Hoosier Park Race Track

Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino
Location	Anderson, Indiana
Address	4500 Dan Patch Circle
Opening date	June 2008
Total gaming space	92,000 sq ft (8,500 m²)
Casino type	Racino
Owner	Caesars Entertainment
Coordinates	Coordinates: 40°04′20″N85°38′20″W / 40.07222°N 85.63889°W
Website	hoosierpark.com

Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino is a racino including a standardbred racetrack located in Anderson, Indiana, approximately 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The facility features live harness racing from April through November, casino gaming, restaurants, a gift shop, and entertainment.

The $300,000 Dan Patch Stakes was established at Hoosier Park in 1994 and has become a tradition that highlights some of the best athletes in the sport of harness racing. The 2017 Breeders Crown, harness racing's annual series of 12 championship events valued at $6 million, was contested at Hoosier Park on October 27 & 28.^[1]

Hoosier Park offers off-track betting (OTB) at three locations in Indiana: Clarksville, Indianapolis, and New Haven. Hoosier Park also offers simulcast wagering year-round.

Janet Ellinger checked in to Hoosier Park Racing & Casino with Jodi Cuttone Macchione and Stephanie Boehm. September 16, 2018 Indianapolis, IN Fun day with the ladies - riding the Lime scooters, the Dugout, Pure, Thunderbird, Tappers and now Off Track Betting. Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino Anderson, IN May perform all or a combination of the following duties to facilitate food and/or beverage service to guests in the casino and racetrack.

Hoosier Park has hosted musicians such as The Beach Boys, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Billy Currington.

History[edit]

In 1990, Virgil E. Cook, a prominent local businessman and longtime resident of Anderson, Indiana, donated 110 acres (0.45 km²) of commercial real estate to the city for the sole purpose of developing a pari-mutuel racing facility. In 1992, Churchill Downs Incorporated announced plans to purchase Indiana's only pari-mutuel license from The Anderson Park Group headed by Louis Carlo and open a racetrack on the site of the land donated by Cook. It was the first racetrack outside Kentucky owned by Churchill Downs since 1939. In February 1994 a contract was signed for the construction of Hoosier Park. The construction of the facility cost approximately $13 million. On September 1, 1994, the track finally opened. A crowd of 7,633 came to the grand opening of the standardbred season. The track announces plans to open four off-track betting facilities in Indiana. On October 7, 1995, the first Indiana Derby was run.

Churchill Downs sold Hoosier Park in April 2007 for $8.2 million to Centaur Group.

Legislation was passed shortly after April 2007 to permit slot machines at both tracks, converting them to racinos. Both tracks were legislated to get a 55 percent share of the estimated $325 million the 2,000 slots at each of the state's two tracks were expected to generate annually. This would also increase the purse sizes of the races.

Hoosier Park Casino opened to the public on June 2, 2008.^[2]

In 2001, Indiana Downs became the second horse racing track in the state. Initially located in Fairland, Indiana; it was later annexed into nearby Shelbyville, Indiana.

The Indiana Derby was once held at Hoosier Park but is now held at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

In 2018, Caesars Entertainment bought Hoosier Park from Centaur Holdings, along with Indiana Grand.^[3] The company stated that it might rebrand the property as Harrah's Hoosier Park.^[4]

Physical attributes[edit]

The track is a seven-eighths of a mile dirt oval. There is no turf course.

Racing[edit]

Stakes races at Hoosier Park include:

The Dan Patch Stakes
The Nadia Lobell
Kentuckiana Stallion Management
Centaur Trotting Classic
The Hoosier Park Pacing Derby
The Elevation
The Jenna's Beachboy
The Moni Maker
The Circle City
The Madison County
The Pegasus
The Monument Circle
The Carl Erskine
The USS Indianapolis Mem.
The Crossroads of America

References[edit]

^AP 5:10 p.m. EDT October 29, 2014 (2014-10-29). 'Breeders Crown sites announced through 2017'. Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
^http://southerngaming.com/?p=740
^'Caesars' purchase of two Indiana racinos finalized'. The Times of Northwest Indiana. July 17, 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
^Lindsey Erdody (July 6, 2018). 'Caesars steps into unfamiliar role in Indiana: horse track operator'. Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved 2018-07-17.

External links[edit]

Hoosier Park Race Track

Hoosier Park Racing And Casino