Freehold Raceway is a half-mile racetrack in Freehold Borough,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and is the oldest

racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also u ...

in the United States. Horseraces have been taking place at Freehold Raceway since the 1830s. The Monmouth County Agricultural Society was formed on December 17, 1853, and in 1854 they began holding an annual fair with

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

at Freehold Raceway From 1998 to 2010, Freehold Raceway was the home of the

Cane Pace The Cane Pace is a harness horse race for standardbred pacers run annually since 1955. The race was first run as the William H. Cane Futurity in 1955 at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messe ...

, a harness horse race run annually since

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. In

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the

Messenger Stakes The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York (on suburban Long Island) to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create ...

to become the first leg in the

Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers consists of these horse races: #Cane Pace, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey #Messenger Stakes, held at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York # Little Brown Jug, held at t ...

. In 1984, an electrical fire destroyed the main building. Racing was then held under tents until the new building was completed in 1986. In 1990, the

Freehold Raceway Mall Freehold Raceway Mall is a super-regional high-end shopping mall, located in Freehold Township, New Jersey. A premier shopping center for Central Jersey, the mall is located off of U.S. Route 9, Route 33, and County Route 537, opposite the Freeh ...

opened up across the street, and was, until 2007, decorated with harness racing motif. In 1998, Freehold was acquired by a joint venture of

Penn National Gaming Penn Entertainment, Inc., formerly Penn National Gaming, is an American entertainment company and operator of integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming. It operates 43 properties in 20 states, online sports betting in 14 jurisd ...

(now Penn Entertainment) and Greenwood Racing (owner of

Parx Casino and Racing Parx Casino and Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park Racetrack and Casino) is a thoroughbred horse racing venue and the largest casino gaming complex in Pennsylvania. Parx is located in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, northeast of the city of P ...

). In 2005, Freehold was also the temporary home of the

Yonkers Trot The Yonkers Trot is a harness racing event for three-year-old Standardbred trotters raced at a distance of one mile at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York. The race was created in 1955 to join the Hambletonian and the Kentucky Futurity to form ...

, part of the

Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters Triple Crown is a combination of three major races in harness racing. The term ''Triple Crown'' is mostly used in the US, but also in France. The term is also used in thoroughbred racing. United States The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trott ...

, while renovations took place at

Yonkers Raceway Yonkers Raceway & Empire City Casino, founded in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track, is a one-half-mile standardbred harness racing dirt track and slots racino located at the intersection of Central Park Avenue and Yonkers Avenue in Yonkers, New Y ...

. Freehold Raceway has two meets per year. They race from New Years Day until the end of May, then reopen in September and race until the middle of December. There are two harness tracks in New Jersey, Freehold Raceway and The Meadowlands. There are several farms and training centers located near Freehold Raceway which stable hundreds of standardbred racehorses.

Triple Dead Heat

Freehold Raceway was the site of the first ever

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

triple

dead heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...

win in a harness race. Double, triple and even quadruple dead heats were more commonly awarded in horse racing when finishes were judged by the naked eye in real time. With the advent of photo finish technology in the second quarter of the 20th century, there was a significant decrease in dead heats. During a harness race on October 3, 1953, the noses of horses Patchover (driven by Ed Myer), Payne Hall (F. Albertson) and Penny Maid (E. Beede) passed the finish line at exactly the same time.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Freehold Raceway Official Site
Buildings and structures in Monmouth County, New Jersey Freehold Borough, New Jersey Harness racing venues in the United States Horse racing venues in New Jersey Sports venues in New Jersey Tourist attractions in Monmouth County, New Jersey 1830s establishments in New Jersey

Triple Dead Heat

See also

References

External links