Penn National Replacing 51-Year-Old Track Rail

Penn National is getting a new track rail that will replace the one that's been in place since 1972.

“That's the original track rail that's been in there since the track opened,” Chris McErlean, the vice president of racing for PENN Entertainment, said during Tuesday's Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission meeting. “We are going to a new PVC breakaway type rail that is in use at a couple racetracks right now, and it should be better from a safety standpoint and a maintenance standpoint.”

Penn National started a scheduled break after the Sept. 22 program. Live Racing resumes Oct. 25.

“That should take us a little less than two weeks to get installed,” McErlean said. “We're working around training. We've adjusted training hours slightly to accommodate that. But it should be up and fully installed by the middle of October.”