Meadowlands bids for 2027 Hambletonian as Gural vows New Jersey

The Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford will submit a bid to host the 2027 Hambletonian, owner Jeff Gural told the Paulick Report, as the Hambletonian Society’s formal bid window closes March 1. Paulick’s reporter quoted the exchange directly: “The Meadowlands Racetrack will indeed submit a bid to host the 2027 Hambletonian, harness racing’s most prestigious race, track owner Jeff Gural told me earlier today.” That submission is aimed at keeping the trotting classic in New Jersey after the Society opened the event to outside bids.

The timing intensifies a competitive process that already includes at least one concrete rival and another potential challenger. Sports Yahoo reports Indiana officials have apparently filed a three-year proposal to move the Hambletonian to Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind., covering the years after 2027, while Woodbine/Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville, Ontario has been identified as a possible bidder. The Hambletonian remains slated for August at the Meadowlands this year, a venue that Sports Yahoo notes has hosted the race for the past 45 years.

The move comes after a contentious stretch between Gural and the Hambletonian Society. Paulick Report recalled that last fall Gural controversially declined to exercise the Meadowlands’ right of first refusal to host the race in 2027, and Harnessracingupdate captured Gural’s blunt reaction to the Society opening the event for bids, reporting he is “furious” and calling the decision a “disgrace.” Lancaster Farming frames the immediate path forward as negotiation-driven: where the 2027 race will be held “will likely depend on negotiations between Jeff Gural, owner of The Meadowlands, and the Hambletonian Society.”

Beyond the immediate venue fight, the Meadowlands bid is tied to larger business stakes for New Jersey harness racing. Sports Yahoo reports that Gural and the state’s Standardbred industry are pushing for a ballot initiative this year to allow voters to approve a full gaming license at the Meadowlands - the Big M - a policy move Sports Yahoo says would “secure harness racing’s future” in the Garden State. That political effort raises the prospect that hosting rights for the Hambletonian could be linked to gaming revenue and long-term financial commitments at the track.

Key procedural facts remain unresolved as the March 1 deadline approaches. Sports Yahoo emphasizes it is not yet clear whether Meadowlands will bid only for 2027 or seek a multi-year hosting agreement; Hoosier Park’s reported three-year bid and any formal submission from Woodbine/Mohawk will be weighed by the Hambletonian Society under its open bidding process. How those bids, negotiations between Gural and the Society, and New Jersey’s gaming initiative align will determine whether the Meadowlands preserves a 45-year August tradition or cedes the Hambletonian to new hosts.