Tuesday, August 3, 2010

“Hanson report presents four options for N.J. horse racing” plus 1 more

“Hanson report presents four options for N.J. horse racing” plus 1 more

Hanson report presents four options for N.J. horse racing

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 02:25 PM PDT

Hanson report presents four options for N.J. horse racing

The New Jersey government wants to forbid horse racing venues from installing slot machines, which would allow the Garden State tracks to compete with racetracks in surrounding states.

This is just one of the recommendations contained in a report issued July 21 by the Governor's Advisory Commission on New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment.

The report is also referred to as the Hanson Report after Jon Hanson, chairman of the temporary commission Gov. Chris Christie established to review the state of gaming (gambling) in New Jersey. Other members of the commission were Debra DiLorenzo, Robert C. Holmes, Esq., Wesley W. Lang Jr., Al Leiter, Robert E. Mulcahy III and Finn Wentworth.

The report favors the Atlantic City casino industry over the state's horse racing industry, although both industries are losing money. The report states that putting slot machines at the Meadowlands racetrack in East Rutherford has a number of drawbacks, including the necessity to amend the state Constitution and taking several years to accomplish when time is of the essence for New Jersey racetracks already competing with racinos (casinos at racetracks) in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) owns and operates the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park in Oceanport.

"The Meadowlands no longer resonates as a viable entertainment option to large segments of the population except on major race days," the report states. "The NJSEA budget cannot support two losing live race operations. The New Jersey racing industry cannot earn enough purse monies on its own to support two breeds in the state. The New Jersey racing industry cannot compete long-term with the New York and Pennsylvania purse structures or breeders' incentive programs funded by racino revenues."

The report states that Monmouth Park, which has near-historic landmark value and provides family entertainment, would benefit from a short "boutique summer meet" with the right purse structure.

The report provides four options for horse racing in the state. The first would eliminate harness racing, but create a special fund for awards for standardbred owners and breeders racing out of state. The report calls harness racing "a regional niche sport with limited national media attention."

The first option suggests converting the front paddock area at the Meadowlands into a 50,000-square-foot off-track-wagering (OTW) parlor and the rest of the paddock space would house NJSEA offices. The report also suggests developing a future use of the Meadowlands for sports, entertainment or other public events.

The first option also suggests Monmouth Park have a 50- to 71-day meet, with possibly 10 days of turf racing at the Atlantic City Race Course. Privately owed Freehold Raceway in Freehold would retain its OTW license and the right to build OTW parlors.

The New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen'sAssociation would have to drop a contractual requirement for the NJSEA to pay $4.7 million toward purses.

The second option would include the thoroughbred racing change in the first option, and relocating a 70-day standardbred meet from the Meadowlands to Monmouth Park. The report noted that thoroughbred horsemen would have concerns about changing their racing surface. The second option includes paying additional costs to update Monmouth Park for night racing, with an $8 million to $12 million standardbred paddock and with needed winterizing.

The third option suggests leasing the Meadowlands to the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey (SBOANJ) for $1 a year, with early termination rights and an equity-based share at the Bayonne OTW. The horsemen would be responsible for all operating expenses and the track's share of payments in lieu of taxes, currently $2.5 million per year. They would also be responsible for capital improvements, estimated to be $12 million.

The fourth option suggests that private entities buy a standardbred farm in the state and convert it for commercial use with a 1-mile track. Currently, the only such privately owned track is at Gaitway Farm in Manalapan. The report states that the private entities could build a 5,000-seat grandstand and necessary amenities, and an OTW constructed at the Meadowlands would help them not lose the standardbred market in northern New Jersey.

The report noted that Freehold Raceway, which is one town over from Manal- apan, has a half-mile track and little room for expansion.

The SBOANJ issued a statement in response to the report: "We do not want to be dependent on state subsidies. We want a new gaming model with quality racing and a chance to revitalize our product. Yet the Hanson commission that prepared the report for Gov. Christie was never allowed to consider slots or video lottery terminals at New Jersey's racetracks. Without alternate gaming as an option, the racing and breeding industry is handcuffed."

The SBOANJ said it would like to build a new gaming model with slots at tracks as in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and other states.

"This is not a speculative solution," the SBOANJ response stated. "It is a proven business plan that has benefited every state that has introduced racinos and whose governors and legislators have been able to lower taxes with the revenue from gaming."

The SBOANJ also takes issue with the commission's failure to discuss the loss of equine operations on thousands of acres when those operations relocate to other states with a better business climate.

"We do not understand why the state would be willing to spend taxpayer money to protect private companies, such as the casinos in Atlantic City and the investors in Xanadu (a retail complex at the Meadowlands), while at the same time dismissing the racing industry as unimportant," the SBOANJ response states.


Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

HORSE RACING: Mechanicville trainer Chad Brown at the top of his game

Posted: 03 Aug 2010 02:11 AM PDT

By SAM HOLLINGSWORTH
Community News

SARATOGA SPRINGS —With a couple of years as his own boss already under his belt, Chad Brown is beyond just trying to establish himself on the thoroughbred-racing scene.

The trainer and Saratoga Springs resident (when he's not traveling for work) is one of the many enticing stories already unfolding at this year's young version of the historic racing meet at Saratoga Race Course.

Brown, who grew up in Mechanicville, has come a long way since he was a boy spending time at the track with his family and friends, dreaming of one day taking part in the legendary races with a stable of his own.

He's now living that dream.

Through Friday, July 30, Brown was holding a slim lead over the powerful Todd Pletcher stable in the Saratoga trainer standings, Brown has built up his resume pretty quickly over the past few years, including a Breeders' Cup win in his rookie season when Maram edged out Heart Shaped in the Juvenile Fillies Turf at Oaklawn at Santa Anita in October 2008.

Already with six victories through the first week of the Saratoga meet, Brown will be in the spotlight today when his flagship filly Maram starts in the Grade I Diana Handicap to take on a talented field of older females. 

"We're looking forward to it," Brown said of Maram's opportunity in the Diana. "It's a really tough field but she's 2-for-2 at the track — 2-for-2 at Saratoga — and everything's going good at the barn. It's time to give her a shot at a Grade I."

Maram broke her maiden at Saratoga on Aug. 25, 2008 as a 2-year-old, then went on to win the Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont before winning her Breeders' Cup race. She came back to Saratoga last year and won the one-mile John Hettinger overnight stakes on the turf, on Aug. 8, too.

"She's a good horse," Brown said of the 4-year-old.

Maram's most recent success came on the Fourth of July of this year, taking the Miss Liberty Stakes at Monmouth Park and giving her the proper preparation to face a strong field like today's — a field that includes multiple stakes winners, including champion Forever Together, going for an unprecedented third straight win in the Diana. Forever Together handled Brown's Quiet Meadow in last year's Diana for her second straight win.

Brown, who worked as an understudy for Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey before transferring his duties to the late Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel, first made a splash in the Spa City when he won with his first entry at Saratoga Race Course in 2008 — the first race of the meet that year — with Star Player. He went on to post a solid winning percentage, going 6-for-18 with his charges throughout that Saratoga meet.

His consitstent success has allowed his business to grow, with Brown improving each year and generating more horses and more opportunities for his stable.

 "The important thing is that the horses stay healthy and sound," he said. "If the horses stay healthy and sound, and the right races (are available) for the right horses, and the weather cooperates … that's what we need (to be successful)."

So far, all the factors have aligned quite nicely and Brown's sitting pretty with six wins after seven days of the meet.

"We're just going to focus on the spots that I've picked out, regardless if we're in front (of the standings), if we're behind, or whatever," Brown said. "We're just going to stay focused, entry-day to entry-day, on what I have planned on doing."

Brown, who currently has horses stabled at Belmont Park and Saratoga — 50 of them spread among barns on the Oklahoma Training Track and select barns at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway — has not only been winning enough to be tops for trainers, but he's been winning at an incredible percentage rate. He's won with six of his 10 starters at the meet and has been in the money with eight. 

But it certainly doesn't come easy.

"A lot of traveling and a lot of hours of work," Brown said of the demands of his chosen career." There are a lot of hours of work — thousands and thousands of hours."

It has its payoffs, too, though. To be able to return to his favorite racetrack, for the meet he waited for every year until it made its annual return, and be able to compete against some of the best trainers in the game, all while working with some of the best jockeys, owners and horsemen in the sport, makes him realize just how lucky he is, though.

"That's a big part of it," he said. "It makes it all worth while."

And as much as Brown would love to win the Saratoga training title for himself, it would also be a proper tribute to Frankel, one of the trainers who helped Brown get where he is today, to keep doing what he has been doing throughout the first week of the meet. Frankel passed away in November 2009 following a long battle with illness. 

"It'll probably never really be the same," Brown said of working in the horse racing business without Frankel around. "We just kind of have to go on and do the best I can to make him proud."


Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Posted by at

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)