Betting records fell on Haskell Day, the top event at the famed Monmouth Park racetrack in the Garden State.
Saturday’s event marked the third consecutive year where total horse race wagering handle beat last year’s all-time record.
Key takeaways
- Haskell Day produced about $22 million in total wagers.
- Attendance for the event was at its highest since 2015.
- New Jersey’s high-profile June events should spark its monthly revenue total.
Haskell Day 2023, 2024 and 2025 all signified new all-time betting handle records.
Total wagers from Saturday’s turnout reached just under $22 million across all mediums. That narrowly outpaced last year’s $21.7 million total and represented the largest non-Breeders’ Cup day total ever reported at Monmouth Park.
$2.1 million of the record-setting handle came from bets placed at Monmouth. That also represented a new high, beating the $1.8 million reported in 2024.
Haskell Stakes, the crown jewel of the 50-day meet at Monmouth Park, began in 1968 as the Monmouth Invitational Handicap. It was renamed to honor Amory L. Haskell, the former Monmouth Park president and chair.
Although Haskell Day is just one of many summer races at Monmouth Park, it's the track’s crown jewel. Journalism claimed the $1 million grand prize, and total betting handle was a positive sign of what's to come during the rest of the summer racing schedule.
Big events mean big business
Sportsbooks weren’t alone in feeling Haskell Day's success. Monmouth Park reported 41,876 people attended the event, its largest since Triple Crown winner American Pharoah brought in 60,893 onlookers in 2015.
The number of attendees was also 7.4% higher than last year’s 38,976 and 18.7% ahead of 2023’s 35,286.
The New Jersey gaming division’s upcoming revenue report for July will soon reveal the full impact of several high-profile events in the state, with Haskell Day one of those.
Another important event took place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain contested the Club World Cup Final. The winner, Chelsea, took home $40 million just for winning the competition, while MetLife Stadium reported a record-setting 81,118 fans in attendance.
The event was also as a preview of the upcoming 2026 World Cup, which will play several games and the tournament final at MetLife.
Garden State on the climb
New Jersey is one of the top sports betting markets in the U.S.. It reported $1.2 billion in revenue in 2024, which was third only to New York and Illinois.
The state’s Atlantic City casinos also inspired recent confidence as they reported their second straight month beating year-over-year revenue totals, hitting $259 million in June. That was a 6.1% increase on the total reported the year before.
