Hoosier Park Horseracing
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Hoosier Park is one of the Midwest's premier horseracing venues. This Anderson, Indiana facility has a 7/8 mile horse track that features thoroughbred, harness and quarter horseracing.
Hoosier Park hosts high-profile Stakes events every year - a testament to its importance in the Midwest's racing scene. Among these are:
- Thoroughbred racing
- Indiana Derby; Indiana Breeders' Cup Oaks; Michael G. Schaefer Mile Stakes; Hoosier Silver Cup Stakes
- Dan Patch Invitational; Indiana Sires Stakes; Hoosier Cup
- QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby and Futurity, Governor's Stake, Hoosier Park Classic and Indiana Breed Development Stake
Standardbred racing
Quarterhorseracing
Hoosier Park Facts
- Track length: 7/8 mile
- Track width: 90 feet
- Length of the homestretch: 1,255 feet
- Degree of banking in the turns: 12°
- Average number of races each night: 11
- Average time between races: 20 minutes
- Number of barns:
- Number of horses accommodated: 1,080
Hoosier Park Records
| Standardbred Records |
| HORSE | DRIVER | TRAINER | OWNER | DATE | TIME |
| Oakley Bilmac | Randy Tharps | Randy Tharps | Johnson Hill Sr. | 09/01/94 | 1:56.2 |
| Belmont Tuxedo | Jack Sustic | Jim Valiante | Marlene Sustic | 09/03/94 | 1:54.3 |
| Belmont Tuxedo | Jack Sustic | Jim Valiante | Marlene Sustic | 09/17/94 | 1:54.0 |
| Falcon's Fire | Trent Stohler | Trent Stohler | Howard Peterson | 10/15/94 | 1:53.4 |
| Broadway Circle | Tim Curtin | Tim Curtin | Kareo & Leonard Stable | 10/15/94 | 1:53.0 |
| Thirty G's | Jack Gray Jr. | Jack Gray Jr. | Gray & E. Worley | 04/15/95 | 1:53.0 |
| Sundance Sensei | Ken Holliday | Doug Gosney | James Taylor | 04/22/95 | 1:52.0 |
| Pacific Rocket | Tony Kerwood | Nat Varty | Heffering, Lohmeyer, Stoddard & Van Kirk | 07/08/95 | 1:50.0 |
| Jenna's Beach Boy | Bill Fahy | Joe Holloway | L&L DeVisser | 07/06/96 | 1:49.4 |
| Pacific Fella | Cat Manzi | Ed Lohmeyer | Heffering, Stoddard & Lohmeyer | 07/11/98 | 1:48.2 |
| Thoroughbred Records |
| DISTANCE | HORSE | JOCKEY | TRAINER | DATE | TIME |
| 5 1/2 Furlongs | Moro Oro | Eddie Martin Jr. | David Norris | 09/20/96 | 1:02.2 |
| 5 1/2 Furlongs | Chukker Creek | Jon Court | Robert Zahl | 11/24/96 | 1:02.2 |
| 6 Furlongs | Moro Oro | Eddie Martin Jr. | David Norris | 11/16/96 | 1:07.4 |
| One Mile | Vic's Rebel | Mike Morgan | Vicki Riddle | 10/13/98 | 1:33.4 |
| 1 1/16 Miles | Alydar's Rib | Jon Court | Steve Manley | 11/01/96 | 1:41.0 |
| 1 9/16 Miles | our Forbes | Sal Gonzales Jr. | Steven Caldwell | 11/07/97 | 2:39.2 |
| 1 5/8 Miles | Open Space | Patrick Boxie | Billy Adams | 11/16/96 | 2:41.2 |
| 1 7/8 Miles | Raw New | Terry Thompson | William Bradley | 12/01/00 | 3:16.2 |
| Quarter Horse Records |
| DISTANCE | HORSE | JOCKEY | TRAINER | DATE | TIME |
| 300 Yards | Springtimein carolina |
Julie Fritz. | Dicky Benton | 09/20/03 | :16.57 |
| 330 Yards | Hava Cool Breeze | Troy Crissup | Sheri Loy | 10/05/03 | :17.88 |
| 350 Yards | Loyd Gaels Jet | Chad Benjamin | Tom Byassee | 10/26/97 | :17.34 |
| 400 Yards | Open With Love | Luke Myles | Tim Williams | 10/26/97 | :20.17 |
| 870 Yards | Senor Sal | Jamie Theriot | Nathan Broussard | 11/04/01 | :46.04 |
Hoosier Park History
1994
- On September 1, Hoosier Park opened to a crowd of 7,633. B K Bentley won the very first race. The evening's handle was $406,485.
- On November 12, Hoosier Park hosted the $40,000 Dan Patch Invitational. It attracted an impressive field of top horses and was the first race held in Hoosier Park that was simulcast to other venues. The race was won by Ready to Rumble with a time of 1:53.1.
1995
- On January 25, Hoosier Park opened its first off-track betting facility at 7610 Broadway in Merrillville.
- On April 26, the Park opened an off-track betting facility in Fort Wayne.
- On September 1, Hoosier Park celebrated its first anniversary with the introduction of thoroughbred racing. A crowd of 5,283 turned out to see Minnatoga win the first race.
- On October 25, the Park opened another off-track betting facility, this time in downtown Indianapolis.
- On November 17, Hoosier Park had its first-ever million dollar evening as $1,085,338 was wagered on its twelve-race card.
1996
- On November 29, the largest trifecta payoff in the history of the track was recorded. The payoff brought $31,775.20 for a $2 ticket.
1997
- On August 22, the inaugural $500,000 Hoosier Cup for three-year-old pacing colts was won by Perfect Art with a time of 1:51.0. The total amount paid for purses that evening was $676,900, establishing a new record.
1998
- On September 12, Hoosier Park's all-time winningest jockey, Jon Court, won six races, marking a new record for most wins in one night by a jockey at the track.
1999
- On April 9, Hoosier Park's sixth season of harness racing opened to a crowd of 3,635. It was the largest opening for standard bred racing since the 1994 season.
- On October 2, Forty One Carats won the $300,000-added Indiana Derby with the nation's third leading rider, Jorge Chavez, aboard. A crowd of 10,063 was in attendance, the largest crowd in the track's history.
2002
- On May 4, a record handle of $2,029,066 was accumulated for the afternoon and evening cards. This included simulcast wagers for the 128th running of the Kentucky Derby. This also marked the first time the state of Indiana saw single-day handle from all its tracks combined exceed $2 million during harness season.
- On September 21, the richest night in quarter horseracing was held. It featured the $45,000 QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity, the $25,000 QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Derby, and the $15,000 Indiana Breed Development Stake.
2006
- A major corporate shift occurred when Churchill Downs Incorporated finalized the sale of Hoosier Park to Centaur Gaming for $8.2 million. This ownership change marked a strategic turning point, refocusing the venue's long-term vision toward regional entertainment and integrated gaming.
2007–2008
- Following Indiana's landmark April 2007 legislation authorizing slot machines at racetracks, the facility underwent a massive $325 million expansion. On June 2, 2008, the state-of-the-art, 92,000-square-foot Hoosier Park Racing && Casino officially opened its doors with 2,000 slot machines. This new casino revenue stream injected vital funding straight into race purses, elevating the track's competitive profile and attracting elite standardbreds from across North America.
2013
- Centaur Gaming's acquisition of Indiana Grand (now Horseshoe Indianapolis) triggered a complete restructuring of the state's racing footprint. Hoosier Park transitioned exclusively into a standardbred harness racing venue, transferring all thoroughbred and quarter horse dates over to the Shelbyville track.
- On August 13, 2013, 20-year-old driver Tyler Smith steered Dontgetbyme to a monumental victory. With the win, Smith became the youngest pilot in harness racing history to reach 1,000 career victories.
2017
- Hoosier Park solidified its status among the upper echelon of North American racing by hosting the prestigious Breeders Crown championships for the first time on October 27 and 28. Supported by a robust purse distribution model that ranked fifth highest on the continent, the weekend drew world-class champions and generated record-breaking wagering handles for the Anderson oval.
2018
- The track joined one of the biggest names in global gaming when Caesars Entertainment acquired Centaur Holdings' racing assets in a massive $1.7 billion deal. The property was rebranded as Harrah's Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, seamlessly connecting the track with major national gaming markets and sports wagering networks.
2020–2022
- Proving its operational resilience, Harrah's Hoosier Park successfully welcomed back the Breeders Crown championships in October 2020, navigating strict health protocols to deliver a premier weekend of racing.
- On September 23, 2022, fans witnessed history during the Caesars Trotting Classic. The legendary Bulldog Hanover blazed across the wire in a breathtaking 1:46.3, setting an all-time world record for the fastest mile ever recorded on a seven-eighths-mile track.
2025
- On October 2, 2025, two-year-old pacing colt Odds On Mr Mamba rewriting the history books during an Indiana Sire Stakes division. Clocking a spectacular 1:47.3 mile, he officially became the fastest freshman pacer in harness racing history.
- Defying a broader 9% nationwide slide in standardbred handle, Harrah's Hoosier Park leveraged aggressive on-track promotions to trigger a major surge in local retail wagering, cementing its position as a thriving hub for live racing.