Despite earlier reports that there will be no fall harness racing meet in 2020 at The Meadowlands, the track's Chairman Jeff Gural is hopeful that races like the TVG Finals and the Fall Four will still be contested about a year from now at the New Jersey oval.
Earlier this month, a release from The Meadowlands stated that Monmouth Park applied for live racing on the main track at The Meadowlands from October 2 through December 5, 2020.
"The NJ legislation regarding live racing at The Meadowlands grants the Thoroughbreds the right to race live in the fall, should they choose to do so. The past several years they have confined their live racing to short, turf-only meets that allowed us to race a fall Standardbred meet, but their plan for next year is to convert the main track and race a longer Thoroughbred meet," said the track in its release. "As a result, The Meadowlands is currently working out the details for the 2020 live racing season without a fall live meet."
On Wednesday, the New Jersey Racing Commission approved dates for Thoroughbred racing at Monmouth Park that extend the Thoroughbred meet at The Meadowlands to December 5.
Gural is still holding out hope that a deal can be reached to keep the fall stakes on the calendar at The Meadowlands.
“I’m hoping to have a deal worked out that we won’t have to eliminate these races,” Gural told Harness Racing Weekend Preview. “The only change we would make is we won’t have eliminations. And we don’t need eliminations any more. You can see that.”
I don't understand why
I don't understand why there's a scheduling conflict. From looking at the Monmouth 2020 fall meet calendar, why can't The Meadowlands begin its own fall/winter meet on Dec. 11?