The Garden State racecourse, for harness and thoroughbred racing, was situated at Cherry Hill in the Camden County area of New Jersey, approximately 8 kilometres from Philadelphia. It was seen as part of a trio of racecourses alongside Monmouth Park and Atlantic City, with this track holding its inaugural meeting on 18th June 1942. In those early days the facilities were basic, with a wooden grandstand, open to the elements, which could seat 20,000, and sufficient stables to stable 1546 horses. The racecourse was an 8 furlong oval dirt track which was later added to.

Very grateful to our American Racing Correspondent Richard Gauthier for the scan of the rare badge shown above, and for the selection of badges from the 1950's,1960's and 1970's shown below.

Its principal race was the Jersey Derby which could trace its history back to 7th June 1864 when run at Paterson and won by Norfolk. In 1942 the Jersey Handicap was won by Salto, while in 1948 it became the Jersey Stakes and was won by Citation; later in 1960 it became the Jersey Derby when won by Bally Ache. It was relocated to another course on the closure of Garden State Park and was won in 2012 by Howe Great ridden by Joe Bravo. Another of its feature races was the Gardenia Stakes over a touch more than a mile. First run in 1955, it was won by Miss Legality in 1991. Fires occurred in stabling areas in 1969 and again on 22nd November 1970 when 35 horses perished. The grandstand was gutted by fire on 14th April 1977, meaning the meeting was abandoned causing racing to lapse at the venue for some considerable time, but after a building programme the track reopened in 1985, regaining the Jersey Derby which continued to be run at this racecourse until 1998. The newly developed track consisted of an 8 furlong oval dirt track, together with a 7 furlong inner turf track and separate 6 furlong and 10 furlong chutes, each sharing a 292 metre home straight. It experimented with harness racing, introducing it on 1st September 1985 only to abandon the idea on 6th December 1986. The track closed on 3rd December 2001 with the final winner being Peg Rushton ridden by N. Santagata and trained by Stacy McMullin.

Jersey Derby winners when contested at Garden State Park since its inception in 1942
1942 The Jersey Handicap over 9 furlongs was won by Salto trained by Max Hirsch and ridden by Warren Mehrtens
1943 The Jersey Handicap over 9 furlongs was won by Eurasian trained by Sol Rutchick and ridden by Frankie Zehr
1944 The Jersey Handicap over 9 furlongs was won by Lucky Draw trained by Bert Mulholland and ridden by Wayne Wright
1945 The Jersey Handicap over 9 furlongs was won by Trymenow trained by Oscar White and ridden by Herb Linberg
1946 The Jersey Handicap over 9 furlongs was won by Mahout trained by Oscar White and ridden by Wayne Wright
1947 The Jersey Handicap over 9 furlongs was won by Double Jay trained by Walter McCue and ridden by John Gilbert
1948 The Jersey Stakes over 10 furlongs was won by Citation trained by Ben Jones and ridden by Eddie Arcaro
1949 The Jersey Stakes over 10 furlongs was won by Palestinian trained by Hirsch Jacobs and ridden by Hedley Woodhouse
1950 The Jersey Stakes over 10 furlongs was won by Ferd trained by Andy Schuttinger and ridden by Conn McCreary
1951 The Jersey Stakes over 10 furlongs was won by Steadfast trained by Preston Burch and ridden by Hedley Woodhouse
1952 The Jersey Stakes over 10 furlongs was won by King Jolie trained by Hirsch Jacobs and ridden by James Stout
1953 The Jersey Stakes over 10 furlongs was won by Royal Bay Gem trained by Clyde Troutt and ridden by James Combest
1954 The Jersey Stakes over 9 furlongs was won by War of Roses trained by James Ryan and ridden by Jack Westrope
1955 The Jersey Stakes over 9 furlongs was won by Dedicate trained by G Carey Winfrey and ridden by Sam Boulmetis
1956 The Jersey Stakes over 9 furlongs was won by Fabius trained by Jimmy Jones and ridden by Bill Hartack
1957 The Jersey Stakes over 9 furlongs was won by Iron Liege trained by Jimmy Jones and ridden by Bill Hartack
1958 The Jersey Stakes over 9 furlongs was won by Lincoln Road trained by Victor Sovinski and ridden by Chris Rogers
1959 The Jersey Stakes over 9 furlongs was won by Waltz trained by Max Hirsch and ridden by Larry Gilligan
1960 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Bally Ache trained by Homer Pitt and ridden by Bobby Ussery
1961 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Ambiopoise trained by Thomas Waller and ridden by Bobby Ussery
1962 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Jaipur trained by Bert Mulholland and ridden by Larry Adams
1963 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Candy Spots trained by Mesh Tenney and ridden by Bill Shoemaker
1964 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Roman Brother trained by Burley Parke and ridden by Fernando Alvarez
1965 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Hail To All trained by Eddie Yowell and ridden by Johnny Sellers
1966 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Crème Dela Crème trained by Ira Hanford and ridden by Don Brumfield
1967 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by In Reality trained by Melvin Calvert and ridden by Earlie Fires
1968 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Out of the Way trained by Max Hirsch and ridden by Eddie Belmonte
1969 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Al Hattab trained by Warren Croll and ridden by Michael Hole
1970 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Personality trained by John Jacobs and ridden by Eddie Belmonte
1971 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Bold Reasoning trained by Nick Gonzales and ridden by Jacinto Vasquez
1972 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Smiling Jack trained by Ralph McIlvain and ridden by Frank Iannelli
1973 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Knightly Dawn trained by Pancho Martin and ridden by Jaime Arellano
1974 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Better Arbitor trained by Del Carroll and ridden by Carlos Barrerra
1975 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Singh trained by John Russell and ridden by Angel Cordero jnr
1976 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Lifes Hope trained by Laz Barrera and trained by Miguel Rivera

1985 The Jersey Derby over 10 furlongs was won by Spend A Buck trained by Cam Gambolati and ridden by Laffit Pincay jnr
1986 The Jersey Derby over 10 furlongs was won by Snow Chief trained by Melvin Stute and ridden by Alex Solis
1987 The Jersey Derby over 10 furlongs was won by Avies Copy trained by David Kassen and ridden by Mickey Solomone
1988 The Jersey Derby over 10 furlongs was won by Dynaformer trained by D Wayne Lukas and ridden by Craig Perret
1989 The Jersey Derby over 10 furlongs was won by Awe Inspiring trained by C R McGaughey and ridden by Craig Perret
1990 The Jersey Derby over 10 furlongs was won by Yonder trained by Angel Penna and ridden by Jerry Bailey
1991 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by Greek Costume trained by Warren Croll and ridden by Mike E Smith
1992 The Jersey Derby over 9 furlongs was won by American Chance trained by Niall OCallaghan and ridden by Pat Day
1993 The Jersey Derby over 8½ furlongs was won by Llandaff trained by William Mott and ridden by Julie Krone
1994 The Jersey Derby over 8½ furlongs was won by Zuno Star trained by Mark Hennig and ridden by Mike E Smith
1995 The Jersey Derby over 8½ furlongs was won by Da Hoss trained by Michael Dickinson and ridden by Julie Krone
1996 The Jersey Derby over 8½ furlongs was won by More Royal trained by Jonathan Sheppard and ridden by Julie Krone
1997 The Jersey Derby over 8½ furlongs was won by Rob N Gin trained by Robert Barbara and ridden by Jerry Bailey
1998 The Jersey Derby over 8½ furlongs was won by Who Did It And Run trained by Debra Sones and ridden by Felix Ortiz