by Jeff Gural

Editor’s Note: The following is a press release sent by Jeff Gural, New Meadowlands Racetrack LLC

As we move forward with the next phase of the Meadowlands project which consists of building a new grandstand at a cost of around $90,000,000, I am becoming increasingly concerned over the fact that it is becoming harder and harder to get horses to race at the Meadowlands.

It seems everybody likes to qualify their good horses but when it comes to racing they would rather go someplace else.

One wonders does it really make sense to build a new grandstand and try to fill it with customers young and old if there are not enough horses to race? Our income is derived solely from wagering and only half as much is bet on a seven horse race as is bet on a ten horse race.

The other option is to do what our competitors do and only allocate 10 percent of our available purse money to stakes races and 90 percent to overnights. Personally, I think that would be a disaster for the industry, especially in light of the problems we may face next year in Canada if WEG has to cut back on their stakes programs.

In any case, if anyone has any suggestions as to the type of races they would like to see us card at the Meadowlands that would help alleviate this problem, please e-mail me at jgural@newmarkkf.com and I will discuss it with the racing department.

I appreciate that everyone is thrilled the Meadowlands is not going to close but the industry has to support the racing program and not just pick and choose the stakes races if we are going to survive. The next few weeks will be especially difficult now that the sire stakes are ending and before the 2-year-olds start up again, so any input would be greatly appreciated.