On Friday, January 6, racetrack operator Jeff Gural offered a statement which gave thanks to those that backed him in the recent 'Railbird Recognition Awards.' In his statement, Gural also commented on being able to offer a level playing field for horsemen and punters at the Meadowlands Racetrack
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Within the release, Gural stated that when it comes to a level playing field at the Big M, he wouldn't have invested all his time and effort to save the track if there wouldn't be integrity in the on-track product.
I would like to thank all of the fans for honoring me with the Railbird Recognition Award. It is very much appreciated. I promise that I will do everything I can to promote harness racing at the Meadowlands and make the product that we present the finest possible even without the benefit of a slots subsidy. I want to express my appreciation to all of the members of the industry who contributed financially to this effort, as well as the drivers and trainers who supported the Meadowlands last year. I also want to thank our customers and the people who watch and wager on our races for sticking with us as well. One thing I can promise is to do everything I can to make sure that everyone is racing on a level playing field. I want to make it perfectly clear that in no way would I have invested all this time, effort and money to simply provide a place for dishonest people to race their horses. I would like to believe that the vast majority of the participants in the sport are honest and all I ask is please don’t ship a horse to race at the Meadowlands that has received any form of illegal performance enhancing drugs. Let’s just all race on a level playing field.
Gural went on to say that the team at the Meadowlands has many ideas and things that they are planning on trying going forward. He explained that he is looking forward to seeing as many horsepeople and harness racing fans as possible at either the Meadowlands, Tioga Downs or Vernon Downs.
Gural, who has stressed the importance of everybody coming together to create a strong Meadowlands Racetrack product, also added that those that cannot be at the track in person can still show their support for the Mecca of Harness Racing from abroad.
I hope as many of you as possible will watch and wager on our product and hopefully come to the track to watch your horse race. For fans who cannot make it out to the racetrack they can follow the action live on television on the TVG network or watch through the Meadowlands Racetrack website.