What kind of racino Hoosier Park is
Indiana has exactly two racinos, and both belong to Caesars. Hoosier Park is the harness half of that pair, while Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville runs Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. Both hold racing permits from the Indiana Horse Racing Commission and gaming licenses from the Indiana Gaming Commission, the arrangement described in the guide to what a racino is.
Unlike some Midwestern tracks that offer only video lottery terminals, the Anderson property runs a standard Indiana casino product: reel slots and video poker regulated as electronic gaming devices, live-dealer tables and a retail sportsbook. Slot revenue is taxed under the state’s racino rules, and part of it flows back into purses and breed development for Indiana horsemen.
The 2026 Hoosier Park racing schedule
The Indiana Horse Racing Commission approved a pari-mutuel meet from February 12 to November 28, 2026, which the operator describes as roughly 160 racing days. First post is 5:30 p.m. The season opened with a 14-race card on a Thursday, the track’s 33rd season of live harness racing, and qualifiers ran on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons through March.
How the week is built changes as the year goes on. Racing starts on Thursdays and Fridays, Wednesdays join the racing schedule in April and Saturdays are added from May. Holiday programs were set for Memorial Day, Saturday July 4 and Labor Day, and the oval also hosted four days of Indiana fair-circuit racing from June 16 to 19, 2026.
| What | When (2026) |
|---|---|
| Live meet | February 12 – November 28 |
| First post | 5:30 p.m. |
| Fair-circuit days | June 16 – 19 |
| Simulcasting | Daily, year-round |
Big races and the Hambletonian
The track’s long-standing stakes include the Dan Patch, first run in 1994, plus the Monument Circle, the Carl Erskine and the Nadia Lobell. The Breeders Crown, a set of championship races for harness horses, came to Anderson in 2017, 2020 and 2023, which helped set up the next and larger step for the Indiana track.
In August 2026 the Hambletonian Society voted to move its $1 million Hambletonian from the Meadowlands to Hoosier Park for 2027, 2028 and 2029, after the New Jersey track declined to renew and Woodbine also bid. Governor Mike Braun and state partners had announced Indiana’s interest in February 2026, and the race is open to three-year-old trotters only.
Betting the races
Wagers are pooled, so the payout depends on how much money lands on each horse rather than on fixed odds set by the house; the pari-mutuel betting guide explains the pools. On-track bets go through staffed mutuel windows, self-serve terminals and the FastBet machines, with simulcast racing from other tracks offered seven days a week throughout the year.
Spectators get a 1,200-seat grandstand next to the seven-eighths-mile oval, and the Terrace Showroom upstairs can be booked as private suites overlooking the stretch. Hoosier Park also runs off-track betting rooms in downtown Indianapolis and in New Haven near Fort Wayne, and the state reports their figures together with the Anderson track.
Inside the Hoosier Park casino
The casino is a single-level floor that stays open 24 hours a day. Indiana Gaming Commission figures for August 2026 list 1,235 electronic gaming devices and 40 live tables, with slots winning about $20.4 million and tables about $2.4 million that month. Blackjack had the largest share of table units, followed by baccarat and craps tables.
Live dealers are recent here. A 2019 state law opened the door, and the Anderson casino moved from electronic table games to live tables in January 2020, shortly before the pandemic shutdown. Caesars then began a gaming-floor expansion in 2022 that added more slots, more tables, a high-limit space and new bar and quick-service space beside the casino.
Sportsbook, dining and the showroom
A Caesars Sportsbook operates on the casino floor, and sports wagering is also limited to guests 21 and older. Dining is mostly casual: Sulky’s Restaurant & Bar serves steaks and Hoosier staples such as breaded tenderloins, Dash Cafe and Slice Pizzeria handle quick meals, and the Trackside Grill opens on race days for coney dogs and floats.
The Terrace Showroom seats about 900 people and has hosted touring acts over the years, including the B-52’s, Willie Nelson and the Beach Boys. The casino’s own show listings carry no dates at present, so it pays to check the casino calendar before planning a trip around a concert rather than around the racing card.
Getting to Hoosier Park and staying nearby
The track sits at 4500 Dan Patch Circle on the edge of Anderson, about 30 miles northeast of Indianapolis, and most visitors drive in on Interstate 69. The land was donated to the city in 1990 by local businessman Virgil Cook specifically for pari-mutuel racing, and the grandstand was built for about $13 million.
There is no hotel on the property, so the operator points guests to partner hotels a few miles away in Anderson. Racing fans comparing trips can pair a night in Anderson with an afternoon in Shelbyville, or head east toward the Ohio racinos such as Miami Valley Gaming and Belterra Park near Cincinnati.
History and ownership
Hoosier Park opened on September 1, 1994, as Indiana’s first pari-mutuel track, drawing 7,633 people. Churchill Downs ran it for years before selling to Centaur in 2007, the same year lawmakers allowed slots. The casino opened on June 2, 2008, and Caesars bought both Indiana racinos in 2018 in a deal valued at about $1.7 billion.
The Indiana Derby, now a Grade 3 Thoroughbred race, was first run here in 1995 before moving to Shelbyville in 2013, where it is still run each July. Casino visits are entertainment rather than income, and setting a spending limit before the first bet is a sensible habit. The full racing calendar lists other tracks.