Horse Racing Tracks in the USA: Every Track, State by State

There are 103 active horse racing tracks in the USA across 30 states, from Saratoga and Churchill Downs to county-fair meets in Nebraska. This guide lists every one of them by state, separates Thoroughbred venues from harness tracks, and flags the five that have closed since 2019 so you do not plan a trip around a shuttered grandstand.

How Many Horse Racing Tracks Are There in the USA?

The United States has 103 active horse racing tracks spread across 30 states, counting Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and harness venues that card live racing or run a scheduled fair meet. Another five facilities that still appear on older lists have closed, which is why most published counts of 106 to 110 venues no longer match reality.

The count of horse racing tracks in the USA comes from state racing commission calendars, each track’s own published schedule and Equibase race charts, checked in October 2026. Training centers, off-track betting parlors and fairgrounds that only host exhibitions are excluded, while county-fair meets with sanctioned pari-mutuel racing are included because they run real race cards. The five Idaho fair meets that most listicles file under Florida are listed under Idaho here, which is one reason published counts of horse racing tracks in the USA rarely agree.

Horse Racing Tracks in the USA: Master Table by State

The table below is the full directory of horse racing tracks in the USA, sorted by state. “Discipline” tells you whether a venue cards Thoroughbred or harness racing, and the status column shows whether the track is racing in 2026. Several states run both codes at different facilities, so check the discipline before you buy a ticket.

Read the status column carefully. A closed track may still host a simulcast parlor or a training operation, but it no longer runs live race meets, and betting windows there are for other tracks’ signals.

What Are Horse Racing Tracks Made Of?

Most horse racing tracks in the USA are built on one of three surfaces: dirt, turf or a synthetic mix, and the surface decides how a race is run. Dirt is the most common in the United States, turf is used for grass races and is often inside the main oval, and synthetic surfaces such as Tapeta and Polytrack sit between the two in how they play.

Dirt tracks are a blend of sand, silt and clay, graded and watered to a specific moisture level that the track superintendent adjusts with the weather. Turf courses are seeded grass, usually Bermuda in the South and a cool-season mix further north, and they are carded less often because wet ground forces races onto the dirt. Synthetic tracks are wax-coated polymer and sand, sold as safer in cold or wet conditions; Turfway Park and Presque Isle Downs are the best-known synthetic layouts still racing. Harness tracks are typically half-mile or five-eighth-mile ovals with a limestone or clay base, which is why harness racing in the USA is concentrated on smaller circuits in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Track size matters as much as surface. A one-mile oval like Churchill Downs gives horses a long run to the first turn, while a half-mile harness track compresses the field and puts more emphasis on post position and early speed. If you are learning to read a race card, the track diagram in the program tells you the circumference, the width of the stretch and where the finish line sits.

Kentucky, New York and the Triple Crown Circuit

Kentucky and New York hold the densest concentration of elite horse racing tracks in the USA, and between them they host all three Triple Crown races. Kentucky has eight venues: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Keeneland in Lexington, Ellis Park in Henderson, Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky Downs in Franklin, plus the harness and quarter-horse sites at Oak Grove, Cumberland Run and The Red Mile.

Keeneland is the one to plan around this fall: it hosts the Breeders’ Cup on October 30 and 31, 2026, and its spring and fall meets are short, so the town fills quickly. Our Keeneland race track location guide covers parking, gates and the best viewing spots.

New York has twelve tracks, more than any other state, split between three Thoroughbred venues and nine harness ovals. Saratoga Race Course opened in 1863 and is the oldest horse racing track still operating in America. Belmont Park reopened in September 2026 with a new grandstand after a two-year rebuild, and the Belmont Stakes was run at Saratoga in 2024, 2025 and 2026 while construction continued. Belmont Stakes date and race history explains how that shuffle changed the schedule.

Maryland adds Pimlico, home of the Preakness, and Laurel Park, plus two harness tracks on the Eastern Shore. If you want the classic circuit in one trip, Kentucky in spring and New York in August is the shortest route through the sport’s history.

California, Florida and the Gulf Coast

California now has three active horse racing tracks in the USA circuit: Santa Anita in Arcadia, Del Mar in San Diego County and Los Alamitos in Orange County. Golden Gate Fields, which closed in 2024, is gone from the schedule, which pushed more dates south and made Santa Anita’s winter meet the anchor of the state’s calendar.

Santa Anita runs a dirt main track and a turf course with a downhill chute that produces the most unusual turf sprints in the country. Our Santa Anita entries guide for Saturday cards walks through how to read the program before the first race.

Florida is down to two Thoroughbred tracks, Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs, after the closure of Calder’s live racing. The Gulf Coast circuit continues west into Louisiana, where Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Delta Downs, Evangeline Downs and Louisiana Downs all card live meets, and Mississippi’s fair meets fill the gaps on simulcast screens.

Midwest, Great Plains and Mountain Tracks

The Midwest holds a large share of the horse racing tracks in the USA that still run harness racing in the country and a long list of county-fair meets. Ohio runs eight tracks, including Belterra Park, Mahoning Valley and Thistledown for Thoroughbreds and four harness ovals around Columbus, Dayton and Cleveland. Indiana has Horseshoe Indianapolis for flat racing and Hoosier Park for harness, while Illinois is down to Hawthorne and Fairmount Park.

Nebraska is the surprise on this list with six venues, most of them fair meets that race a few weeks a year, and Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota each run one or two. Oklahoma has Remington Park, Will Rogers Downs and Fair Meadows; Arkansas has Oaklawn Park, which anchors the southern winter schedule. In the Mountain time zone, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming run short meets built around Quarter Horse and fair racing, and Texas spreads four tracks from Houston to Grand Prairie.

These are the horse racing tracks in the USA where a general-admission ticket still costs less than a stadium hot dog, but the trade-off is a short season. Check the meet window before you drive: several fair tracks race for two weekends and then go quiet for a year.

Why Are Horse Racing Tracks Closing? (2026 Status)

Horse racing tracks close because the land under them is worth more than the races run on it, and because purses increasingly depend on casino revenue rather than betting handles. Five of the horse racing tracks in the USA listed above are shut: Ruidoso Downs, Aqueduct, Golden Gate Fields, Arlington Park and Portland Meadows.

The 2025 and 2026 changes are the ones most lists miss. Ruidoso Downs cancelled the rest of its 2025 meet after severe flooding and has not announced a reopening, which took the richest Quarter Horse race in the country, the All American Futurity, off the calendar. Aqueduct Racetrack ran its final race on June 28, 2026, ending more than a century of racing inside New York City limits. Belmont Park’s September 2026 reopening is the counter-example: a rebuild that kept a historic site alive instead of selling it.

Arlington Park closed in 2021 and its grandstand was demolished, Golden Gate Fields shut in 2024, and Portland Meadows has been dark since 2019. When a track closes, the horses, trainers and stakes dates move to the nearest surviving circuit, which is why the map keeps thinning toward a few big ovals and a long tail of fair meets.

How to Choose a Horse Racing Track to Visit

Choosing among the horse racing tracks in the USA comes down to five things: whether it is racing while you are in town, the surface you want to watch, whether walk-up tickets exist, whether you want a family afternoon or a betting-focused one, and how much takeout the track charges. A track that is dark is not a track you can visit, no matter how famous the grandstand.

• Live dates first. Confirm the meet on the track’s official calendar, not a listicle. Most venues race 20 to 60 days a year.
• Surface. Dirt gives you the classic American product, turf gives you bigger fields and European-style racing, synthetic is the safer bet in wet or cold weather.
• Tickets. Saratoga and Churchill Downs sell out premium areas weeks ahead; fair meets rarely sell anything in advance.
• Family or betting. Fair meets and harness tracks are cheaper and more casual; major Thoroughbred tracks run dress codes and reserved seating.
• Takeout. The percentage withheld from each bet varies by state and wager type, and it matters more than any handicapping trick over a season.

If you only have one afternoon, choose the track with the shortest travel time and the longest race card. A nine-race card at a half-mile oval teaches you more about the sport than two hours in traffic to a marquee track on a dark day.

Which State Has the Most Horse Racing Tracks?

New York has the most horse racing tracks in the USA with twelve, followed by Kentucky and Ohio with eight each, Pennsylvania with seven and Nebraska with six. New York’s total is driven by harness racing: nine of its twelve venues are Standardbred ovals, including Yonkers, Batavia, Buffalo, Monticello, Saratoga Raceway, Tioga, Vernon and Historic Track in Goshen.

Kentucky’s eight are split across both codes but lean Thoroughbred, and Ohio’s eight split almost evenly. Pennsylvania’s seven include Parx, Penn National and Presque Isle Downs for flat racing plus four harness tracks. The pattern is consistent: states that legalized casino gaming at racetracks kept more venues alive, while states without that revenue link lost them.

Verdict: Best Horse Racing Tracks by Goal

There is no single best of the horse racing tracks in the USA, only the best one for the day you have. Use this short list to match the venue to the trip.

• First race ever: Keeneland in April or October. Small grandstand, short walk from the gate, and a paddock you can actually see into.
• History: Saratoga in August, the oldest active track in the country, or Churchill Downs for the Derby museum alone.
• Championship racing: Del Mar in summer, Santa Anita in winter, and the Breeders’ Cup wherever it lands.
• Cheap day out: a Nebraska or Oregon fair meet, where admission is often free with a program purchase.
• Family afternoon: harness tracks such as Meadowlands or Hoosier Park, with shorter races, indoor seating and lower ticket prices.
• Betting depth: Gulfstream Park and Parx, both with large fields and year-round simulcast menus.

Whatever you pick, verify the meet window the week you travel. The list of horse racing tracks in the USA changes more often than the sport’s marketing suggests, and the five closures above all caught fans by surprise.

John Oey

John Oey is a senior sports writer at Blowers Racing covering NASCAR, drift, Olympics, and sports analytics. 7+ years, 180+ guides. Method: official rulebooks, historical archives, and statistical databases. Author of 1,750 sports guides since 2022.