From Dover Downs to Bally’s Dover
The track and the speedway opened together in 1969, with the harness oval laid inside the motor-racing circuit. When the 1994 Horse Racing Redevelopment Act let Delaware’s three tracks add video lottery machines, Dover Downs Slots opened on December 29, 1995, one of the first racetrack casinos in the country.
In 2002 the gaming and racing side was spun off as Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment. A 2019 reverse merger with Twin River Worldwide Holdings brought it under the group that later became Bally’s Corporation, which sold the land and buildings to Gaming and Leisure Properties in 2021, leased them back, and renamed the resort Bally’s Dover that November.
Dover Downs racing: the winter harness meet
Harness racing at Dover Downs is a winter sport. The 2025-26 meet ran 83 nights from November 3 to April 2, Monday through Thursday, with the first race at 4:30 p.m., and the U.S. Trotting Association lists the 2026-27 meet from November 2, 2026 to April 1, 2027. Qualifiers usually start in late October.
The 5/8-mile oval gives standardbreds longer straights and gentler turns than the half-mile tracks at Harrington and Ocean Downs, and the meet’s spotlight events include the Matron Series and the Progress Pace. Free programs come from the Delaware Standardbred Owners’ Association, entries and results sit on the trotting association’s site, and the pari-mutuel betting guide explains the pools.
Outside the live season the race and sportsbook keeps simulcast racing going year-round, with thoroughbred and harness cards from other tracks. That makes Dover a winter complement to Delaware Park, whose thoroughbred meet runs from May to October, and to Harrington Raceway, whose harness meets fill the spring and late summer.
The casino floor
The operator calls Bally’s Dover the largest casino in Delaware, with more than 2,000 slot machines and nearly 30 table games, open 24 hours every day. The machines are video lottery terminals linked to the state lottery, the system explained on the video lottery terminals page, and Delaware Lottery counted 1,943 of them at the property in June 2026.
Tables arrived in 2010 and cover blackjack, roulette and craps, with a posted $10 minimum. The poker room has closed. In fiscal 2026 the property generated about $139.1 million in video lottery net proceeds, second among the three tracks. Like the other two racinos, it holds a state online casino license. The state’s gambling helpline is 888-850-8888.
The Dover Downs hotel and dining
The hotel tower grew to about 500 rooms in a 2007 expansion and was then the largest hotel in Delaware. Classic doubles measure around 450 square feet with two double beds, refrigerator and coffee maker; classic kings suit couples, and accessible rooms include roll-in showers and hearing-access equipment. A spa, pool and fitness room complete the hotel side.
Dining covers a buffet, a coffee shop, casual and upscale restaurants and several bars. The newest is Círculo Lounge, which the resort describes as Delaware’s only rotating bar, making four full turns an hour above the casino floor with DJs and solo acts. The Colonnade shops add tax-free retail, a perk of Delaware having no sales tax.
Shows, events and race weekends
The Rollins Center, an 18,000-square-foot ballroom, is the main stage for concerts, comedy and touring acts, and the resort has more than 41,000 square feet of event space in total. The autumn 2026 calendar mixes tribute bands, a comedy night, local cover acts and a bare-knuckle boxing card on November 20, with weekly Thursday football watch parties.
Dover Motor Speedway, owned by Speedway Motorsports, shares the site, and its NASCAR race weekends draw large crowds, so anyone booking a room for a quiet night should check the speedway calendar first. Those weekends fall outside the live harness meet, which only runs once the cold weather arrives and the speedway is quiet.
Getting there and nearby racinos
The resort sits at 1131 North Dupont Highway, U.S. Route 13, at the north end of Dover, with parking on site and Delaware Route 1 close by. Wilmington is about 45 miles north. Harrington Raceway lies about 16 miles south on the same highway, and the Delaware racinos overview compares all three tracks side by side.