Yonkers Raceway was founded in 1899, as the Empire City Trotting Club. From 1907 through 1943, thoroughbreds replaced harness racing. Seabiscuit, was one of the many famous thoroughbreds that graced this track.

The Rooney Family acquired Yonkers Raceway in 1972 and has maintained live harness racing for over 35 years.

In 2001, New York State enacted legislation authorizing video gaming machines at eight specific horse racing facilities, including Yonkers Raceway.

Yonkers Raceway closed its doors in June 2005 to construct the new video gaming operation. The original six-story club house was renovated on the first two floors to accommodate over 2,000 video gaming machines and restaurants. A new one-story building was constructed to hold- 3,000 additional video gaming machines, an international food court, bars, an entertainment lounge and more.

Yonkers Raceway remains one of harness racing’s few year-round facilities, with world class racing available throughout the calendar. The racing schedule is either five or six nights per week, depending on the season, with first post at 7:40 PM ET weekdays and 6:50 PM ET on Saturdays.

With the advent of the video gaming machine (VGM) era, Yonkers is able to offer some of the biggest purses in the sport. Overnight races range from $4,000 for bottom-level ($4,000) claimers to $30,000 to Open/Open Handicap events.

Yonkers is the proud home of three major harness events, the Yonkers Trot, Art Rooney Pace and Messenger Stakes. The Yonkers Trot and Messenger Stakes are part of the Trotting and Pacing Triple Crowns, respectively, making Yonkers the only track to host legs of each gait’s Triple Crown. The Raceway also hosts the annual New York Night of Champions, a million-dollar evening which culminates the state’s rich sire stakes program

Yonkers Raceway augments its year-round harness schedule with 12 months of simulcasting from North America’s leading harness and thoroughbred venues. Evening simulcasting accompanies all live racing programs, while afternoon simulcasting is available around the NYRA schedule (usually Wednesday through Sunday).