Planned Closure Of Historic Freehold Raceway Spurs Lawsuit From NJ Horse Racing Group

Written By Dan Holmes on October 8, 2024
A horse warms up at Freehold Raceway in New Jersey.

Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey is suing the partners behind Freehold Raceway over their plan to shutter the historic track.

Standardbred Breeders argues it will be out millions of dollars from the Dec. 28 closure in what it claims is a breach of contract.

Freehold Raceway, which traces its NJ horse racing history back more than 170 years, is owned and operated by FR Park Racing, which consists of Greenwood Racing Group and Penn Entertainment. Also named in the lawsuit is PlayUp Interactive, Inc.

Lawsuit claims FR Park Racing violated a revenue-sharing agreement

New Jersey is home to just three horse racetracks. Freehold Raceway is the oldest track in the US. New Jersey offers four options for betting on horses: online; at casinos and racebooks; at off-track facilities; and at the tracks themselves.

FR Park Racing intends to concentrate on other gaming and entertainment ventures after it closes Freehold Raceway in December. Among them is a New Jersey sports betting agreement with an as-yet unnamed casino partner.

That, says Standardbred Breeders (SBOANJ), is a violation of the revenue share agreement between the two parties. According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in the District of New Jersey:

“Rather than live up to its commitments, FR Park Racing first closed its sports betting operations and transferred its online presence to another entity to avoid any future sport wagering revenue sharing with the SBOANJ.”

The lawsuit also alleges that FR Park Racing “announced the closure of the Raceway one week after Gov. Murphy signed legislation providing Freehold Raceway with a $1.6 million annual purse subsidy for the next five years, and even though the SBOANJ members made significant investments on racing in Calendar Year 2025.”

According to the lawsuit: “The SBOANJ tried to resolve these issues without litigation, but to no avail.”

The plaintiff claims it entered into an agreement with FR Park Racing last year “to increase attendance, handle, racing quality, participation, and enhance public perception of Standardbred racing …” But nothing came of the effort, the SBOANJ says, even after it paid $25,000.

Lawsuit claims future of Standardbred racing in NJ is in jeopardy

Horse racing is lagging behind in popularity to the burgeoning sports betting industry in New Jersey. Penn Entertainment has shifted some of its attention to sports betting in the state. Last year, Penn went into business with media conglomerate ESPN to launch the ESPN Bet online sportsbook.

Closing the track will be a major blow to horse racing in New Jersey, the SBOANJ claims in the lawsuit.

“Freehold Raceway was one of only two tracks in the state to conduct Standardbred racing. Closing Freehold Raceway puts into question the future of the Standardbred industry in New Jersey.”

The SBOANJ says it will lose out on as many as 40 planned races after the track closes. The group has an agreement with FR Park Racing that runs through June 2025.

The next phase of the case is a hearing in New Jersey District Court. No date has been scheduled as of yet.

Photo by Wayne Parry / AP Photo
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Dan Holmes

Dan Holmes is a contributing writer for PlayNJ. He has written three boooks about sports and previously worked for the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as Major League Baseball. An avid writer, runner and enjoyer of lemon bars, Dan lives near Lake Michigan with his daughters and, oftentimes, a nearby orange cream soda.

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