May 25, 2012
I would like to thank all the
people who responded to my request for suggestions on how to improve the racing
product at the Meadowlands in order to fill our races. The response was overwhelming and I still
have not had a chance to read all of them but I plan to do so over the long
weekend. I hope everyone understands I
was not trying to be critical as I certainly understand why owners want to race
where it is easier and the money is better.
I was simply trying to find out what we could do that would appeal to
owners and trainers. Obviously, the
number one suggestion was to increase the purses which unfortunately without
slots is not an option. Some of the other issues raised were quite
interesting as gamblers were more than happy to encourage me to eliminate the
stakes races in order to get full fields for the overnight races. Some people thought it was a mistake to build
a new grandstand under the circumstances other thought it was a mistake not to
allow Lou Pena and others to race because they would help fill the box. One surprise was the criticisms I got about
the drivers and the fact that they often gave highly rated three to five shots
questionable drives when it appeared that they were just getting the horse
ready for his next race probably a stake.
While I understand the issue I believe that is something that has to be
eliminated if we expect people to bet.
In any event, I plan to analyze
all of the suggestions over the weekend and have asked Nick Salvi, Jason
Settlemoir and the race secretaries at Tioga and Vernon to help as well. I have a meeting scheduled next week to try
to come up with some changes based on the suggestions that have been made. One bit of surprising positive news is that
Governor Christie announced that he was going to allow the racetracks and
casinos in New Jersey to offer sports betting.
That would undoubtedly result in a lawsuit by the Federal Government
which prohibits all but four states from allowing sports betting. My guess is the courts might rule in our
favor or the government will address the matter legislatively and give the
state another opportunity to opt in to sports betting if the voters in the
state approve. In New Jersey the
referendum on the subject passed overwhelmingly last year. Obviously sports betting at the Meadowlands
would be a big attraction considering how close we are to Manhattan. In a year or two people might be begging to
race at the Meadowlands which would be nice.
Once again, I want to thank
everyone for taking the time to let me know their thoughts and let’s hope
sports betting becomes a reality.
