What Plainridge Park Casino is
The building combines a harness racetrack with the only slot parlor allowed under Massachusetts law. That Category 2 license, awarded to Penn National Gaming in February 2014 and renewed in August 2025, permits up to 1,250 machines but no live dealers. It is a racino in the plainest sense: a track that kept racing by adding slots.
The resort casinos, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor, have no racing, so Plainridge Park Casino is the one place in Massachusetts where a visitor can watch a live race and play a slot under the same roof. The Massachusetts page explains how the 2011 law split the market into three resort licenses and one parlor.
Plainridge Park Casino horse racing schedule
The 2026 meet opened on April 13 and runs 110 days to November 24. Race days shift with the season: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in April, July, August, September and November, with Friday cards added in May, June and October. Two Saturday cards, May 2 and May 16, were built around the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
| 2026 month | Race days | First post |
|---|---|---|
| April | Mon, Tue, Thu | 4 p.m. |
| May and June | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri | 4 p.m. |
| July and August | Mon, Tue, Thu | 4 p.m. |
| September | Mon, Tue, Thu | 2 p.m. |
| October | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri | 2 p.m. |
| November (to the 24th) | Mon, Tue, Thu | 1 p.m. |
Earlier post times in autumn follow the light, so the last weeks of the horse racing schedule are early-afternoon cards. The track posts free past-performance programs and replays on its racing page, and the horse racing schedule page tracks dates across other states for anyone planning a longer racing trip.
Stakes days and the people who race here
Four graded stakes and six Grand Circuit races carry combined purses of almost $750,000 in 2026. The $300,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot, a Grade 2, and the $150,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace share Sunday, July 19. The $100,000 Paul Revere and Battle of Bunker Hill fall on the May Saturdays, and the Reynolds Stakes follow on October 12.
Autumn belongs to state-bred horses. Three legs of the Massachusetts Sire Stakes run on late-September and October Mondays and Tuesdays, with finals on Thursday, October 29, from an estimated $3.2 million breeder program funded by the Race Horse Development Fund. Bruce Ranger was the 2025 leading driver, and Gretchen Athearn won the training title with 52 wins.
Betting on the races at Plainridge
A standard ten-race card offers win, place, show, exacta, trifecta and superfecta, a Pick 3 in races three and six and a Pick 4 in race five. New for 2026 is a rolling double on every race, and races six and nine swap the superfecta for the Wicked Hi-5, a pentafecta that asks for the first five in order.
All of these are pool bets, explained in the pari-mutuel betting guide: the track takes its share and the rest is split among winning tickets. Simulcast wagering on other tracks runs daily in a two-floor race book, and the Dark Horse Bar beside it opens from noon to 5 p.m., seven days a week, with views over the finish line.
The gaming floor at the Plainridge casino
The casino describes more than 900 slot machines and 395 different games, from penny reels to a high-limit room with denominations between 25 cents and $100. Titles include Wheel of Fortune, Buffalo Grand and Lightning Link. Electronic blackjack, craps and roulette stand in for live tables, and Quartz Hybrid terminals let one player follow up to eight games.
Massachusetts taxes the parlor at 49 percent of gross gaming revenue: 40 points go to the state and 9 points to the Race Horse Development Fund. In fiscal 2026 (July 2025 to June 2026) Plainridge Park Casino won $179.2 million on slots, and August 2026 added $15.2 million. Since opening, it has paid about $154.8 million into the horse fund.
The Sportsbook opened on January 31, 2023, after Massachusetts legalized sports betting in 2022. It works through kiosks and a sports bar with a 49-foot video wall, open from 10 a.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. at weekends until midnight. The gaming floor is for guests 21 and older; setting a spending limit before a visit is a sensible habit.
Restaurants at Plainridge Park
The restaurants run from a sit-down seafood room to a food court a few steps from the slots. Online ordering for pickup covers all of them. The table lists the outlets the casino advertised in October 2026, with their usual days; hours change by season, so the restaurant pages on the official site are the place to confirm them.
| Outlet | Style | Usual hours |
|---|---|---|
| Slack’s Oyster House & Grill | Seafood, steak and oyster bar | Thu to Sat evenings, Sunday brunch |
| The Sportsbook | Burgers, wings, bar menu | Daily, noon to midnight |
| Wahlburgers | Burgers in the food court | Daily from 11 a.m. |
| Slice Pizzeria | Pizza by the slice or pie | Thu to Sun |
| Revolution Lounge | Bar with live music | Daily from 11 a.m. |
| Dark Horse Bar | Trackside drinks | Daily, noon to 5 p.m. |
Of the restaurants, Slack’s suits a slower meal, with local microbrews, a wine list and a Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. On a race afternoon most visitors stay near the track at the Dark Horse Bar or eat at The Sportsbook, whose menu runs from clam chowder with clam cakes to buffalo chicken dip.
Concerts and events
Live entertainment centers on the Revolution Lounge, which books regional bands every Friday and Saturday from 8 p.m. to midnight with no cover charge. The October 2026 calendar lists a dance-rock band, an 80s tribute group, a six-piece Motown and funk band and a Halloween night with Neon Lighthouse on October 31. There is no arena or ticketed showroom.
Racing supplies the larger events. Spirit of Massachusetts day in July is the biggest card of the year, and Derby and Preakness Saturdays in May turn the simulcast into a party. Seasonal events at the casino have included food and wine festivals and game-show nights, and PENN Play members can trade points for Ticketmaster tickets to other venues.
Getting there, parking and nearby hotels
The casino sits where Interstate 495 meets U.S. Route 1, about 40 minutes by car from Boston and 25 minutes from Providence. From either city, take I-495 to exit 36B and follow Route 1 south toward North Attleboro. Parking is free, with 1,620 spaces in a garage and surface lots, and Gillette Stadium is about four miles away.
There is no hotel on the property. The casino points to partner hotels with member discounts: the Renaissance Boston Patriot Place, Hilton Garden Inn, Residence Inn, Sonesta Select and Comfort Inn in Foxborough, a Best Western and a Residence Inn in Franklin, and a Holiday Inn Express on Route 1 in North Attleboro, seven miles south.
A short history of the track
Plainridge opened in 1999 after Foxboro Park, the state’s previous harness track, closed in 1997. Simulcasting began on March 17 and live racing on April 19, 1999. When Massachusetts authorized one slot parlor in 2011, the track bid for it, but the founding owner was forced out in 2013 and the Gaming Commission disqualified that bid in August.
Penn National stepped in with a deal in September 2013, Plainville voters backed it about three to one, and the license followed in 2014. Plainridge Park Casino opened on June 24, 2015, as a $250 million project. In October 2018 Penn sold the land and buildings to Gaming and Leisure Properties for $250 million and leased them back.
Other racinos within a day’s drive
New England has no other racino, so the nearest alternatives are a long trip. Hollywood Casino Bangor in Maine pairs harness racing with a casino, and New York has Saratoga Casino and Empire City, both built on harness tracks. The racinos near me map shows the rest of the country.