Hollywood_Casino_at_Penn_National_Race_Course
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
Horse racing track and casino in Pennsylvania
The Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racing track and casino which is located in Grantville, Pennsylvania, 17 miles (27 km) east of Harrisburg. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn Entertainment.
| Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Grantville, Pennsylvania, USA | ||||
| Address | 777 Hollywood Boulevard | ||||
| Opening date | Racetrack: August 30, 1972 (1972-08-30) Casino: February 12, 2008 (2008-02-12) | ||||
| Casino type | Racino | ||||
| Owner | Gaming and Leisure Properties | ||||
| Operating license holder | Penn Entertainment | ||||
| Coordinates | 40°23′48″N 76°39′31″W | ||||
| Website | hollywoodpnrc | ||||
| |||||
This track is also home to Eclipse Special Award winner Rapid Redux and his trainer David J. Wells.
The track opened on August 30, 1972. It consists of a 1 mile (1.6 km) dirt course and a seven-furlong turf course. It is unusual among United States thoroughbred tracks in offering racing fifty-two weeks each year.
It features the $200,000 Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap for horses three-years-old and up which run five furlongs on the turf. In 2009, Cardashi, ridden by jockey David Cora, won in a 29–1 upset.
In 2013, the inaugural Penn Mile on turf was run. Its first winner was three-year-old Rydilluc, which finished with a time of 1:33.99. As of 2017, this race is now the only Graded stakes race event at the track that is classified as a Grade II race with stakes of $500,000.[1]
Controversies
This racetrack has been under ongoing investigations through the years by the FBI for race fixing, which included people working in the race office, trainers and vets.[2]
The following Graded events were held at Penn National in 2019.
Grade II
- Other Stake races
- Lyphard Stakes (PA Bred)
- Danzig Stakes (PA Bred)
- New Start Stakes (PA Bred)
- Penn Oaks
- Penn Ladies Dash
- Pennsylvania Governor's Cup
- Robellino Stakes (PA Bred)
- Fabulous Strike Stakes
- Swatara Stakes
- Blue Mountain Stakes (PA Bred)
The Hollywood Casino opened at Penn National on February 12, 2008. On July 13, 2010, table games began operation. As of July 2010, Hollywood Casino has over 2,480 slot machines and fifty-four tables. Table games include: fourteen Poker tables, Black Jack, Roulette, Craps, Pai-Gow Poker, Three and Four Card Poker, Mini-Baccarat, and Let-It-Ride.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved a sports betting license for the Hollywood Casino on October 3, 2018.[3]
On November 15, 2018, sports betting began at the Hollywood Casino with a two-day test; official sports betting began on November 17, 2018. This casino then became the first casino in Pennsylvania to offer sports betting.[4][5]
On July 15, 2019, the Hollywood Casino conducted a soft launch for online gambling, with the full launch occurring on July 18, 2019 after a testing period.[6][7] Online gambling offered by Hollywood Casino consists of slot machines and table games, with online poker to launch at a later date.[6]
In the summer of 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board ruled that smoking was banned in the casino, ensuring smoke-free gaming; however, there are two covered places in front of the casino where smoking is still permitted.
Penn National Gaming also operates other casinos under the Hollywood Casino brand.
- "Penn Mile Stakes (Gr. 2)". Equibase. 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Woodall, Candy; Miller, Matt. "Penn National Race Course works to restore reputation as 10th arrest in 2 years heads to trial". Penn Live. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- Maykuth, Andrew (October 3, 2018). "Pa. approves first sports-betting licenses for Parx, Hollywood casinos". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
- Pickel, Greg (November 20, 2018). "Sports betting at Penn National: How to bet, when to go, special Thanksgiving hours, and more". Penn Live. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- Staff (November 21, 2018). "Sports betting goes live in Pennsylvania". Allentown, PA: WFMZ-TV. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
- Maykuth, Andrew (July 15, 2019). "Parx, SugarHouse, Hollywood casinos set to launch online gambling this week". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
- "Online gambling now available around the clock in Pennsylvania". USA Today. Associated Press. July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.