{{Short description|Racing track in Foxborough, Massachusetts}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} '''Bay State Raceway''', later known as '''New England Harness Raceway''', '''Foxboro Raceway''', and '''Foxboro Park''' was a harness racing track located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States that operated from 1947 until 1997. It stood next to Foxboro Stadium and the site of Gillette Stadium. Track owner E. M. Loew gave the land for Foxboro Stadium to New England Patriots owner Billy Sullivan in order to keep the team in New England.
==Early years== Bay State Raceway was founded by movie theatre magnate Elias (E.M.) Loew, Paul Bowser, and Ed Keller.<ref name=Bojarski /> It opened on September 1, 1947. A reported 12,000 people attended the first night of racing. The track's $55,523 handle broke the record for a new track on its first day.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Keane|first1=Clif|title=Record $55,523 Paid by 12,000 at Foxboro|work=The Boston Daily Globe|date=September 2, 1947}}</ref> When Bay State Raceway opened, it featured many modern amenities, including lights for night racing. However, some of the barns and buildings were still not completed. The remaining structures were finished in time for the 1948 spring racing season.<ref name=Bojarski>{{cite news|last1=Bojarski |first1=Tim |title=Ghost Tracks X: Bay State Raceway |url=http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/hoofbeats_blog.aspx?articleid=60630&zoneid=65 |access-date=February 12, 2015 |work=Hoof Beats Magazine |date=August 26, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112111442/http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/hoofbeats_blog.aspx?articleid=60630&zoneid=65 |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref>
During the track's heyday, Bay State Raceway drew over 10,000 patrons a night. In 1969, the track had its all-time handle with $737,838. In 1970 the track drew a record crowd of 16,006.<ref name=Bojarski />
==Foxboro Stadium== The AFL–NFL merger in 1970 required that all teams have a stadium with a capacity of 50,000. The only stadium in the Boston area that was large enough was Harvard Stadium, but the university refused to lease it to the Patriots long-term. In anticipation that the Patriots might not be able to secure a stadium, groups from Memphis, Tampa, Seattle, Portland, Birmingham, and Jacksonville made bids for the team.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wallace|first1=William M.|title=Proposal Made to Keep Patriots|work=The New York Times|date=February 4, 1970}}</ref> In order to keep the team in New England, Loew offered Patriots owner Billy Sullivan fifteen acres of land adjacent to the track for the construction of a stadium.<ref name=Bojarski /> Sullivan selected Loew's location over sites in Saugus, Sturbridge, Haverhill, and Salem, New Hampshire.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kaese|first=Harold|title=Do the Pats Have a New Stadium?|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=September 13, 1970}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wallace|first1=Christopher|work=The Boston Globe|date=March 21, 1970}}</ref> Foxboro Stadium (then known as Schaefer Stadium) was completed in time for the 1971 season.<ref name=Bojarski />
==First closure== In 1976, Loew sold the track to Foxboro Associates, led by Eddie Andelman, for $9.6 million.<ref name=Halbfinger /> They renamed the track New England Harness Raceway and later Foxboro Raceway.<ref name=Bojarski /> The track closed in December 1989 after Chuck Sullivan (the son of Billy Sullivan), who leased the track from Foxboro Associates, failed to make his payments.<ref name=McDonough>{{cite news|last1=McDonough|first1=Will|title=Sullivans' Team in Loss Column|work=The Boston Globe|date=July 26, 1987}}</ref>
In January 1987, Robert Kraft and Steve Karp purchased an option on the track, which would allow Kraft, who had tried unsuccessfully to purchase the Patriots, to prevent the financially struggling Sullivans from hosting non-Patriot events at the stadium during races.<ref name=McDonough /> This put Kraft on the inside track to purchase the stadium, which he did in 1988, and eventually the team, which he did in 1994.<ref name=Bojarski /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Skwar|first1=Don|title=Sullivan Trying to 'Work Something Out' At Foxboro|work=The Boston Globe|date=November 19, 1986}}</ref>
==Reopening== In 1990, Charles Sarkis, chairman and CEO of the Back Bay Restaurant Group and the owner of Wonderland Greyhound Park, entered an agreement to lease Foxboro Raceway. He hoped to use the track for Thoroughbred racing (which had not been held in Massachusetts since Suffolk Downs closed in 1989) and off-track betting.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Indrisano|first1=Ron|title=Wonderland's Sousa Takes Leave|work=The Boston Globe|date=June 13, 1990}}</ref> In November 1991, Foxboro was granted a license to hold Thoroughbred races from May to September and harness races from September to December.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Indrisano|first1=Ron|title=Foxboro gets nights; commission clears way for circuit|work=The Boston Globe|date=November 15, 1991}}</ref> The track was upgraded to include a grandstand pub, circle lounge area, new front-stretch chute, two teletheaters, 155 mutuel machines, and 50 Tiny TIM personal betting machines (more than any other U.S. track at that time and the first such machines at any track in New England). The track reopened on May 27, 1992, under the name Foxboro Park.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Indrisano|first1=Ron|title=A thorough job at new Foxboro|work=The Boston Globe|date=May 24, 1992}}</ref> Foxboro Park suffered financially due to an outbreak of an equine virus, a low level of betting, and significant cost overruns during construction.<ref>{{cite news|title=Westwood Group Inc.: Foxboro Raceway Problems Give Unit Financial Woes|work=Wall Street Journal|date=July 22, 1922}}</ref> Although the track was granted 72 Thoroughbred racing dates, it was only able to complete 35 due to a lack of horses.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Beyer|first1=Andrew|title=For the Want of a Horse|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 22, 1992}}</ref> The track continued to run harness races.<ref name=Bojarski />
==Second closure and demolition== On May 29, 1996, Patriots owner Robert Kraft purchased Foxboro Park from Andelman's group for $16 million.<ref name=Halbfinger>{{cite news|last1=Halbfinger|first1=David M.|title=Kraft buys Foxboro land tract|work=The Boston Globe|date=May 30, 1996}}</ref> He planned to use the property as an alternate site for a new football stadium in case plans for the proposed South Boston facility fell through.<ref name="Vaillancourt and Cassidy" /> The purchase also gave Kraft control of access to Foxboro Stadium's parking lots. Kraft bought the property four months after his option on the track expired, which allowed him to buy it without former business partner Steve Karp (who still held the option with Kraft) as well as at a lower price ($16 million instead of $18 million).<ref name=Halbfinger />
Not long after purchasing the Foxboro Park, Kraft moved to evict Sarkis on the grounds that he did not have a valid lease. Although the track was unprofitable, it was potentially worth millions of dollars, as the Massachusetts legislature was considering Governor William Weld's proposal to grant slot licenses to the state's four racetracks.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Vaillancourt|first1=Meg|title=Sarkis, Kraft set for Foxboro fight|work=The Boston Globe|date=April 15, 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Vaillancourt|first1=Meg|last2=Cassidy|first2=Tina|title=Jury sides with Kraft in Foxboro Park fight|work=The Boston Globe|date=May 30, 1997}}</ref> On May 29, 1997, a Norfolk Superior Court judge sided with Kraft.<ref name="Vaillancourt and Cassidy">{{cite news|last1=Vaillancourt|first1=Meg|last2=Cassidy|first2=Tina|title=Sarkis loses track battle with Kraft|work=The Boston Globe|date=April 26, 1997}}</ref> On July 29, Sarkis was ordered to vacate the property by midnight the following day or accept three conditions; create a fund to assist horsemen relocating to other tracks, repay workers who renovated the track, and pay rent, and leave the property on August 25.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blanton|first1=Kimberly|title=Court evicts Sarkis from Foxboro Park|work=The Boston Globe|date=July 30, 1997}}</ref> Sarkis chose to leave immediately.<ref>{{cite news|title=Last Race|work=The Boston Globe|date=August 3, 1997}}</ref>
During his battle with Sarkis, Kraft supported Thomas Aronson, a racing consultant from Virginia, for Foxboro Park's racing license. However, shortly after Sarkis' eviction, Aronson announced that he would not apply for racing dates, citing a "hostile group of regulators" (the Massachusetts Racing Commission) which made it "extremely difficult for [him] to suggest to Foxboro Realty and The Kraft Group that there is good reason to pursue racing at Foxboro".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Indrisano|first1=Ron|last2=Sullivan|first2=Joe|title=Aronson won't apply for dates|work=The Boston Globe|date=August 14, 1997}}</ref> Kraft later backed Foxboro Development Associates Limited Partnership, headed by attorney James Cobery, for the track's license, but the group withdrew its application for racing dates.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Indrisano|first1=Ron|title=Kraft & Co. withdraw application for dates|work=The Boston Globe|date=October 22, 1997}}</ref>
After Foxboro Park closed, the track's general manager, Gary Piontkowski, purchased 91 acres in Plainville, Massachusetts for the construction of a harness track.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Indrisano|first1=Ron|title=Piontkowski gets backing for track|work=The Boston Globe|date=October 23, 1997}}</ref> The track opened in 1999 as Plainridge Racecourse.<ref>{{cite news|title=Piontkowski races to finish|newspaper=Boston Herald|date=March 18, 1999|author=Ed Gray|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:BNHB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB4DB03A58E1DE0&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D6884C8DA6CD5B5}} {{subscription required|via=NewsBank}}</ref>
Foxboro Park remained vacant until 2000, when it was torn down during construction of Gillette Stadium.<ref name=Bojarski />
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Greater Boston sports arenas}}
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Category:Defunct horse racing venues in Massachusetts Category:Defunct horse racing venues in the United States Category:Buildings and structures in Foxborough, Massachusetts Category:Harness racing venues in the United States Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Massachusetts Category:1947 establishments in Massachusetts Category:1997 disestablishments in Massachusetts Category:Sports venues completed in 1947 Category:Sports venues demolished in 2000 Category:Sports in Foxborough, Massachusetts