About
Located just 15 minutes from Buffalo on The Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, N.Y., Buffalo Raceway is the home in the area for exciting horse racing, fine dining and hot gaming. There is always free parking and free admission.
Live standardbred racing takes place on the ½-mile track on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, contesting a January-July schedule. Post time Friday and Saturday is at 6:40 pm, with Sunday race cards going postward at 1:05 pm.
Beyond the live product, simulcast race action is available from the top thoroughbred and standardbred tracks in North America every Wednesday thru Sunday.
There are mutuel windows located throughout the facility, and tellers operate the machines located at each of these individual windows. For betting convenience and privacy, self-betting machines are located throughout the track. Self-betting machines are clearly designated as “voucher only” and “bill accepting.” Vouchers may be purchased at any mutuel window throughout the track.
Over 75 tables overlook the ½-mile oval with televisions for a closer view of the action or to wager on other tracks across North America. The Clubhouse Sports Bar is open on race nights, serving a full bar and limited menu. Guests will order and pick up directly at the bar. Food and drinks must be consumed while seated for health and safety reasons. Reservations are available by calling 716-649-1280 ext 6300.
Hamburg resident James J. Dunnigan opened the doors of Buffalo Raceway in June of 1942, shortly after New York State passed a bill allowing pari-mutuel harness racing. He selected the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg as the site for his new racetrack.
The Fairgrounds had a half mile race track and grandstand in place for its fair activities and being only 14 miles from downtown Buffalo, provided an excellent location, as area residents welcomed a new sport to Western New York. Crowds of eight to 10 thousand were often in attendance. Canadian trainers from across the border in nearby Ontario began bringing their horses to race in Buffalo.
Buffalo’s races can be viewed on demand through the Racing Television Network. These races can be watched on a desktop or laptop computer, as well as a mobile device.
Hamburg Gaming at Buffalo Raceway offers a 55,000-square-foot casino with more than 900 VLTs, slot machines and video poker games that range from penny to dollar plays . Among the most visited casinos in the Western New York area, Hamburg Gaming at Buffalo Raceway saw nearly $54 million wagered in January of 2021.
Hamburg Gaming is owned by the Buffalo Trotting Association and operated by Delaware North.
While Buffalo Raceway doesn’t offer an on-site hotel, overnight accommodation is available from several nearby Hamburg hotels. These include the Comfort Inn, Econo Lodge, Holiday Inn Express, Quality Inn, Red Carpet Inn, Red Roof Inn, Motel 6 and Super 8 Motel.
Licence
Buffalo Raceway is licenced by the Schenectady-based New York State Gaming Commission.
Major Horse Betting Events at the Venue
The New York Sires Stakes, a series of state-wide two and three-year-old races for New York-bred horses, made their debut at the raceway in 1961. This stakes series remains a part of the current raceway program.
The Excelsior Series for two and three-year-old colt and filly pacers are also contested at Buffalo Raceway.
Bet Types Allowed
Types of wagers offered at Buffalo Raceway include win (horse to finish first), place (horse to finish first or second), show (horse to finish first, second, or third), across the board (full wagering on a horse to finish in first, second or third. A $2 across the board wager would cost a bettor $6).
Exotic bets include exacta (picking two horses to finish first and second in that order), trifecta (picking three horses to finish first, second and third in that order), the daily double (picking the winners of two successive designated races), pick three (correctly selecting the winners of three successive designated races), pick four (correctly selecting the winners of four successive designated races) and pick five (correctly selecting the winners of five successive designated races).
Horses can be boxed or wheeled in any type of exotic wagering. When boxing horses, a bettor is enabling a ticket to cash as a winner no matter the order of finish of the horses that are part of the box. In the case of wheeling, one horse is keyed in a specific order of finish and the remaining horses in the bet are wheeled around that horse.
On each win, place, and show bet, 83 percent of the money wagered is returned to bettors in winning payouts. The remaining 17 percent, known as the “takeout,” is divided among the State of New York, horsemen (purses), breeders, and the racetrack. On wagers involving multiple horses, the takeout is higher.
Mobile Betting App
Lucky North Online is the Hamburg Gaming At Buffalo Raceway mobile app. It enables players to play popular slots, blackjack, video poker, trivia and bingo for free. New players are given 30,000 points in free play to get started. The app is downloadable for iOS and Android devices.
Promotions
The Buffalo Raceway Player Rewards program works very simply. The more a player bets, the more they get back in rewards. Once they wager just $1,500 or more in a month they will receive a two percent reward for all wagers on participating tracks, in the form of a wagering voucher. Sign up at guest services and can start earning rewards right away.
Players who join the Inside Track put themselves on their way to earning VIP status at Buffalo Raceway. As a member of the Inside Track, bettors will receive all of the latest information about the Buffalo Raceway via email. Inside Track members are also eligible for dining discounts, complimentary programs and other giveaways during race season.
Buffalo Raceway also offers handicapping contests and festival events at their facility.
The Lucky North Club is Hamburg Gaming at Buffalo Raceway’s rewards program. Rewards points are provided for free gaming or for other perks offered. Every 100 points earned equals $1 in rewards. They also provide rotating promotional offers that can be checked out on their web page.
