by Bill Finley, Harness Racing Update

Fair Haven, NJ — The deadline has been extended to Friday to hash out a deal to save the 2011 season at Meadowlands Racetrack, according to a story in today’s Harness Racing Update.

Tom Luchento, president of the New Jersey Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association, remains in a desperate race against the clock. Luchento is in the tightest possible vise, squeezed by an intransigent administration in Trenton that wants a deal done now. He was handed a deadline of Wednesday to present the administration with a plan to lease the Meadowlands. Luchento bought a little time, a 48-hour extension until Friday.

Luchento believes a deal can be done, if the state loosens the deadlines. He has lined up a group, which Luchento declined to identify, who will fly to New Jersey on Friday for a three-party meeting that could revamp the Meadowlands and harness racing in New Jersey.

The potential investors will meet with Luchento and administration representatives to discuss leasing the Meadowlands.

“It just seems like there is not enough time,” Luchento told Harness Racing Update. “I have people flying in who have the money, people who can do this deal. The state says they want it done right now, today, literally. I tell them I can’t do anything until Friday and they say they understand, but they have to take it back to (Governor) Chris Christie and he wants a deal on the table.”

For more on this story, visit www.harnessracingupdate.com.