I want to thank everyone who voted for me as it is indeed an honor
to be recognized by the industry in winning the 2013 Railbird Recognition Horse
Person of the Year award. I look forward
to thanking many of you in person Sunday night when we honor the true heroes;
our great horses.
Having said that, I would like to once again ask the industry for
their support as hopefully winter finally ends and we can complete the outdoor
portion of the project. As you might
expect, this winter has been brutal and our import business, which helps pay
the bills, has been significantly under budget.
Live racing has done better but obviously even there the winter weather
and three cancellations, along with the Super Bowl shutdown have made for a
difficult few months.
With the Pennsylvania
tracks opening next month and recognizing that our competitors often have
better purses and most people think it is easier to win at the smaller tracks,
it is vital that we are able to present a decent thirteen race card every
Friday and Saturday with full fields. I
believe our efforts to create a level playing field are working. We have a great track surface and the best
drivers in the world. The big track is
also easier for most horses to navigate and post position is much less
important. In addition, I hope when you
do race at the Meadowlands you will come out with friends and family and enjoy the
new surroundings, including Trotters which is open to everyone with a racing
license. The facility has received rave
reviews and when we hosted the pre-game Super Bowl party for several thousand
guests of the sponsors everyone was shocked to see such a beautiful new racing
facility. Hopefully when the weather
turns warmer we will once again be able to attract new and younger customers to
our great sport but I need full fields and hope that we will have your support.
