History
In November 1962, ground was broken for the first parimutuel horse racing track in Western Pennsylvania. The track opened on June 28, 1963 and was operated by the Washington Trotting Association.
The Washington Trotting Association was purchased in February 1973 by a group including famous trainer/driver Delvin Miller. Miller's imprint still exists on the track today, with The Meadows most prestigious race bearing his name (the Delvin Miller Adios Pace for the Orchids), and a statue of his famous sire Adios located at the track's entrance.
The Meadows introduced two significant technological advancements in 1983: Call-A-Bet and the Meadows Racing Network (MRN). Call-A-Bet allowed users to create individual wagering accounts and phone in wagers for races. In conjunction, the Meadows Racing Network telecast each day's live races and was distributed to local cable providers. The telecast also included a half hour preview show hosted by track announcer Roger Huston. The track used a marketing campaign to promote the services with the slogan "Every 16 minutes the place goes crazy", alluding to the typically quick pace from race-to-race at harness tracks.
Pittsburgh lawyer Stuart A. Williams purchased the track in 1986, and subsequently sold it to England-based Ladbroke Group PLC in 1988. The company changed the name to Ladbroke at the Meadows and opened a series of off-track betting parlors named Ladbrokes. The first opened in New Castle, Pennsylvania, United States in June 1990. Locations followed in Greensburg, Johnstown, Pennsylvania,Harmar Township, Moon, and West Mifflin (all in Pennsylvania, United States). The Greensburg location was closed in 2000 following the decline and eventual vacancy of the Greengate shopping mall at which it was located. The Johnstown, Pennsylvania location was later sold to the Penn National Gaming corporation in July 1998. All other locations currently remain operational.
Magna Entertainment Corp leased the track from Ladbroke in 2001. Magna transformed Call-A-Bet into Xpressbet, an internet and telephone based wagering service that allowed users to not only wager on The Meadows, but also on numerous other tracks owned by Magna or with whom a business agreement was in place. The Meadows was also featured on HRTV, a cable television station part-owned by Magna. The OTB names were changed to "The Meadows-location" (e.g. The Meadows-Harmar). Another Greensburg OTB location was opened in 2004 but closed in 2007. The Meadows-West Mifflin also closed it doors in April 2012.
Las Vegas based Cannery Casino Resorts purchased the track in July 2006. Magna was retained to operate the track under a five year management contract.
In December 2007 Crown Limited, an Australian company, agreed to purchase both Cannery's casino assets as well as The Meadows. However, in March 2009 Crown backed out of the deal.
Read more about this topic: The Meadows Racetrack And Casino
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