With Hambletonian Day in the books, The Meadowlands concluded its
Championship Meet, which on the heels of a highly-successful Winter Meet,
produced excellent results.
Despite racing 6 fewer dates, The 2013 Championship Meet produced
a total handle of $79,382,139 compared to $65,900,104 for the 2012 Championship
Meet. That marks a 20-percent handle increase. But, removing the 6 additional
dates that were raced in 2012, the increase jumps to 35-percent.
The Winter Meet conducted 42 days of racing yielding a total
handle of $119,739,613. That figure was an increase of 27-percent, despite one
less day of racing. The handle for the 2012 Winter Meet was $94,472,432.
For the year, the $199,121,752 wagered on the 2013 Season at The
Meadowlands was $38,749,216 more than what was wagered on the 2012 season, an
increase of 24-percent, despite racing 7 fewer days. After those 7 race dates
are made up in November and December, that increase will be upwards of
35-percent.
“The results for this 2013 season exceeded our wildest
expectations,” said Jeff Gural, Chairman of New Meadowlands Racetrack. "We
have a great team in place that isn’t afraid to try different things. When
things don’t work, we try to find positive changes and apply them. Not
everything we come up with will work, but we aren’t afraid to try. I want to
thank all our horsemen for their commitment and filling our entry box all
season. Last but not least, thank you to our customers who are at the very core
of the success we have seen in 2013.”
Another exciting fact is the strength of the live handle in the
Championship meet, which Jason Settlemoir, General Manager of New Meadowlands
Racetrack attributed to a variety of factors. “We exceeded our Live Handle
expectations from April 1st through Hambletonian Day,” said
Settlemoir. “The winter was a fight, as the weather was nowhere near as
cooperative as 2012. But once the weather turned, we saw instant results.” The
results Settlemoir is referring to are Live Handle per card increases year over
year from April through Hambletonian Day. “We tried many events that we were
able to put strong marketing behind, including Jerseyfest and the Camel and
Ostrich racing. The results showed that The Meadowlands Racetrack can provide
entertainment to customers who wouldn’t normally come to the races, and that is
very exciting.”
Director of Racing Operations Darin Zoccali was pleased with many
of the results of changes made, but also sees further changes that will help in
2014. “The change to Classified Racing was not only a success, it turned out to
be an excellent move,“ said Zoccali. “It provided much more competitive racing
and fewer short-priced favorites. We are very grateful to the SBOA and our
horsemen for being on board with this change. In addition, the Early Pick 4 was
extremely well-received. Replacing the Pick 6 with this new wager resulted in
over $3 Million in additional handle. Moving post time back clearly helped
strengthen the early part of our card and our increased presence in California
via simulcast and TVG was a big shot in the arm for us. We made a lot of
positive changes to the racing schedule as well, but there were some things
that in hind-sight we could have done differently. That is very exciting,
knowing there are more changes to be made and we have room to grow. We are
looking very forward to putting together a 2014 racing calendar that the
horsemen and our customers will embrace.”
Live standardbred racing will return to The Meadowlands on
Saturday November 23rd, for the grand opening of the New Meadowlands
Racetrack and it’s state of the art brand new facility. That program will
include the last chance for qualifying points to be earned for the TVG
Free-For-All Pacing and Trotting Championship. The highlight of the fall will
be Saturday, November 30th. That program will feature two $500,000
TVG Free For All Championship Finals, as well as the Fall Final Four,
consisting of four championship races for two year old pacers and trotters, the
Nadia Lobell for three year old filly pacers and the Moni Maker for three year
old filly trotters. With the continued cooperation of the horsemen and having a
modern new grandstand we believe the future looks brighter and brighter at The
Meadowlands.
