One day after a lawyer for the SBOANJ made allegations that the track surface at Freehold Raceway was “unsafe and dangerous for both the horses and drivers,” the organization’s president issued a retraction of that statement.

In a letter dated August 23, 2012, SBOANJ president Tom Luchento stated “in Dennis Dowd, Esq.’s letter to you (Howard Bruno) dated August 21, 2012, he states at the end of the second paragraph that the track, in its present condition, remains unsafe and dangerous for both the horses and drivers. The SBOA retracts that statement as we conducted no inspection of the track prior to issuing that letter.”

Earlier in the day Freehold track officials including Bruno, track superintendent Mike Fagliarone and starter Bobby Blum toured the track surface with several regular Freehold drivers including Eric Abbatiello, Jim Marshall and Steve Smith. The drivers indicated the track was not unsafe and reported their findings to Richard O’Donnell, New Jersey Racing Commission State Steward.

“We firmly believed there were no issues with the track at this current time and we are glad that these drivers took the time to come out and see the track in person and verify our conclusions,” said Bruno.

“While we came to an agreement with the management of Freehold Raceway on Thursday to move ahead with qualifying races on Friday morning, we will continue to scrutinize the conditions of the racing surface for the safety of our horsemen,” said SBOANJ President Tom Luchento in a press release. “There have been multiple issues and many complaints by drivers and trainers, warranting our intervention. We hope those problems are in the past and that there will be no issues when the track re-opens on August 30.”

Freehold plans to conduct qualifier races on Friday, August 24 at 9:30 a.m. with the same card carried over from Thursday.

(With files from Freehold Raceway & SBOANJ)