Garden State Park Horse Racetrack

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Garden State Park Racetrack opened in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on July 18, 1942. Developed by Eugene Mori and operated in its early decades by Garden State Racing Association, “the Garden” became a prominent stop in New Jersey’s racing scene, presenting thoroughbred and harness racing amid grandstand crowds, pari-mutuel windows, and stakes-day optimism.

The original wooden grandstand and clubhouse were destroyed by fire on April 14, 1977. The old operating company entered liquidation, and International Thoroughbred Breeders Inc. acquired the property in 1981 through its Garden State Race Track Inc. subsidiary. After a lavish reconstruction, the track returned to racing in April 1985—apparently determined to make every other oval look underdressed.

The comeback brought a glassy new complex, major purses, and a brief flash of modern-track swagger. Yet changing gambling habits, casino competition, declining attendance, and uneven finances kept the finish line moving. In January 1999, Penn National Gaming and Greenwood Racing acquired certain racetrack assets and leased the remaining Garden State facilities.

Our Garden State Park Horse Racetrack collection celebrates the lost Cherry Hill institution that ran its final live program on May 3, 2001. The land sale to Realen Properties ended racing plans; demolition began in 2003, leaving the 1942 gatehouse as the stubborn survivor of a very large, very Jersey sporting memory.