Perretti Farms in Cream
Ridge, NJ has announced that it has moved two of the harness racing industry’s
premier stallions to Pennsylvania for the 2013 breeding season.
Muscles Yankee and Rocknroll
Hanover will be relocated from Perretti’s 1,000 acres of prime farmland in
Upper Freehold Township across the state line to Newtown, PA to take advantage
of the casino-enriched purses in Pennsylvania, especially the Pennsylvania Sire
Stakes program.
The New Jersey Sire Stakes
program, which for three decades was the model for other states and provinces,
is now one of the weakest because of the paucity of purse money.
“New Jersey is no longer
competitive, putting more than 170,000 acres of equine farmland in jeopardy,”
said Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association President Tom
Luchento. “Without a healthy breeding program, the stallions and
broodmares will move – have moved -- to adjoining states where they are flushed
with the cash from casinos and racinos [racetracks with casino-style
wagering].
“Not only is the
preservation of farmland at stake, but also more than 10,000 jobs currently
filled by tax-paying residents who are ill-equipped to change careers and will
end up on welfare rolls,” Luchento added.
“Trenton continues to focus
on ways to improve Atlantic City and other businesses which provide fewer jobs,
while the horseracing industry gets pushed aside,” Luchento said. “They
have tried to Band-Aid the problem with a few short term solutions.
Meanwhile, the wound continues to grow, and the decision by Perretti Farms is a
pure product of that injury.
“Anthony Perretti and his
father, Bill, do not want to move their stallions from New Jersey,” Luchento
explained. “But they have no choice but to protect the value of their
stallions. The yearlings they sold this fall dropped in value in large
part because the New Jersey Sire Stakes program and the purse structure at the
Meadowlands have been eviscerated. Meanwhile, the surrounding states
value their horse racing industry and offer great purses. New Jersey
simply cannot compete unless things in this state begin to change,”
Breeding a race horse is a
three-year process and decisions made now have an impact in the years ahead.
“These are not decisions
that can be ‘kicked down the road,’” Luchento said. “Our leadership in
Trenton needs to start supporting horse racing before the horses all leave the
state. Coupling horse racing with casinos has been a winning combination
in states like Pennsylvania and New York. Gaming helps supplement the
purses in those states, making them a magnet for breeding stock and
racehorses. The loser in this contest has been New Jersey.
Our state needs to take on
a similar model in order to save the horse racing industry and help us
reinvigorate this great sport,” he added. “New Jersey needs to offer
better purses in order to attract the best horses, trainers and drivers.
For more than 30 years, the position of New Jersey as the No. 1 harness racing
state was unquestioned. That is why people like the Perrettis invested in
New Jersey real estate and played an important role in the preservation of
farmland. Now they are being chased from this state because of
purse-money inequity.
“In a time when jobs need to
be saved, not scrapped, the powers-that-be in Trenton need to help us to help
ourselves with nothing more than what neighboring states have provided their
horse racing industries,” Luchento added. “This is a valuable industry in
this state for people who work the land and livestock. Not everyone is
meant to be a city or suburban dweller with a job, sitting behind a desk.
These are people who work with the horses in all weather, making a 24/7 commitment
to the well-being of the horses in their care. This is a way of life that
is in jeopardy.
“We know from polls and
surveys that New Jersey citizens treasure their Green Acres and support the
racing industry,” Luchento said. “All we ask for is that the governor and
the legislature take the necessary steps to protect our farms and tracks by
bringing slots to the Meadowlands. That in turn would reverse the exodus
out of New Jersey and return such farms as Perretti’s to preeminence.”
- Submitted by Carol Hodes
for SBOANJ
