Garden State Park
| Location | Cherry Hill, New Jersey, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°55′34″N 75°02′10″W / 39.926°N 75.036°WCoordinates: 39°55′34″N 75°02′10″W / 39.926°N 75.036°W |
| Date opened | July 7, 1942 |
| Date closed | May 3, 2001 |
| Race type | Harness and thoroughbred |
Garden State Park was a harness and thoroughbred race track in Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey. It is now the site of a high-end, mixed-use "town center" development of stores, restaurants, apartments, townhouses, and condominiums. Garden State Park's 600 acre (≈1 square mile) land area is roughly bounded by Route 70, Haddonfield Road, Chapel Avenue, and New Jersey Transit's Atlantic City Rail Line.
Garden State Park opened on July 7, 1942 after delays caused by raw material rationing at the United States' entry into World War II. Due to the seizure of 30,000 tons of structural steel by war authorities, developer Eugene Mori mostly constructed Garden State Park's ornate Georgian-style grandstand of wood. Limited amounts of steel came from the demolition of New York City's elevated railways. Despite this inauspicious start, 'the Garden,' as it was known, was officially 'out of the gate.'
In 1959, Philadelphia Phillies owner Bob Carpenter proposed building a new ballpark for the Phillies on 72 acres (290,000 m2) adjacent to the race track. Connie Mack Stadium was 50 years old, did not have sufficient parking, and the sale of alcohol was banned at sports venues in Pennsylvania. Beer sales were legal in New Jersey.
The Phillies would eventually move to Veterans Stadium in 1971.
In its heyday, it would host some of the finest thoroughbred racehorses in the nation at the signature Jersey Derby. Its Garden State Stakes and the Gardenia Stakes offered one of the largest purses available to for two-year-olds. Horses raced at Garden State Park included Whirlaway, Citation, and Secretariat on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon in early 1972 in the Garden State Futurity.
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