The state’s plan to save the ailing thoroughbred racing industry by cutting Monmouth Park’s racing dates nearly in half while offering a nation-leading $1 million a day in purses cleared its last major obstacle on Monday when the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association formally approved an agreement in principle for the bold initiative.
Under the plan, Monmouth Park will conduct a 50-day meet this year by racing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (plus the three Monday holidays) from May 22 until Sept. 11.
The track will offer the equivalent of $1 million per day in purses ($50 million will be distributed over the 50 days), moving it from outside the top 10 in that category last year – when it gave away an average of $330,000 daily during its 93 racing days – to No. 1 in North America, ahead of Saratoga Race Course, which offered $729,100 per day last summer.
The official announcement is expected Tuesday.
“Only weeks ago, we were wondering if the end of horse racing in New Jersey was upon us,” said Mike Drewniak, spokesperson for Gov. Chris Christie. “This keeps the horse racing industry viable. It ensures that the farms will remain active and it will protect those open spaces from development.”
The plan had the backing of the horsemen’s association but needed to be formally approved by its executive board because the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which operates both the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and Monmouth Park, is legally contracted to race 141 days a year for thoroughbreds.
The NJSEA will now seek a one-year relief from the state legislature for the amended racing calendar. Monmouth Park will also conduct a 21-day fall meet from Sept. 12 to Nov. 21 when daily purses will average between $250,000 to $300,000. There will be no thoroughbred racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack this year.
John Forbes, the acting president of the NJTHA, said he “was optimist” that the one-year trial to jumpstart thoroughbred racing would be the cure the ailing industry needs.
The NJTHA accepted the plan by a 7-2 vote following six hours of closed-door meetings Monday at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank.
Bob Mulcahy, a member of Gov. Chris Christie’s seven-person commission appointed on Feb. 3 to study gaming, sports and entertainment in the state, headed the team making the formal pitch to the horsemen’s association on Monday. He was joined by Monmouth Park vice president and general manager Bob Kulina, Ralph Marra Jr., the NJSEA’s senior vice president for legal and governmental affairs, and racing commission nominee Dennis Drazin, an attorney who served as a fact witness.
All four declined to comment after emerging from the lengthy meetings.
Approval from the state legislature to amend the racing dates for this year is expected, Drewniak said, because of the across-the-board support for the idea from all parties.
“Racing in the state needed a boost, a real kick,” he said. “It was dying on the vine only weeks ago.”
Drewniak said Gov. Christie was “impressed” that both sides, with the cooperation of the state’s Standardbred Owners and Breeders’ Association, were able to put the plan together quickly.
Forbes said only minor details need to be worked out now.
By offering the highest purses in the country, Monmouth expects to draw bigger fields and more quality horses for the 12 races a day it will contest. That, in turn, is expected to lead to a significant increase in handle, particularly on the “live” product.
The added revenue stream is being counted on to make a major dent into the projected $13 million deficit the NJSEA is facing with racing.
The plan will temporarily put Monmouth Park on the cutting edge of thoroughbred racing in the country, and is modeled after the approaches in Japan and Australia, where most of the racing is done on weekends only with huge purses offered. Monmouth generally conducts a Wednesday through Sunday schedule from June through August.
In addition to eliminating two days of operating costs a week, the NJSEA will also see a major savings by not having to convert the Meadowlands Racetrack from a surface for thoroughbreds to one for harness racing, as it does every year.
The benefit to the harness racing industry is that it will be able to choose better late fall dates because of the absence of thoroughbred at the Meadowlands.
Monmouth averaged $409,380 in handle per day on its live product last year and $3.1 million overall when simulcasting is factored in. Early projections are that the track will see its live handle at least double while seeing the overall handle grow to more than $5 million per day the first year.
Saratoga, by contrast, averaged $14.1 million daily in all-sources handle.
Courtesy http://www.nj.com/sports/njsports/in...r_average.html
Anyone besides me think this is a tad ambitious?
Under the plan, Monmouth Park will conduct a 50-day meet this year by racing Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (plus the three Monday holidays) from May 22 until Sept. 11.
The track will offer the equivalent of $1 million per day in purses ($50 million will be distributed over the 50 days), moving it from outside the top 10 in that category last year – when it gave away an average of $330,000 daily during its 93 racing days – to No. 1 in North America, ahead of Saratoga Race Course, which offered $729,100 per day last summer.
The official announcement is expected Tuesday.
“Only weeks ago, we were wondering if the end of horse racing in New Jersey was upon us,” said Mike Drewniak, spokesperson for Gov. Chris Christie. “This keeps the horse racing industry viable. It ensures that the farms will remain active and it will protect those open spaces from development.”
The plan had the backing of the horsemen’s association but needed to be formally approved by its executive board because the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which operates both the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and Monmouth Park, is legally contracted to race 141 days a year for thoroughbreds.
The NJSEA will now seek a one-year relief from the state legislature for the amended racing calendar. Monmouth Park will also conduct a 21-day fall meet from Sept. 12 to Nov. 21 when daily purses will average between $250,000 to $300,000. There will be no thoroughbred racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack this year.
John Forbes, the acting president of the NJTHA, said he “was optimist” that the one-year trial to jumpstart thoroughbred racing would be the cure the ailing industry needs.
The NJTHA accepted the plan by a 7-2 vote following six hours of closed-door meetings Monday at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank.
Bob Mulcahy, a member of Gov. Chris Christie’s seven-person commission appointed on Feb. 3 to study gaming, sports and entertainment in the state, headed the team making the formal pitch to the horsemen’s association on Monday. He was joined by Monmouth Park vice president and general manager Bob Kulina, Ralph Marra Jr., the NJSEA’s senior vice president for legal and governmental affairs, and racing commission nominee Dennis Drazin, an attorney who served as a fact witness.
All four declined to comment after emerging from the lengthy meetings.
Approval from the state legislature to amend the racing dates for this year is expected, Drewniak said, because of the across-the-board support for the idea from all parties.
“Racing in the state needed a boost, a real kick,” he said. “It was dying on the vine only weeks ago.”
Drewniak said Gov. Christie was “impressed” that both sides, with the cooperation of the state’s Standardbred Owners and Breeders’ Association, were able to put the plan together quickly.
Forbes said only minor details need to be worked out now.
By offering the highest purses in the country, Monmouth expects to draw bigger fields and more quality horses for the 12 races a day it will contest. That, in turn, is expected to lead to a significant increase in handle, particularly on the “live” product.
The added revenue stream is being counted on to make a major dent into the projected $13 million deficit the NJSEA is facing with racing.
The plan will temporarily put Monmouth Park on the cutting edge of thoroughbred racing in the country, and is modeled after the approaches in Japan and Australia, where most of the racing is done on weekends only with huge purses offered. Monmouth generally conducts a Wednesday through Sunday schedule from June through August.
In addition to eliminating two days of operating costs a week, the NJSEA will also see a major savings by not having to convert the Meadowlands Racetrack from a surface for thoroughbreds to one for harness racing, as it does every year.
The benefit to the harness racing industry is that it will be able to choose better late fall dates because of the absence of thoroughbred at the Meadowlands.
Monmouth averaged $409,380 in handle per day on its live product last year and $3.1 million overall when simulcasting is factored in. Early projections are that the track will see its live handle at least double while seeing the overall handle grow to more than $5 million per day the first year.
Saratoga, by contrast, averaged $14.1 million daily in all-sources handle.
Courtesy http://www.nj.com/sports/njsports/in...r_average.html
Anyone besides me think this is a tad ambitious?
