Former Suffolk Downs owner eying new site in Mass. for boutique race meet

A former co-owner of Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts plans to resurrect live racing in the state as early as next year, using a boutique-meet model similar to Kentucky Downs, according to officials involved in the project.

Richard Fields, the former Suffolk co-owner, is negotiating to buy a 360-acre tract of land in central Massachusetts called Great Meadowbrook Farm in order to convert the land into a multi-purpose equestrian center, according to Lou Raffetto, a longtime racing executive who is working with the group. If the sale goes through and the group’s racing application is approved by Massachusetts regulators, plans call for as many as four days of live racing on a new turf course in the fall next year, Raffetto said.

Purses for each day of racing would average $750,000 to $800,000, Raffetto said, with maiden special weights going for $75,000. The turf course would be 110-feet wide and one-mile in circumference, built over a flat but somewhat undulating area of the property, according to Raffetto.

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“It’s flat, but obviously the course will have a bit of a roll to it, though nothing as drastic as Kentucky Downs,” Raffetto said.

Live racing has not been held in Massachusetts since 2019, when the property surrounding Suffolk Downs was sold for development. The owners of Suffolk have been operating a simulcast site on the track property in the meantime.

Earlier this year, the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill legalizing sports wagering, with licenses available to casinos and racing permitholders. The legislation allows license holders to operate mobile sports betting operations, which is the dominant business model in sports betting in the U.S.

Raffetto said that the plans for the racetrack do not include on-site sports betting or year-round simulcast wagering. The state’s Race Horse Development Fund has a balance of $25 million in it, built up over the past three years from casino subsidies, and the plan would use some of that balance every year to fund the live meet purses, Raffetto said.

Aside from the live race dates, the property would be developed to board mares and stallions in the hopes of resurrecting the state’s breeding industry, according to a statement from Fields, whose co-partners in the project include Armand and Robin Kalaidjian. The property would also have a retirement and re-training facility.

Raffetto said that the plan envisions adding several days of racing over the next several years. The first dates the planners are eyeing are Sept. 9-10, in the break between Saratoga closing and New York racing beginning again the next weekend, with the possibility of also racing over the weekend of Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

“We’ll do one or two weekends next year, focusing on expanding the live dates moving forward,” Raffetto said. “We understand this is new, and in the first year we don't want to make any mistakes.”

According to local reports, the Great Meadowbrook property was sold last year for $2.6 million to a group that planned to use it for a marijuana growing operation. Local officials immediately said they would oppose such a plan, opening the door for Fields and his partners.

“Our proposal is developed by horse enthusiasts for horses,” Fields said, in his statement. “The next great chapter of Great Meadowbrook Farm will continue its legacy, providing a place for horses to breed, train, retire, and race. All while preserving this farm so cherished by the community.”