Mastercard)
- Check
- E-check
- FanDuel prepaid card (deposit only)
- PayNearMe (deposit only)
- PayPal
- Wire transfer
When you sign up, you can get a No Sweat First Bet up to $500 back as a racing bonus if your first single-horse bet loses. What’s more, you don’t even need a promo code to receive the offer. Note also that if you have an account at FanDuel Casino, you’ll be using the same account for FanDuel Racing, even though it is a different platform.
Throughout the country, the FanDuel Racing platform has become a leading destination for online horse racing betting. New Jersey players looking for access to both domestic and international racing will find it an excellent option.
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What NJ racetracks offer fixed odds?
For now, Monmouth Park is the first and only US racetrack offering fixed odds wagering. The format allows bettors to lock in their odds at the time of the wager, just like with an NFL point spread. With the more common tote wagering, odds are not finalized until the race starts.
Fixed odds are currently restricted to Monmouth live races, including the Haskell Stakes. Wagers can be placed with tellers located at the first-floor grandstand paddock side and the first-floor clubhouse paddock side.
New Jersey racetracks
Close to a dozen racetracks have come and gone during two centuries of live horse racing in New Jersey. Today, three racetracks remain in the Garden State, offering live standardbred and thoroughbred racing, simulcast racing, and pari-mutuel betting on all of it.
Freehold Raceway
Races have been held at what is now central New Jersey’s Freehold Raceway since the 1830s. The track was officially established in 1853, making it the first racetrack in the United States.
- Live Racing: Standardbred
- Dates: Jan. 1-May 31, September-mid-December
- Simulcast: Open seven days and nights per week for year-round thoroughbred and standardbred (harness) racing simulcasts
- Sports Betting: Parx Sportsbook at Freehold Raceway
- Location: 130 Park Ave., Freehold, NJ 07728
- Contact: 732-462-3800
- Owner: Penn National Gaming and Greenwood Racing
Meadowlands Racetrack
In East Rutherford’s Meadowlands Sports Complex, the Meadowlands has live thoroughbred and harness racing. Notable annual races include the Hambletonian.
- Live Racing: Thoroughbred and standardbred
- Dates: Year-round
- Simulcast: Open seven days and nights per week for year-round thoroughbred and standardbred (harness) racing simulcasts
- Sports Betting: FanDuel Sportsbook at the Meadowlands
- Location: 1 Racetrack Dr., East Rutherford, NJ 07073
- Contact: 201-843-2246
- Owner: Jeff Gural
Monmouth Park
Monmouth Park features thoroughbred racing on the Jersey Shore. Notable annual races include the Haskell Invitational.
- Live Racing: Thoroughbred
- Dates: Early May to Labor Day
- Simulcast: Open seven days and nights per week for year-round thoroughbred and standardbred (harness) racing simulcasts
- Sports Betting: Caesars Sportsbook at Monmouth Park
- Location: 175 Oceanport Ave., Oceanport, NJ 07757
- Contact: 732-222-5100
- Owner: New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
Atlantic City casinos with racebooks
The Off-Track and Account Wagering Act allows Atlantic City casinos to open racebooks and offer pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast races from New Jersey racetracks and horse racing facilities worldwide.
Currently, only one casino has a racebook:
BetMGM Sportsbook and Bar
This site is the only place in Atlantic City where you can bet on horse racing. The site is located near the north entrance of the Borgata Hotel Casino, across from the poker room. Formerly known as the Racebook, the BetMGM Sportsbook and Bar now takes New Jersey sports bets as well.
Features 100 seats with individual flatscreen monitors, 10 wagering windows, and self-serve kiosks for horse racing bets.
Plus, the Boot and Whip bar features a video wall displaying live events and races.
- Location: 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Licensed off-track wagering facilities
The Off-track and Account Wagering Act allows off-track wagering facilities to operate in the state and to offer pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast races from New Jersey racetracks and horse racing facilities worldwide.
The NJ Racing Commission lists the following licensed off-track wagering facilities:
Favorites at Egg Harbor
- Location: 6055 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor, NJ 08235
- Phone: 609-804-6240
Favorites at Hillsborough
- Location: 150 Route 206, Hillsborough, NJ 08844
- Phone: 908-722-1415
Favorites at Gloucester
- Location: 1300 Blackwood-Clementon Rd., Clementon, NJ 08021
- Phone: 856-441-4253
Favorites at Toms River
- Location: 1071 Highway 37 West, Toms River, NJ 08755
- Phone: 732-240-1210
Favorites at Woodbridge
- Location: 3 LaFayette Rd., Fords, NJ 08863
- Phone: 732-512-5000
Winners Bayonne
- Location: 400 Route 440 North, Bayonne, NJ 07002
- Phone: 201-437-5780
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Different types of horse racing bets in NJ
Horse betting in NJ (or anywhere else) is much easier than it may seem. Sure, there are some complicated names for the wagers you can place, but they’re all relatively straightforward.
Whether you’re NJ online horse betting, wagering on a live standardbred or thoroughbred race at one of the three racetracks in NJ, or betting on a simulcast race at the track, an Atlantic City casino racebook, or an off-track wagering facility, the following basic and more advanced wagers are available:
Straight bets
Straight bets are about picking winners and who might finish in the top three in any race. Basic straight wagers include:
- Win: Wager on a horse to win, and if it does, you get paid at odds set once all selections are in.
- Place: Wager on a horse to finish first or second, and if it does, you get paid at odds set once all selections are in.
- Show: Wager on a horse to finish first, second, or third, and if it does, you get paid at odds set once all selections are in.
- Across the Board: Three separate wagers on the same horse, including a wager to win, place, and show.
Exotic bets
When NJ horse race betting, keep in mind that exotics offer a little more variety and often bigger odds, but these wagers are still primarily about picking winners and who might finish in the top three in any race. Exotic bets include:
- Exacta: Wager on two horses to finish first and second, in that order, and get paid out at big odds. The exacta can also be boxed, which is like two separate selections, with the order of finish reversed.
- Quinella: Wager on two horses to finish first and second in any order and get paid out at odds that are slightly less than the exacta.
- Trifecta: Wager on three horses to finish first, second, and third, in that order, and get paid out at even bigger odds. Trifectas can also be boxed, which is like making separate trifecta wagers, changing the finishing order of the three horses.
- Superfecta: Wager on four horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth, in that order, and book a big payday. Superfecta bets can be boxed, but boxing starts to get a little expensive with four horses.
Wheeling
You can wheel any of these exotic bets. This is similar to adjusting the finishing position of some horses and placing wagers on additional horses for later finishing positions to create various winning combinations.
You “key” the horses you like at the top and mix in more possibilities to save money over boxing while giving you additional opportunities to win.
The Triple Crown
The biggest event in US horse racing is actually three events. The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, or just the Triple Crown, is a trio of races held annually from May to early June featuring the top three-year-old thoroughbreds.
The horses vie to become a Triple Crown winner by winning all three:
- Kentucky Derby: The first leg is held on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky. It is also known as The Run for the Roses. The Derby is typically run on a 1 1/4 miles track.
- Preakness Stakes: The second leg is held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby at the Pimlico Race Course in Maryland. The Preakness is typically run on a 1 3/16 miles track.
- Belmont Stakes: The jewel of the Triple Crown is held at Belmont Park, New York, in the first week of June. If a horse has won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, media coverage tends to explode for this race. The longer 1.5-mile race is also known as The Test of the Champion.
Only 13 horses have won the Triple Crown. The first Triple Crown winner was Sir Barton in 1919.
Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, and there was a 37-year drought following his win. American Pharoah broke that 37-year streak in 2015. Justify took the title in 2018 and was the last Triple Crown winner.
Twenty-three horses have won the first two legs but failed to complete the Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes.
There will be no Triple Crown winner in 2026, though. Golden Tempo, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby, did not compete in the Preakness Stakes. In turn, 2026 marked the eighth consecutive year in which there was no Triple Crown winner.
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The Haskell Invitational
The Haskell Invitational is a race for three-year-old thoroughbreds that typically runs in July at Monmouth Park in New Jersey following the Triple Crown. The race has been around since 1968, but became an invitation-only $1 million stakes race for three-year-olds on a 1 1⁄8 miles track in 1981.
The 2026 edition of the Haskell Invitational Stakes is the 59th running and is scheduled for Saturday, July 18.
The Hambletonian Stakes
The Hambletonian is an American harness race for three-year-old standardbreds. It is the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing. The race is typically run at Meadowlands Racetrack on the first Saturday in August with a $1 million purse.
The 101st Hambletonian is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026.
NJ horse racing history
Historians claim that horse racing has been held in New Jersey since the late 1700s and early 1800s. Freehold Raceway, which began hosting races as early as the 1830s, is considered the oldest racetrack in the US.
Large racetracks in Ho-Ho-Kus, Clifton, North Bergen, Paterson, Vernon, and Long Branch began operating in the 1860s and 1870s. The Long Branch Racetrack, now Monmouth Park, opened as New Jersey’s first grand racing venue in 1870.
New Jersey made it illegal to bet on horse racing in 1894, but the sport did not leave the state. Races were held at various tracks, including Weequahic Park in Newark and the Long Branch Racetrack in Oceanside.
Following the 1939 amendment that allowed pari-mutuel betting, Garden State Park in Cherry Hill opened in 1942, followed by Monmouth Park at Long Branch and Atlantic City Race Track in Mays Landing in 1946. These three tracks made up New Jersey’s Golden Triangle of thoroughbred racing.
The launch of Atlantic City casinos killed the action at Garden State Park and the Atlantic City Race Track, and both eventually closed. However, Monmouth Park and Freehold Raceway remained in operation. Meanwhile, the Meadowlands started hosting harness and thoroughbred racing in the late 1970s and continues to do so today.
Get started with NJ horse betting
With a rich racing tradition, three active racetracks, and multiple legal wagering options, New Jersey remains one of the best states in the country for horse racing fans. Whether you prefer betting at the track, visiting an off-track wagering facility, or New Jersey online horse betting, there are plenty of ways to get involved throughout the year. From the Triple Crown to the Haskell Invitational and everyday simulcast action, NJ horse betting offers something for every type of racing enthusiast.
