PENN Entertainment

Freehold Raceway, which has hosted harness racing on its New Jersey site since the 1830s, making it the oldest operating racetrack in the country, will cease operations Dec. 28, according to a press release from the track on Thursday. "This was an extremely difficult decision, especially given the historical importance of Freehold Raceway to the local community and the New Jersey horse racing industry," said Howard Bruno, the raceway's general manager. "Unfortunately, the operations of the racetrack cannot continue under existing conditions, and we do not see a plausible way...

The 19th season of horse racing at Zia Park was a record setting one on several fronts with new standards set for average daily handle, purses and safety during the 30-day mixed Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred meet, the PENN Entertainment-owned track said in a release Thursday afternoon. An average daily handle of $830,371 was up 72% from the 48-date meet in 2022 to set a new track record and was the highest daily handle recorded by a racetrack in the state of New Mexico since 2010. Live handle was up an equally...

Purses for the upcoming race meet at Zia Park will be the richest in the track's 24 years, with overnight purses expected to average $360,000 per day for the 30-day mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse meet. "With the realignment of the 2023 New Mexico racing calendar, this is a tremendous opportunity to showcase New Mexico horse racing," said Christopher McErlean, Vice President of Racing for PENN Entertainment, parent company of Zia Park.  "There will be racing opportunities for all categories--New Mexico-breds and open horses, wide ranges of allowance classes and...

BetMakers Technology Group will add racing content from Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course to the growing slate available for fixed odds betting on MonmouthBets, the organization said in a release early on Wednesday morning. Through an exclusive license, the agreement between Penn National's parent company PENN Entertainment and BetMakers facilitates the delivery of content for fixed odds betting from Hollywood Casino and anticipates the addition of other PENN Entertainment racetracks in the coming months pending required horsemen and racing commission approvals. "We are very happy to work with...

Penn National has teamed up with the Meadows harness track on a weekly Pick 4 that will be among the first wagers to combine Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing. Both Pennsylvania tracks are owned by PENN Entertainment. The experiment will kick off Friday and will run through Aug. 25. The bet will be available on Fridays only. "My counterpart, Scott Lishia from the Meadows, reached out to me in early May with the idea of a cross-breed Pick 4, in an effort to get our respective fans interested in each other's...

Horse racing veteran Bryan Pettigrew will return to Texas and oversee horse racing operations at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston and at Retama Park in Selma, PENN Entertainment announced Tuesday. Pettigrew previously was head of marketing at Sam Houston Race Park in the mid-1990s before joining the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) and later the Breeders' Cup in Lexington, where he was the Chief Marketing Officer until 2019. "I was excited when I got the call to join the PENN Entertainment team and head up their Texas operations," Pettigrew...