Atlantic City Race Course

The Atlantic City Race Course (ACRC) is a thoroughbred horse race track located in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The track is located off the Black Horse Pike (U.S. Route 322) next to the Hamilton Mall. Despite the name, the facility is located convert|14|mi|km from Atlantic City.

The main track is 1⅛ miles in length and convert|100|ft|m wide, with a 7 furlong chute. The stretch portion of the main track is convert|947.29|ft|m. The turf course is a convert|100|ft|m|sing=on wide, one mile (1.6 km) oval, convert|100|ft|m wide. The stands offer a seating capacity of 10,000, with standing room available for 25,000. In all, ACRC covers over convert|250|acre|km2 of land.

History

ACRC opened on July 22, 1946, the work of a group of four individuals. The most famous of the group was John B. Kelly, Sr., who created the race course together with Fred C. Scholler, Glendon Robertson and James "Sonny" Fraser. Shareholders included show business personalities Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Harry James, Sammy Kaye and Xavier Cugat. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E7D61730F93BA35756C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all SPORTS; The Sport of Who? - New York Times ] ]

Kelso, considered to be among the best racehorses of the twentieth century, made his two-year-old debut on September 4, 1959 at ACRC, at that time one of the country's premier tracks.

In the late 1970s, the opening of casinos in Atlantic City had an impact on track attendance. Over time, ACRC could not operate profitably as attendance and handle dropped off year by year. In 2001, the track was sold to the owners of Philadelphia Park Racetrack and is now primarily a simulcast facility. From 2001 to 2007, ACRC conducted live race meets of four days per year.

On November 16, 2006 Hal Handel, CEO of Greenwood Racing, announced that ACRC would increase live racing dates from 4 days per year to up to 20 days per year. In 2008, racing took place on six days; April 23, 24, 25, 30, May 1, and 2. The New Jersey Racing Commission has ordered the track to offer 20 days of racing in 2009, but whether the track will hold the races in 2009 depends on whether it can obtain a share of revenue from an agreement between the New Jersey horse racing industry and the Atlantic City casinos. [ [http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=44383 Atlantic City: No Plans to Call it Quits | bloodhorse.com ] ]

External links

* [http://www.acracecourse.com/ Atlantic City Race Course]
* [http://www.saveacrc.com/mainacrc.htm SAVE Atlantic City Race Course]
* [http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=44383 Tom LaMarra, "Atlantic City: No Plans to Call It Quits" (bloodhorse.com)]

References