Scarborough Downs to cease Harness Racing

Scarborough Downs to Cease Harness Racing Operation on Saturday

What – Scarborough Downs will host its final live harness racing card after 70 years of operation.

Where – Scarborough Downs, Payne Rd, Scarborough, Maine

When – Saturday November 28, 2020 with first post time scheduled for 12:15 PM

Why – Scarborough Downs first opened as a thoroughbred racetrack in 1950 and operated continuously for 70 seasons. Both thoroughbred and harness racing cards were hosted from 1969 through 1971 with harness racing taking over entirely from 1972 onward.

Reasons for the closure include; decreases in revenues which occurred with the advent of the opening of the Oxford Casino in 2012; ongoing development of track property following its sale in 2018; operational and financial challenges faced through Covid-19 protocols this season; and the desire of the harness racing industry to transition toward a more modern facility, a desire which the Downs cannot accommodate at this point in time.

Scarborough Downs will remain open for simulcast wagering through the remainder of 2020 and has been granted a license by the Maine Harness Racing Commission to begin operations as an Off Track Betting facility beginning in January of 2021.

Mike Sweeney