Bay State Park Frequently Asked Questions
Why Gardner and this location on Route 140?
Gardner is known as the Chair City. But 150 years ago, Gardner started to emerge as a destination for horse breeding, training, and racing in the state. Local physician Dr. Robert Foster Andrews created what was then called Andrews Park on the site currently managed by GAAHMA, Inc. on Route 140. The first horse race was on September 26, 1875 with more than 600 attendees. Over the course of the next several decades, the site also became the location of the Mid-State Fair, and the Agricultural Fair sponsored by the Gardner Agricultural Society and the Gardner Chamber of Commerce. The fairs featured featuring livestock shows featuring cattle, horses and poultry, agricultural and horticultural exhibits, horse pulls, track and field events, and horse racings.
In later years, Leonard LeBlanc, one of the top trainers in New England, bought the farm to raise and train his horses. More recently, under the guidance of GAAMHA, the location has become a place for those with substance user disorder and mental health needs to find therapy and recovery while taking care of the farm and its animals.
Bay State Park brings the legacy of this location full circle by providing thoroughbred horses a place to breed, train, race and retire.
What activities are planned for Bay State Park?
Our proposal continues the tradition of using this site as a horse farm and racing facility. It will be a year-round equestrian facility with activities that include:
- Breeding program
- Training facilities
- Off-track retirement
- Agricultural and equestrian festivals
- Agricultural programs for local students
- Thoroughbred festival racing and wagering
- Therapy programs for individuals in recovery
- Hayfields and vegetable gardens, and livestock such as chickens and pigs
GAAHMA has two pregnant mares currently on their farm. Breeding on this site is not a thing of the past – it is happening today, and we plan on continuing for the future. Not every thoroughbred horse will participate in racing. Other career options include eventing, dressage, jumping, polo, or on local farms for riding and therapeutic riding.
After a racing career, horses start their “second career”, which can be in therapy, riding lessons, for example. Our retirement facility for retired Massachusetts bred thoroughbred horses will train them for this next stage of their lives in a healthy and nurturing environment. Working with the New England Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association (NEHBPA), a percentage of all race purses will be dedicated towards thoroughbred aftercare and rescue.
As the property is a neighbor of the North Central Pathway, we will do our part in preserving, maintaining, and providing access to the open space around the trail.
What is going to be built on the site?
We will renovate the barns and existing house on the site. We are building a gazebo and pads for food trucks. Grandstands for the track will be built into a hill, as a natural seating.
We will use the existing house on site for a caretaker home for on-site, round the clock, staff and veterinarian use for the care of stabled horses and grounds. These individuals are the only ones who are living on site to ensure the health and safety of the horses, and the safety of Bay State Park.
Structures used on festival race days will be temporary, set up and broken down before and after races.
How many days will there be festival racing?
We will race up to 20 days a year. While the Legislature has set an aspirational goal of 20 days of live racing per year, it recognized the practical challenges in achieving this goal and gave the Massachusetts Gaming Commission clear authority to “waive this requirement as necessary and appropriate to ensure the financial ability of the licensee to develop and operate a race track.”
Further, we committed in the Host Community Agreement an annual review of the number of days and specific dates of racing prior to filing our annual application for a Racing Meeting License, including the City of Gardner’s approval of plans for non-racing operations, parking, marketing, and hiring of workers.
I have heard stories about the health and safety of horses. How will you keep them safe?
Our proposal is developed by horse and agricultural enthusiasts.
Our focus is ensuring Bay State Park is an ecosystem of care – from birth to careers to retirement. Working with local veterinarians and animal medical schools, we will keep our horses healthy, safe and fit to run. Members of our team are top experts in the horse industry in Massachusetts and the country. With their guidance and insight on the latest technology and best practices, we will maintain optimal racing and training surface conditions.
Our project has the full backing of the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (NEBPA) and the Massachusetts Horse Breeders Association (MHBA).
Massachusetts leads the national for the health and safety of horses with strong anti-doping and anti-slaughter rules. At Bay State Park, any owner or trainer who violates anti-doping rules is permanently banned from racing in Massachusetts. Any owner or trainer who sells their horse for slaughter is banned for life.
Working with the NEBPA, it is our goal that every retired horse finds a second career or an after-care home for after its racing career. Proceeds from our race day purses will be put towards the aftercare and wellbeing of our horses.
Thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts is highly regulated under the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and its Horse Racing Committee, and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. These independent boards will inspect the park every year and can inspect it at any time.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) was established by the federal government in July 2022 to bring independent oversight and ensuring a consistent level of care for horses across the entire sport.
Before every race, horses will be medically examined by a qualified and independent veterinarian, who is under the authority of the state. If the veterinarian has any concern about the ability of the horse to run safely or has reason to believe they have received any banned substance, they alone can disqualify that horse.
We will build into our engineering design a 24/7 video monitoring system that will capture all our barns and stalls to detect any violation of anti-doping rules. This monitoring will also include additional undisclosed security measures.
We want Bay State Park to be the place for horses to breed, train, race, and retire. That is our mission.
Is horse racing even viable anymore?
Thoroughbred racing is at the center of a horse and farming ecosystem that is fast disappearing because our hay and breeding farms are being swallowed up by housing developers.
Bay State Park will not make money on the few festival race days. In fact, we lose money racing. But the Commonwealth gives us the license to simulcast which enables us and the City of Gardner to share in that revenue and subsidize the racing. The festival racing is what enables the horse owners to sell their horses and earn purse money that is released by the Commonwealth. This purse money goes to their care and welfare.
Even for two or more weekends of festival racing each year, keeps breeding and hay farmers employed and successful and it supports local stores like lumber yards, tack shops, hardware stores, restaurants, and local veterinarians. Bay State Park will help preserve and protect 1,200 horse and hay farms in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts ranked 6th for disappearing open space. Running an equine center on this site will help lower the sale of farms to developers.
What is simulcast betting? How does it work? Does the city benefit? Do people come to the farm to bet?
Simulcast betting is a simultaneous live video transmission of a race to other tracks or other outlets for the purpose of wagering, usually on a mobile device, around the state and the country.
More than 95% of all wagering takes place on a person’s cell phone and not in person. The city will receive a share of revenue from simulcasting races and Baystate Racing will receive revenue to support the Park.
According to Spectrum Gaming Group, “Where both retail and digital wagering are allowed, digital wagering is the overwhelming choice for bettors.”
To be clear: Wagering will only occur on site in temporary kiosks during festival race days. There is no expanded gaming on site. This is not a casino. There will be no sports wagering.
How do we know you won’t sell this to someone else?
We are 100% committed to Bay State Park and the City of Gardner. It is stated in our Host Community Agreement that any sale or transfer would require the permission of the City of Gardner and go through a similar review process that the community and state are now going through.
What are the benefits for Gardner?
Bay State Park is a natural continuation of Gardner’s agricultural legacy. This project creates 15-25 permanent and more than 100 temporary jobs in the community, estimated new revenue of approximately $500,000 a year, and helps drive ongoing economic revitalization in the city bringing in new patrons for local restaurants and small businesses. We will collaborate with local education institutions and organizations to develop agricultural opportunities, like internships and jobs, for students. Additionally, we have committed to planting 500 trees around Gardner. We will also preserve open space and connected existing trails and provide easy access from the park to the North Central Pathway.
The Center of Economic Development at University of Massachusetts Amherst wrote a study about the economic benefits of a facility like Bay State Park.
Will this strain our city’s infrastructure?
We submitted a Host Community Agreement (“HCA”) to the Mayor addressing the safety of horses, residents, patrons, and employees, and key issues like traffic and parking, and public infrastructure.
If we require police, fire, and EMS on site for our festivals, we will 100% cover those costs. We will cover all the costs associated with setting up, operating and cleanup after events (e.g., police and fire details, DPW crew, etc.).
How will you handle animal waste? Concerns about animal pollution and our waterways.
Animals have lived and been taken care of on the site for nearly 150 years with no impact to local water quality. We will follow all state and federal rules and regulations, which will be an improvement over what has been previously done in the past.
Our project provides the opportunity to improve stormwater management and environmental concerns, such as manure management, stormwater runoff, and water treatment than current conditions allow.
All animal waste will be disposed of in accordance with state and federal rules and regulations. Horse manure will be collected in an enclosed dumpster and removed from the site.
The approval process for the site must go through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Gardner Conservation Committee. MassDEP does not issue the project a file number until the project meets all criteria outlined at the state level. Once a final number is issued by the state, the review at the local level will continue until the Gardner Conservation Commission deems that the project has met all additional performance standards outlined under the local bylaw.
Where will festival attendees stay during the festival?
Most festival attendees will arrive and leave the same day. Those staying longer will stay in local hotels, like the Colonial Hotel. Horse owners and trainers with horses often stay with their horses on site for the duration of the festival.
Will your site plan show where parking will be placed? What about traffic?
Route 140 has more than sufficient capacity to handle traffic to and from Bay State Park. In fact, our operations will be a fraction of the daily traffic on 140 and mostly will occur in off-peak commuting times. We will not add to the morning or evening rush hour. Festival days will only be held a few days out of the year, and again, most traffic will occur on off-peak times on Route 140.
A full traffic analysis will occur as part of our permitting process with the city. Elements of the plan will include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Pre- and post-event staging (deliveries, set up, and break down),
- Event timing (to coincide with off-peak commuter traffic),
- Parking management (guests, VIPs, and participants),
- Shuttle bus routes (to remote parking areas),
- Signage and wayfinding,
- Temporary intersection control (police details and signage),
- Media and digital content outreach, and
- Identification of police/medical emergency access/egress
What would be the expected capacity of visitors on Race Days? Grandstand capacity? Standing?
Crowds at horse races can vary greatly. It depends on the time and day of a race, the weather and who is racing. We would expect crowds of 50-100 at races that occur during the weekdays, to crowds of 2,000-5,000 for big races on weekends.
Grandstands will be built into terraced earth giving the grounds a park-like feel and honoring the nature and beauty of the property.
What input and controls does Gardner have?
The Host Community Agreement (HCA) is our contract with the City of Gardner. Baystate will establish an Oversight Committee and agrees to report to the Mayor and Council before June 1 of each year on the operation of the Bay State Park the year before and plans for operations for the year ahead, including the number of race days, non-racing operations, parking, marketing, and hiring of vendors and employees. The mayor will appoint a Gardner resident to serve as a member on the Oversight Committee.
We will pay for all traffic impacts, including transportation and parking management plans, and peer review of any plans. Additionally, we must apply for a racing license every year with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
Questions? Email: marykate@baystateracingllc.com
Call or text: (978) 277-3382