Johnston moving from Sam Houston racing office to Penn National

Eric Johnston, the vice president of racing at Sam Houston Race Park in Texas, will start a new job in April as the director of racing operations at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Pa., the parent company of Penn National announced Thursday.

Johnston, who is a native of Grantville, has been at Sam Houston since the track’s opening in 1994, first as its stakes coordinator and then as its director of racing and racing secretary. At Sam Houston, Johnston also oversaw the track’s mutuel, simulcast, and player services departments.

Prior to moving to Sam Houston, Johnston was a racing official in Maryland. He started his racing career in 1983 at Penn National.

“Eric brings a strong foundation of both racing and management experience to this position,” Christopher McErlean, vice president of racing for Penn National Gaming, said in a statement. “He has had to be creative in recent years at Sam Houston due to intense regional competition, but the program was always one of the more highly regarded in the country.”

Penn National Gaming Inc., the owner of Penn National, purchased a half-interest in Sam Houston from Maxxam in 2011.

For the past three years, Johnston also has served as the director of racing at Fort Erie Race Course in Canada. A spokesperson for Penn National Gaming said that Johnston’s position at Penn National will be full time and year-round.