Monmouth Race Park
Monmouth Race Park is a thoroughbred race track in Oceanport, New Jersey. The track is often referred to as a racing resort due to its unique elegant and carefully-tended lawns and flowerbeds.
Monmouth Race Park is home to the $1,000,000 Haskell Invitational, the richest invitational thoroughbred race in North America. Many Triple Crown contenders see action in this prestigious race.
Aside from the Haskell Invitational, other stakes events hosted by Monmouth Race Park are the Red Bank, the Sapling, the Jersey Derby, the Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes, the Molly Pitcher Breeders' Cup Handicap, the United Nations Handicap, and the Salvator Mile Handicap.
Monmouth Race Park Facts
Main TrackTurf CourseThe main track is a 100-foot-wide, one-mile oval with 12 inches of aggregate sand drainage and 12 inches of crushed stone screenings topped off by a 4-inch cushion of sand and topsoil. The topsoil is a mixture of silt, clay and loam.
Paddock and Walking RingThe turf course is a 90-foot-wide, 7/8 mile oval which is a mixture of four kinds of bluegrass and Manhattan 2 rye grass.
The paddock is located behind the Clubhouse and consists of a 16-stall oak saddling enclosure leading to the English Walking Ring, where the horses are paraded for the public. This is one of the most picturesque and relaxing areas at Monmouth Race Park.
Major Milestones in the History of Monmouth Race Park
1870 - Monmouth Race Park opened on July 30 amid national fanfare. It was hoped that the new track would usher in fresh wind into the once-bustling shore area of New Jersey.
1873 - Monmouth Race Park closed down after encountering severe financial difficulties.
1878 - A group of four prominent individuals bought the dormant facility and spent four years rebuilding the track. An additional 160 acres was purchased to create a bigger track.
1882 - Racing at Monmouth Race Park resumed.
1893 - Wagering on horses was banned by the state. Consequently, Monmouth Race Park was again closed and the land was sold.
1946 - On June 19, Monmouth Race Park reopened after intense lobbying for the legalization of pari-mutuel wagering in the state. There was an estimated 18,724 people on hand for opening day.
1950 - Turf racing was held for the first time at Monmouth Race Park.
1951 - The Molly Pitcher Handicap at was the first race ever to be televised in color.
1952 - The teletimer was introduced.
1961 - Major renovations were undertaken. These renovations included the addition of a 400-seat cafeteria, a new wagering pavilion and additional escalators.
1967 - A one-eighth mile turf chute diagonally across the infield was installed allowing patrons a head-on view of horses approaching the stands. The infield lake was landscaped and the area beautified.
1969 - The first woman to ride at Monmouth Race Park, Tuesdee Testa, finished second with horse Verbosity in a race on June 9.
1978 - Jockey Don MacBeth won the first of his three straight Monmouth riding titles. Mac Diarmida won the Long Branch Stakes en route to an Eclipse Award as the nation's best turf runner.
1986 - The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority purchased the historic Monmouth Park Jockey Club. Many of the historic stakes races were reinstated; the Monmouth Cup was renamed the Philip H. Iselin Handicap.
1993 - Full card simulcasting took a firm hold, with purses offered at the highest level in the history of the track.
1994 - For the first time, a daily average of more than $3 million was wagered on Monmouth races.
1995 - Monmouth Race Park celebrates its 50th anniversary season.
1997 - A record-setting Haskell Day highlighted Monmouth Race Park's successes as on track attendance grew for the third straight season. The Haskell Invitational drew a record crowd of 39,219. Wagering on the event hit an all-time Monmouth Race Park high of $9.7 million.
2001 - A Haskell Day throng of 47,127 helped raise total annual attendance to 774,500, the highest annual total since 1989.
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