History
Garden State Park opened in 1942, built by Eugene Mori, and became one of the pillars of New Jersey's so-called Golden Triangle of racing along with Monmouth Park and Atlantic City Race Course. It hosted both Thoroughbred and harness meetings.
On April 14, 1977, fire destroyed the grandstand and killed three people. The track stayed dark for eight years until a new $178 million steel-and-glass grandstand opened on April 1, 1985. That spring its Jersey Derby, won by Spend A Buck, offered the richest single purse in American racing to that point.
The rebuilt track never paid off. Racing ended on May 3, 2001, and the grandstand came down beginning in October 2003 after the land was sold for development.
The site is now a town center of big-box stores, restaurants and homes. The original 1942 gatehouse on Route 70 survives, and a 2025 proposal would keep it.
Why it matters: A key part of New Jersey's racing golden age whose expensive 1985 rebuild became a cautionary example for the industry.
Timeline
- 1942
Eugene Mori's track opened during World War II.
- April 14, 1977
Fire destroyed the grandstand; three people died.
- April 1, 1985
A new steel-and-glass grandstand opened after an eight-year closure.
- May 27, 1985Spend A Buck wins Jersey Derby[1]
The rebuilt track's Jersey Derby carried a $2.6 million purse, then the largest in U.S. racing.
- May 3, 2001
About 2,000 fans attended the last card.
- October 30, 2003
The grandstand came down after the land was sold to Realen-Turnberry.
- March 12, 2025Gatehouse preservation proposed[3]
A go-kart and bowling entertainment complex proposed on Route 70 would keep the 1942 gatehouse on its own lot.
The site today
| Physical status | Site redeveloped[1,2] |
|---|---|
| Current use | Garden State Park town-center development with big-box retail (including Costco, Wegmans, Home Depot), restaurants and housing[1,2] |
| Surviving remnants | The original 1942 gatehouse on Route 70; a 2025 development proposal would preserve it on its own lot.[1,2,3] |
| Mapped location | Former venue parcel |
Street View near the former site · Satellite view (external, current imagery)
Venue facts
| Other names | Garden State Park Racetrack |
|---|---|
| Location | Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey; bounded roughly by Route 70, Haddonfield Road, Chapel Avenue and the Atlantic City rail line, Cherry Hill, New Jersey[1] |
| Venue type | Racetrack |
| Sports | Horse racing |
| Level | Thoroughbred, Harness |
| Opened | 1942[1,2,3] |
| Last used for sports | May 3, 2001[1,2,3] |
| Demolished | October 30, 2003[1,2] |
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
| Capacity notes | No capacity found in fetched sources. |
| Construction cost | $178 million for the 1985 rebuilt grandstand (per Wikipedia)[1] |
| Owner / operator | Founded by Eugene Mori; rebuilt in the 1980s with financing from Robert Brennan[1] |
| Closure | Financial failure of the rebuilt track; the land was sold for redevelopment. |
Documented details
- Spend A Buck's 1985 Jersey Derby carried a $2.6 million purse, the largest single purse in U.S. racing at the time.[1]
Sources
- Garden State Park Racetrack, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, closed, construction cost, coordinates, current land use, demolished, events, opened, owner operator, remnants
- Ghosts of racetracks past: The birth, death, rebirth, and final demise of Garden State Park, The Racing Biz. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: closed, current land use, demolished, events, opened, remnants
- Garden State Park gatehouse in Cherry Hill to be preserved in plan to open multi-use entertainment venue, 70and73.com. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: closed, events, opened, remnants
Research confidence
Key facts on this page (opening, closing, status and location) are each supported by sources, with key dates corroborated by at least two independent sources. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.
Where sources disagree (1)
- Opening day: Wikipedia gives July 18, 1942; The Racing Biz gives June 6, 1942. Recorded at year precision; the year 1942 is confirmed by three sources.
See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.