Live horse racing will end this year at Scarborough Downs

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - After 70 years, live horse racing will end this year at the Scarborough Downs racetrack in Maine.

The last harness race is scheduled for Nov. 28, the Portland Press Herald reported on Thursday.

'œWe'll be closing the season in a week,'ť race announcer and publicist Mike Sweeney told the newspaper. 'œActually, we'll be closing out the 70-year history of Scarborough Downs."

The track opened in 1950 and had been in decline for years, eventually closing its grandstands because of disrepair, the newspaper reported.

In 2018, a developer bought the race track along with the area around it for $6.7 million with plans to build housing and other developments.

The vast majority of the track's revenue comes from simulcast betting, which will continue through the end of the year, the newspaper reported. Sweeney said Scarborough Downs is applying for an off-track betting license for 2021 before the Maine Harness Racing Commission on Friday.