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May 8,
2008
Mid-Atlantic sites, NYRA make deal
By MATT HEGARTY, Daily Racing Form
The New York Racing Association and a
cooperative representing tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region have
reached an agreement that will restore the signal from Belmont
Park at the simulcast sites in eight states, effective Friday,
officials for the two sides said Thursday.
NYRA and the MidAtlantic Cooperative
had failed to reach an agreement on the terms over the Belmont
signal since the track opened on April 30. Officials for the
cooperative had said that they would not agree to a price
increase for the signal, a point not disputed by NYRA officials.
Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed, though it is known that NYRA has been seeking some of
the highest rates in the country for the signals from its three
tracks, Belmont, Aqueduct, and Saratoga.
Martin Lieberman, the executive
director of the cooperative, said that the contract was a
"long-term," multiyear deal, but he declined to be more
specific.
"It's a fair agreement," Lieberman
said.
NYRA remains locked in a separate
dispute with a cooperative representing simulcasting sites in
eight Southern and Midwestern states.
The blackout affected the sites
operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority,
Freehold Raceway, and Atlantic City Race Course in New Jersey;
Philadelphia Park, Penn National, and Pocono Downs in
Pennsylvania; Charles Town Races in West Virginia; Delaware
Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway in Delaware; Ocean
Downs and Rosecroft Raceway in Maryland; Colonial Downs in
Virginia; Suffolk Downs in Massachusetts; and Rockingham Park in
New Hampshire.
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April 23,
2008
No Simulcasts for Atlantic
City
ORR.com
Esther Marr reports on Bloodhorse.com that Atlantic City Race Course,
which opened April 23 for six days of all-turf racing, will not send out
the simulcast signal of its live meet due to a disagreement with the New
Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.
“We were not able to get
the approval of the New Jersey horsemen,” said Maureen Bugdon, president
of the track. “We are thrilled with the horsemen, but we weren’t able to
reach an agreement with the horsemen’s leadership.”
Atlantic City is owned by
Greenwood Racing, the owner of Philadelphia Park Casino & Racetrack in
Pennsylvania. The New Jersey Racing Commission told Greenwood last year
that Atlantic City would need to run 20 days in 2008 in order to be
granted a racing license, but took back the requirement when the track
asked for dates. The commission has repeated the condition for 2009.
Daily Racing Form
reported that the New Jersey THA had sued the commission over the awarded
race dates, and the group is now waiting for a hearing in the Appellate
Division of New Jersey Superior Court on the issue. According to Dennis
Drazin, president of the horsemen’s group, the hearing could be held
before the end of April.
“We’re disappointed (about not sending out a simulcast signal), however we
have an incredible six-day turf meet,” Bugdon said. “We are very excited
about our fields for the first three days. We have full fields, a lot of
excited horsemen, and enormous support from our fans, and we’re just
thrilled to be here.”
While Atlantic City has
not exported its simulcast signal in recent years, attendance at its brief
meets has averaged more than 5,000 per day, which prompted Greenwood to
request additional race dates. The boutique meets were conducted primarily
to keep the track's year-round simulcasting license.
Atlantic City will card
six races a day, all on turf. The meet is slated for April 23-25 and April
30-May 2. The highlight will be the $50,000, five-furlong Tony Gatto Dream
Big Stakes, the closing-day feature.
“As stated in previous
stories in the last several weeks, we have every intention and it is our
desire to continue live Thoroughbred racing at our site, and expand our
program for longer race meets in the future,” Bugdon said. “We have no
intention to close. We’ve made some very noticeable, modest improvements
for this year, and hope to continue that.”
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April 12, 2008
Jersey Governor OKs Purse
Supplements
ORR.com
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine
signed legislation April 11 that allows a $90-million purse supplement for
New Jersey racetracks to move forward.
Tom LaMarra on the
Bloodhorse.com reports that the measure, which awards horse racing $30
million a year for three years from casino revenue, also grants the
Atlantic City casinos a tax break on promotional gaming credits. The
casinos and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates
Monmouth Park and Meadowlands, must produce a signed agreement.
How the $30 million a year
will be divvied up remains to be seen, but it is believed Thoroughbred
interests would get $15 million and Standardbred interests $15 million.
Under a previous four-year supplement deal with the casinos, the money
went to Monmouth and Meadowlands for Thoroughbred meets, and Meadowlands
and Freehold Raceway for harness meets.
The wild card in
negotiations is Atlantic City Race Course, which next year has been
ordered by the New Jersey Racing Commission to offer 20 days of racing.
Atlantic City officials have told
The Blood-Horse
they intend to continue racing after this year but need a portion of the
supplement to offer longer meets.
There is some friction
between Atlantic City and horsemen who want to see the Monmouth meet
bolstered as much as possible.
Atlantic City this year
will race six days, all on the turf, beginning April 23. The track gets
all of its purse revenue from year-round simulcasts and an off-track
betting parlor in Vineland. Last year, Atlantic City paid out more than
$600,000 in purses for a four-day meet.
Earlier this year, before
the casino deal became reality, Freehold Raceway cut purses, and the NJSEA
added money to the purse account at Meadowlands to avoid cuts. The tracks
in the state argue they need the money to supplement purses so they remain
competitive with neighboring states in which purses are subsidized by
gaming revenue.
“We applaud the governor
for signing this bill,” Tom Luchento, president of the Standardbred
Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, said in an April 11
statement. “It is another step in the supplement process that will lead to
the allocation of the funds to racing.”
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April 12, 2008
New Jersey governor signs bill subsidizing
racing industry
ORR.com
New Jersey Governor Jon
Corzine signed legislation on Friday that will keep video lottery
terminals out of racetracks in the state for three years but provides a
$90-million subsidy for the horse racing industry.
The bill gives Atlantic
City’s casinos a permanent tax deduction on free slots play but requires
them to pay $30-million each year for the next three years to boost purses
for races and subsidize the state’s breeding program, the Newark
Star-Ledger reports. Previously the casinos paid an 8% tax on free slots
games they awarded.
A similar deal signed in
2004 provided $86-million in purse subsidies from the casinos and expired
late last year.
Corzine also signed a measure that expands coverage under the New Jersey
Horse Racing Injury Compensation Board Act to Thoroughbred hot walkers,
grooms, and assistant trainers under certain circumstances.
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April
10, 2008
New Jersey Champions
Announced
ORR.com
The Bloodhorse is reporting
that Talkin About
Love, a winner of
five of her seven starts last year, has been named New Jersey-bred Horse
of the Year and champion 3-year-old female for 2007 by the Thoroughbred
Breeders’ Association of New Jersey. Bred, owned, and trained by Kevin
Sleeter, she finished the year with more than $375,000 in earnings,
bringing her lifetime total to $418,183.
Other divisional award
winners are as follows:
Love For Not,
2-year-old female
Owner: Kathleen Willier
Trainer: Kevin Sleeter
Breeder: Golden Dome Stable
Rough Road Ahead,
2-year-old male
Owner: Roseland Farm Stable
Trainer: John Tammaro III
Breeder: John Bowers Jr.
Frank the Barber,
3-year-old male
Owner: Black Diamond Racing and Gary Stute
Trainer: Gary Stute
Breeder: Trident Stables
Pure Disco,
handicap female
Owner/breeder: Patricia Generazio
Trainer: Tony Wilson
Joey P.,
handicap male, sprinter
Owner: John Petrini
Trainer: Ben Perkins Jr.
Teenage Queen,
broodmare
Breeder/owner: John Bowers
Private Interview,
stallion
Stands at: Colonial Farms near Colts Neck, N.J.
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April 10, 2008
Talkin About Love named New Jersey horse of
the year
NJ Breds.com
Grade 3 winner Talkin
About Love has been named the 2007 New Jersey-bred horse of the year and
champion three-year-old filly.
Kevin Sleeter trains,
owns, and bred Talkin About Love, the winner of the ’07 Monmouth Breeders’
Cup Oaks (G3). The Not For Love filly out of She’s Jane, by Northern Idol,
also finished third in last year’s Fitz Dixon Cotillion Handicap (G2) and
Inside Information Breeders’ Cup Stakes and the 2006 New Jersey Futurity.
Four-year-old Talkin About
Love has won six of 12 starts and earned $418,183.
Grade 3 winner Joey P. was named champion handicap horse and sprinter of
the year after a 2007 campaign that included four stakes wins. A John
Petrini homebred trained by Ben Perkins Jr., the Close Up gelding is out
of Luckey Lipco, by Luckey Jin Beau.
Other New Jersey-bred
champions included:
- Two-year-old
male—Rough Road Ahead
- Two-year-old
female—Love for Not
- Three-year-old
male—Frank the Barber
- Champion handicap
mare—Pure Disco
- Broodmare of
year—Teenage Queen
- Stallion of
year—Private Interview
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April 2,
2008
Atlantic City: No Plans to
Call it Quits
ORR.com
Tom LaMarra is reporting
on Bloodhorse.com that officials at Atlantic City Race Course said April 2
there are no plans to close the storied New Jersey track, which will
continue to offer live Thoroughbred racing and longer meets if it receives
a share of a $90-million purse supplement from the state’s casinos.
Atlantic City will offer
six days of all-turf racing this year: April 23-25 and April 30-May 2. The
track is open year-round for simulcasts, and as usual will offer full
cards from other tracks during its live programs, which will commence at 3
p.m. EDT each day.
In late March, Dennis
Drazin, president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Group, told
The Blood-Horse
the 2008 meet at Atlantic City is most likely its last because plans to
redevelop the property with a new, smaller grandstand and Turf Club have
stalled. In addition, it remains up in the air as to whether Atlantic
City, which has been ordered by the New Jersey Racing Commission to offer
at least 20 racing days in 2009, will get any of the casino money for
purses.
Horsemen have indicated
Monmouth Park, Meadowlands, and Freehold Raceway would share in the
$30-million a year pot over the next three years. Atlantic City in recent
years has offered as many dates as it can using revenue from year-round
simulcasts, and also has shifted some purse money to Monmouth. It would
need some supplement money to expand its meet.
“As stated during our
presentation before the New Jersey Racing Commission at its November
meeting, Atlantic City Race Course is thrilled to offer these six days of
all-turf racing, and we are committed to offering live racing in the
future at our track,” Joe Wilson, chief operating officer of Greenwood
Racing, the Pennsylvania-based company that owns Philadelphia Park Casino
& Racetrack and Atlantic City, said in an April 2 statement.
“We, along with the other
three New Jersey racetracks, have expressed an interest in being a part of
the new purse supplement agreement,” Wilson said. “As long as ACRC is a
recipient in this agreement, we are prepared to run an extended racing
season next year. We have indicated to the New Jersey Racing Commission,
the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and the Thoroughbred
horsemen that we are committed to live racing and will run whatever
schedule that best ensures the success of this sport in the state of New
Jersey.
“We will do whatever we
are asked to do, within reason, to help racing in this state.”
Atlantic City president Maureen Bugdon said live racing and year-round
simulcasts benefit the economy of Atlantic County and all of southern New
Jersey. The track, she said, has every intention of staying open.
“Atlantic City Race Course
has no plans to close,” Bugdon said in a statement. “Our 250-plus-acre
site represents the sole (Recreation Commercial zone) in our area, and
serves as a genuine complement to the casino properties in the way of
tourism and entertainment alternatives for visitors. Our meet is
extraordinarily well-received each year, with 10-year attendance records
being set in each of the last three years.
“It is our hope that once
we know what our portion of the purse supplement will be, we will then be
in a position to indicate to the New Jersey Racing Commission and our fans
what our future plans will include, and we’re very excited that this will
mean more live Thoroughbred racing in South Jersey."
Atlantic City, located in
Hamilton Township about 14 miles from Atlantic City’s casinos, was
expected to close in the late 1990s. It continued to offer short live
meets, however, and attendance increased on a daily basis. This year, the
NJRC has ordered the track to again export its signal.
Hal Handel, the former
chief executive officer of Greenwood, had discussed plans by the company
to level the large brick structure and build a European-style grandstand
that would sufficiently accommodate crowds for a boutique meet and
year-round simulcasts. The rest of the property would be used for
non-racing purposes. Handel left Greenwood last summer to take a job with
the New York Racing Association.
Though it no longer holds
regular summer meets, Atlantic City, which for years raced at night,
remains known for its turf course, long considered one of the best in the
country.
Atlantic City also owns an
operates an off-track betting parlor in Vineland in southern New Jersey.
The facility opened last year.
_____________________
March 18,
2008
New Jersey Senate OKs Purse
Subsidy
ORR.com
Tom LaMarra reports in the
Bloodhorse.com that The New Jersey legislature has approved a deal whereby
Atlantic City casinos will pay the horseracing and breeding industry $90
million over three years in return for a guarantee the tracks won’t pursue
video lottery terminals during the period.
The state Senate voted
38-1 March 17 in favor of the measure, which also provides the casinos tax
breaks on bets made for promotional purposes. On March 13, the state
Assembly approved it by a 76-0 vote. Gov. Jon Corzine has said he will
sign the legislation into law.
Still remaining are
negotiations on how the $30 million a year will be spent by the
Thoroughbred and Standardbred industries in New Jersey. From 2004-07,
Thoroughbred and harness interests received a total of $84 million from
casinos in the form of a purse subsidy.
Earlier this year,
Freehold Raceway, a harness track, cut purses, and Meadowlands, which
currently offers harness racing, was expected to do the same. The New
Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates Meadowlands and
Monmouth Park, advanced some purse money to maintain daily payouts.
Freehold has increased
purses 7%, and could hike them again in a few weeks, according to the
Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey.
“We will be sitting down
with Sen. (Richard) Codey and Dennis Dowd of the New Jersey Sports and
Exposition Authority to work on distribution of the funds, which will be
split between the Standardbred and Thoroughbred industries,” SBOANJ
president Tom Luchento said in a statement.
New Jersey’s live
Thoroughbred season begins with six days of turf racing at Atlantic City
Race Course April 23-25 and April 30-May 2. Last year, for four days of
racing, Atlantic City paid an average of $153,585 per day in purses,
according to The Jockey Club Information Systems.
The southern New Jersey
track generates purse money through year-round full-card simulcasts, and
in the past has transferred some purse money Monmouth. State regulators
have told the track it must offer at least 20 days of racing in 2009, so
it’s possible Atlantic City could share in the purse subsidy next year.
Monmouth, during its
regular non-Breeders’ Cup meet in 2007, paid $366,774 per day in purses
over 75 racing days. Meadowlands offered $292,735 in purses per day for
its 41-day Thoroughbred meet last fall.
The casino subsidy is
designed to keep purses competitive with those in neighboring states
offered by racetracks with alternative gaming. Without it, there was talk
Monmouth purses would drop to a daily average of about $200,000.
_______________________________
March
12, 2008
Plan Floated for Jersey
Training Center
ORR.com
Linda Dougherty of the
Bloodhorse.com is reporting that a proposal to use 80 acres from the
soon-to-be-shuttered Fort Monmouth property in Oceanport, N.J., for a
training and winter stabling facility has been made by Dennis Drazin,
president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, to
borough officials.
The borough of Oceanport,
where Monmouth Park is located, stands to acquire 419 acres of Fort
Monmouth—scheduled to be closed by 2011—and does not want to use the
entire amount for housing. The site is very close to Monmouth and
convenient to other tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region.
“We’ve been saying we need
winter stabling for a long time,” Drazin said. “There has always been a
question of how that could be accomplished. Should we winterize Monmouth
Park? Or would Philadelphia Park (in Pennsylvania) be willing to build
additional barns for New Jersey horsemen? A training facility at Fort
Monmouth would answer those questions.”
Drazin said he approached
Oceanport councilman Gerald “Jay” Briscione about the project, and that
Briscione was very supportive.
“This has picked up some
steam, and it may be a real possibility,” Drazin said. “The borough is
moving forward with it, and we’ve been in touch with attorneys and
politicians. We’ll need the support of the (Gov. Jon) Corzine
administration, but he has stated that in return for not pursuing video
lottery terminals at state racetracks, he would help the racing industry
in other ways. There has been no official word yet whether he supports
this project.”
Drazin said a conservative
estimate for completion of the training facility, once approved, would be
three to five years.
“The need for this has
come about because of the increased competition from other states,”
Briscione said. “There is no place for New Jersey horsemen to go after
Monmouth Park closes for the season. It would also maintain jobs for a
longer period.
“Right now, horses are at
Monmouth Park from mid-April to mid-November. This would put them there
from January to December, and the Thoroughbred industry would be part of
the local economy for a longer period of time.”
While supportive of the
plan, Briscione called its chances a “longshot.” The government may
believe the value of the land is too high to support such a project, he
said.
“We would want it, but
from an economic perspective, is that what the government would want
there?” Briscione said.
________________________________
March 04, 2008
New Jersey subsidy agreement reached
ORR.com
Tom De Martini is
reporting in The Thoroughbred Times that purses for Monmouth Park’s 2008
meeting most likely will stay at or just above last year’s $330,000 per
day average following the announcement of a tentative agreement between
Atlantic City casinos and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine to subsidize the
state’s racing industry.
Corzine announced the
three-year, $90-million subsidy deal late Monday. The $30-million per year
fund infusion will be split between Thoroughbred and Standardbred
horsemen.
The pact is similar to the
three-year subsidy that expired on December 31, 2007, and prohibits the
New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority from installing video lottery
terminals at either Monmouth Park or Meadowlands Racetracks for its
duration.
New Jersey tracks continue
to fight against competition from Pennsylvania racinos, including
Philadelphia Park and Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, which
are enjoying purse infusions from slot machine funds.
Philadelphia Park’s purse
structure is expected to increase to more than $200,000 per day with Penn
National reaching $180,000 by the end of the year.
Robert Kulina, vice
president and general manager of racing at Monmouth Park said the sports
authority is not ready to formally announce purse structures for the
99-date Monmouth Park meeting and the 42-date Meadowlands meeting.
“The Monmouth meet is our
premier meet and we’re going to come with a purse structure that’s as
competitive in the region as possible,” Kulina said. “The purses at
Monmouth have always been higher than those at the Meadowlands. Our plan
is to keep purses at last year’s level or become creative and make them a
little better.”
Kulina said several issues
still are being negotiated in the subsidy agreement, including whether
funds will be funneled to the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association of New
Jersey.
The state’s breeders were
forced to borrow money from the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s
Association earlier this year in order pay ’07 breeders’ awards in full.
NJTHA President Dennis
Drazin earlier this year said that horsemen would like to see a purse
structure approaching $400,000 per day during the peak summer months of
the Monmouth Park meeting, even if it lowers purses at the Meadowlands.
Drazin was not immediately
available for comment on the subsidy deal.
Kulina said Monmouth’s stable area will open April 14 with training
scheduled to commence on April 16 should weather permit.
Last month, the sports
authority announced a $4-million Monmouth Park graded stakes schedule,
highlighted by the $1-million Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) on August
3.
In a related matter, the
state’s Assembly, Tourism and Gaming Committee approved three different
measures on Monday aimed at avoiding the shutdown of casinos and
racetracks.
Two of the measures are
bills and another is a constitutional amendment designed to keep
racetracks and casinos operating in the event of a state government
shutdown.
New Jersey’s racetracks
and casinos were shut down for three days in July, 2006 when state
government operations stopped due to the lack of an ’06-’07 fiscal year
budget pact.
_____________________________
February 21, 2008
Monmouth Announces Stakes
Schedule
ORR.com
The Bloodhorse is reporting that the Monmouth Park Stakes Schedule will be
headlined by the $1 million Haskell Invitational (gr. I) on Aug. 3,
Monmouth Park will offer $3.85 million in graded stakes for the 2008
racing season, which runs from May 9 through Sept. 28.
The biggest change to the
2008 schedule is the date switch for the Salvator Mile (gr. III), which
will boast a purse of $300,000, double that of last year, and will be
contested July 5 along with the $750,000 United Nations (gr. I). Both
races will kick off this year’s Breeders’ Cup Challenge, Win and You’re In
series.
“We are proud to offer
such a lucrative stakes schedule,” said Dennis Dowd, senior vice president
of racing for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which owns and
operates Monmouth Park. “Monmouth’s stakes races have always attracted the
top horses in all divisions and we look forward to presenting racing fans
in New Jersey with talent-filled, competitive fields this summer.”
If including the $150,000
Long Branch, a non-graded stakes that is Monmouth’s traditional prep for
the Haskell, the stakes schedule hits $4 million.
Other highlights of the
2008 racing season includes the $300,000 Iselin Stakes (gr. III) on Aug.
16, and the $300,000 Molly Pitcher (gr. II) on Aug. 24.
______________________________
New Jersey Racing Commission Approves 2008 Dates
Atlantic City Race
Course
April 23, 24, 25, 30, May 1 & 2 6 Dates
Monmouth Park
May 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31
June 1 through September 28 99 Dates
Dark: Mondays & Tuesdays
Meadowlands
Racetrack
September 9, 16, 23, 30
October 1 through November 15
Dark: Sundays during in October
Sundays and Wednesdays during November
42 Dates
Total Thoroughbred Dates 147 Dates
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