ABC
Racing categorizes horses into A, B and C rankings, replacing conditions
determined by money earnings. This permits the racing secretary to create
races in which the entrants are most competitive and equal in ability.
After
a meeting of Meadowlands Chairman Jeff Gural, Standardbred Breeders &
Owners Association of New Jersey President Tom Luchento and Hall of Fame driver
John Campbell, it was agreed to move forward with the new format.
“We
think the best racing can be accomplished by classifying horses by their ability
and not their money earnings,” Luchento said. “The goal is to have full
fields and competitive fields. We think ABC Racing will facilitate both
objectives.”
“We
are going to experiment with classified racing [ABC] versus conditioned racing
as a way to classify horses,” said Meadowlands Director of Racing and Racing
Secretary Peter Koch. “We are hopeful this method will yield even more
competitive racing for our fans. We will still have non-winners of 2
races lifetime as well as non-winners of 3 races lifetime for the younger
horses and claiming races at every level.
“Classified
racing has horses evaluated by the racing secretary and moved up and down in
class based upon performance,” Koch noted. “We look forward to bringing
the public the great racing product the Meadowlands has always had.”
The
Meadowlands resumes live racing on December 28 and 29 and, subject to the
approval of the New Jersey Racing Commission, will have a 2013 schedule from
January 3 to August 3 plus November 23 to December 28 for a total of 82
dates.
The
application for Meadowlands Racetrack’s revised 2013 January and February late
closing program is now available at MeadowlandsRacetrack.com
Submitted
by Carol Hodes for SBOANJ and Amy Silver for Meadowlands Racetrack
