Suffolk Downs to race two more days in September

Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Mass., has received approval from state regulators to add two race cards to its live racing season this year: Sept. 15-16, a Saturday and a Sunday.

Suffolk Downs had included the two dates in its original dates application to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, but the dates were considered provisional pending the results of its first six days of live racing this year, all weekend dates. The gambling commission approved the two provisional dates at a meeting on Tuesday, along with disbursements from the state’s Race Horse Development Fund to provide purse money for the two dates.

Post time for the first race of each day will be 12:55.

Suffolk Downs has continued to run despite the recent sale of the property underlying the track to developers. The races are run in conjunction with a food-truck festival, in a fair-type setting. The track said on Tuesday that each race day has attracted an average of 6,800 attendees, and that purses have averaged $500,000 a day.

The track site is being offered as a candidate for a new Amazon headquarters that is attracting substantial interest from many cities, and it is expected to be redeveloped in the next several years.