Meadowlands Racecourse: The Home of the Hambletonian

Meadowlands Racecourse is one of the most prominent racing facilities in the U.S. East Coast. Meadowlands racecourse is well renown for being the home of the Hambletonian, the most prestigious and respected trotting event in the world.

Major Milestones in the History of Meadowlands Racecourse

• Meadowlands Racecourse opened on September 1, 1976 as harness racing on a mile track made its metropolitan debut before an estimated crowd of 42,133. Rambling Willie took the opening night feature in 1:55. Ray Remmen won the very first race with Quick Baron and would later establish himself as the top trainer through the first two decades at Meadowlands racecourse.

• In 1977, two distinguished meets, the Meadowlands Pace and the Woodrow Wilson held their inaugural runs.

• The 1980 Meadowlands Pace was the first million dollar race in the history of horse racing, both thoroughbred and standardbred. Less than a month later, Meadowlands racecourse presented horse racing with its first $2 million race, the Woodrow Wilson.

• In 1981, the most hallowed trotting event in the world — the Hambletonian — moved to Meadowlands racecourse.

• In 1982, the all-time Meadowlands racecourse record crowd of 52,974 watched both racing and the Gerry Cooney—Larry Holmes prize fight on June 11.

• The 1992 season was the first with a new Hambletonian race format.
  The three-year-old trotters now raced in eliminations, and the final would determine the winner, regardless of whether he or she won their elimination.

• The 1998 meet at Meadowlands racecourse broke many wagering records. Hambletonian Day handle was more than $6.5 million, the highest Hambletonian handle ever and the second highest in harness racing history. The night of the Meadowlands Pace produced a total handle of more than $6.3 million, the third highest handle ever. For the entire Meadowlands racecourse meet, the average total harness handle set an all-time high at $3,173,098, surpassing $3 million for the first time.

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