"It was certainly encouraging to see the increases from the first weekend carry over into this past weekend. We'll continue implementing our game plan which has produced these results. The entry box has been filled and the bettors are responding."
The Meadowlands Racetrack has announced that its strong December continued this past weekend, as the track presented live programs of harness racing that yielded gains over 2014.
The track’s 13-race Friday program handled $2,720,893, an increase of over $400,000 compared to the same Friday the previous year. The 13-race Saturday card posted a handle of $2,671,529, more than $50,000 better than the previous year on that same day. The weekend resulted in a 10 per cent increase overall compared to the prior year. Live handle also showed mild gains.
Overall thus far for the month of December, there has been an additional $1,366,169 wagered on the Meadowlands’ cards of live racing. The on-track handle has increased six per cent, while export handle has grown 15 per cent.
"It was certainly encouraging to see the increases from the first weekend carry over into this past weekend,' said Meadowlands Racetrack Chairman Jeff Gural. “We'll continue implementing our game plan which has produced these results. The entry box has been filled and the bettors are responding."
Through this past weekend, over $211 million has been wagered on the Meadowlands’ Standardbred product in 2015.
This coming weekend there will be 28 races contested at the East Rutherford, New Jersey oval (14 on Friday and 14 on Saturday). Both nights will feature races with full fields, as 286 horses are scheduled to start over the course of the weekend.
"We understand that the racing opportunities are lesser than usual these next few weeks, so we thought by adding more races and filling some of our fields to 11 horses, we could help the horsemen out a bit,” said Gural. “Hopefully the horsemen will reciprocate when we need them to enter their horses to fill our cards in the spring."
First-race post time for both nights is 7:00 p.m.
(With files from the Meadowlands)
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