On Monday, December 20, Jeff Gural issued a statement in regard to the agreement which was recently struck that will keep live standardbred racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack from January, 2011 until March 31
, 2011.
Gural's letter appears below in its entirety.
I think by now, everyone knows that the Governor has given me, in conjunction with the SBOANJ, until March 31 to negotiate a long term lease for the Meadowlands. What most people don’t know is how close we came to having the plug pulled and the 2011 Meadowlands meet cancelled.
I, like most of you, just assumed that the Meadowlands would open in January as our whole industry in New Jersey, and to a lesser extent, the East Coast and Canada, would have been severely harmed if we had no Meadowlands. When I learned that a good friend and business partner was a close friend of Governor Christie’s, I called Tom Luchento last week to see if I could help in any way. Tommy asked me to call Craig Domalewski at the Governor’s office, who politely explained that in order for the Meadowlands to race in 2011, the Governor was insisting on a letter of credit or a security bond for eight million dollars to cover the anticipated operating losses for the year.
He said he needed this by the end of the day Wednesday, which was obviously impossible. Subsequently, the deadline was extended until Friday, but at the last minute on a conference call with the Governor’s office Thursday, we were told that unless we were prepared to put up a significant amount of money, it was a waste of time to come down to Trenton on Friday.
Fortunately, Tommy has some friends in the legislature who persuaded the Governor’s staff to keep the meeting in an effort to find a solution that would allow the Meadowlands to open in January. With input from Leo McNamara, Mike Gulotta, and Anthony Perretti, we were able to come up with a temporary solution that gives us until March 31 to come up with a plan to lease the facility.
In discussions directly with the Governor, he made it perfectly clear that he would veto any legislation that has a purse subsidy or allows slots at the Meadowlands. It is still possible that we will get a purse subsidy as the Democrats are pushing hard to include that in legislation to help Atlantic City.
At the present, we have to assume no purse subsidy. So, the question is, can a new facility be built on the opposite side of the track and be paid for and can purses be high enough to keep the Meadowlands product worth wagering on without slots income or a purse subsidy?
The reason I share this with all of you in the industry is simply because if the Meadowlands is to survive, it will take all of us in the industry working together to make it happen. Obviously, down the road, it is possible a casino will be built, but we can’t count on it and even if it did happen, who knows if Governor Christie would allow money to go to supplement purses as other states currently allow.
I, along with Mike Gulotta, who will be working closely with me and Tommy Luchento, will be reaching out to all of you for help in making the changes that I believe are necessary to keep our existing customers while attracting new and younger customers the way we have been able to do at Tioga.
Clearly, in order to succeed, we will have to improve our product, reduce race dates and tackle the integrity issues that plague our sport.
I think if we all pull together, we can make this happen, but if we don’t, I think it is a virtual certainty the Meadowlands will close for good in April 2011.
We all owe a debt of gratitude to Tommy Luchento, Leo McNamara, Mike Gulotta and Anthony Perretti, who have been working overtime to avoid closure. But, the reality is the Governor is not going to subsidize harness racing and we have to accept that.
I look forward to discussing the issues with many of you and hopefully we will come up with a long-term solution.
As the holidays approach, let me wish everyone in the industry a happy holiday and let’s hope 2011 is the beginning of a new era at the Meadowlands as we are given an opportunity to control our own destiny.
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Politicians are really the
Politicians are really the best !!
The answer is so plain & staring them right in the face--put the SLOTS in & give Atlantic City their piece & the MEADOWLANDS will return to the premier facility in the world once again ! HOW SIMPLE IS THAT! So simple they can't see it! I guess the money from AC is flowing non-stop into TRENTON & the so-called "peoples politicians'" coffers. What a state ! The shame of the whole matter is when RACING stops at the MEADOWLANDS, the Atlantic City "crew" is going to come, bulldoze the MEADOWLANDS facility and put up a full blown casino or two. This I guarantee will happen unless JEFF GURAL & his Group can get the slots. Why dosen't TRENTON let the GURAL GROUP have 300-500 slots and see what happens ? If the GURAL GROUP is willing to put up close to 30 million dollars (and they are) don't you thing TRENTON should at least give them the chance to make it? What have they got to lose? NOT A DAMN THING!! Or do they?
i remember my first trip to
i remember my first trip to the big m in 1980 for the M pace.
since then, i've been to 24/30 hambo weekends.
i raced, as an owner, all thru the 80's with mike gagliardi and freddy grant.
nothing has changed. the best facility and the best hosts in the world.
GREAT LOCATION. GREAT HOTELS. CLOSE TO BROADWAY, ETC., ETC., ETC.
it is now time to do a reality check.
NO SLOTS=NO PURSES=LOW CLASS HORSES=NO BETTORS=NO RACING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOW SCREWED UP IS NEW JERSEY?
across the river, yonkers has slots and is booming.
penn. has slots and is booming.
delaware has slots and now a full casino, and is booming.
are your politicians completely insane?
the big m, with slots, would CRUSH the competition.
christie is an idiot and so are ALL the politicians that are allowing this to happen.
A STRIKE, WITH LOST TAX REVENUE, MORE UNEMPLOYED, AND E. RUTHERFORD A GHOST TOWN, IS THE ONLY WAY TO SHOW THE POLITICIANS WHAT THEY ARE LOSING.
it would be painful, but it's the only way.
NATHAN ROTSTEIN, TORONTO, THE BIG M's BIGGEST FAN.
I am worried about the
I am worried about the future of racing in general. Several tracks have gone to trouble and
suffered the financial roadblocks. I am particularly upset with the Quebec problem.I grew up with the Blue Bonnets Raceway in my city Montreal, harness racing so close to home and was televised on the news! Some years down the line racing was moved to this other facility that went bankrupt and guess what! No one steps in to make it work...and i think of the horses, bred for this particular line of work with nowhere to go but Rideau Carlton Raceway, hey that is not so bad really, but...the Belle Province where the great driver trainers have grown the trade have to seek the work out of province...shame on the government for not stepping in! So are my thoughts on that.
B-Mac I know a joke when I
B-Mac
I know a joke when I see one, and what Christie is doing is a joke. The state of New Jersey is surrounded by staes with racino statutes in place. Unless you're subsidizing the product in New Jersey, the industry is destined for failure. I don't care how ingenious Mr. Gural is, you cannot ignore the obvious. Outside of Saratoga, Keeneland and Del Mar on the thoroughbred side, there's no way horse/harness racing entities can survive as stand alone products. The handle at Yonkers are 30%-40% of what the Meadowlands takes in, their purses are twice as high and they have little if any worries BECAUSE OF THE SLOTS AT THE TRACK. Sorry ya'll, we need divine intervention to save the Meadowlands harness racing. Here's hoping the next 100 days to March 31 takes forever to come.
Eight million dollars -
Eight million dollars - thats about $100 - $200 per member of the USTA and Standardbred Canada. That does not seem like a big amount to save the industry we all love. Give me an address where I can send the cheque. If we in the industry do not care enough to save it - NO-ONE ELSE WILL. This is a North American harness racing issue. If The Meadowlands fails it is only a matter of time for the rest to do likewise. Other governments are watching - they do have other pressing issues too.
Harness racing could not
Harness racing could not have a better person for the job of trying to re-invent the Meadowlands brand. He has done good things in a small market like Tioga with his promtions & lowering the take-out. He has got new people out to the track and by lowering the take out has increased the wager there this year, where the trend elsewhere was the opposite. With a market the size of NY city I believe he will do some good things to return the Meadowlands to the top track in the sport again. We need the Meadowlands....if it falls the whole industry will fall like domino's behind them.
The Gov of New Jersey has
The Gov of New Jersey has said over and over (even if you have to read between the lines) that he will only support the dump that is Atlantic City.
I suppose the ponies didn't support his campaign enough.
I hope the Big M can survive - but I'm not very optimistic about that happening.
Too bad.