Harness racing's biggest prize is trading the New Jersey Meadowlands for the Anderson, Indiana oval, as Harrah's Hoosier Park has been named the new host of the $1 million Hambletonian Stakes beginning in 2027. The three-year hosting deal ends a 46-year run for the Meadowlands, which held the prestigious race every year from 1981 through 2026.
The Hambletonian Society, which organizes the race and works to support the breeding of Standardbred horses, opened the event to competitive bidding after Meadowlands management declined to renew its exclusive hosting rights in September 2025, according to the Daily Racing Form. That set off a year-long contest that pitted Indiana against the Meadowlands itself and Canada's Woodbine Mohawk Park, a competitive field detailed by Inside INdiana Business. Indiana's winning proposal came together as a joint effort involving the Indiana Horse Racing Commission, the Indiana Standardbred Association, Caesars Entertainment, Indiana Sports Corp and local tourism officials, who put together what Inside INdiana Business described as an incentive-laden contract.
Governor Mike Braun celebrated the announcement, saying that bringing the Hambletonian to Indiana is another tremendous win for the state and that Indiana has proved that it knows how to compete for and host major sporting events, according to the Indianapolis Star. First run in 1926 and considered one of the sport's most prestigious events per the Hambletonian Society's own news release, the race is named for Hambletonian 10, the foundational sire of the Standardbred breed, as noted on the race's Wikipedia entry. A specific race date has not yet been set; per the Indianapolis Star, the schedule will be released in the coming months.
A Rare Relocation for a Century-Old Race
Anderson's track will become just the seventh venue to host the Hambletonian in its hundred-year history, following stops in Syracuse, New York; Lexington, Kentucky; Goshen, New York; Empire City Race Track in Yonkers; Du Quoin, Illinois; and, most recently, the Meadowlands, according to the Daily Racing Form's historical accounting. The race also anchors harness racing's Trotting Triple Crown alongside the Yonkers Trot and the Kentucky Futurity, a sweep only nine horses have managed since the series began in 1955, with Marion Marauder the last to do it, in 2016, per the U.S. Trotting Association.
To even qualify as host, a track must run the race in daylight and offer an oval no smaller than seven-eighths of a mile under Hambletonian Society bylaws — specifications Hoosier Park's own seven-eighths-mile track meets, the Daily Racing Form reports.
Anderson Track's Track Record — and Recent Facelift
Opened in 1994 and now operated by Caesars Entertainment, Harrah's Hoosier Park runs 160 days of live harness racing each year and draws roughly 3 million visitors annually, per Inside INdiana Business. Casino gaming arrived at the property in 2008, and the track has already proven it can handle a marquee event, having hosted harness racing's $7 million Breeders Crown championship series in 2017, 2020 and 2023 while also serving as the annual home of the $300,000 Dan Patch Stakes since 1994, according to background compiled from Hambletonian Society records.
The Anderson facility also just finished a $40 million renovation that expanded gaming and dining, Hoodline previously reported on the April debut of Sulky's Restaurant & Bar, which overlooks the track's finish line and winner's circle.
Why Indiana's Casino Money Made the Difference
Industry analysts pointed to the economics behind the move: Indiana racinos benefit from casino revenue subsidies that flow into horse racing purses, while the Meadowlands lacks slot machine revenue and has faced purse pressure amid stalled state casino legislation, according to Harness Racing Update. New Jersey voters have not approved casino gaming expansion outside Atlantic City, a limitation that has constrained purse growth at the Meadowlands.
Indiana's horse racing and breeding industry generates roughly $2 billion in total annual economic impact statewide and supports thousands of jobs, according to a Purdue University study cited by the Indianapolis Business Journal. State rules set aside 15 percent of racino earnings to support track purses and equine breeding development, underscoring how directly casino revenue is tied to the sport's survival in the state.
For Indiana horsemen and state officials, landing the Hambletonian is a major validation of that homegrown industry. For the East Coast harness racing community, though, the loss of a 46-year partnership with the Meadowlands has stirred real anxiety, a tension Harness Racing Update captured in its coverage of the announcement.
