It has been reported over the course of the past few days that the thoroughbred horsepeople in the state of New Jersey want a bigger cut of simulcasting revenues from the Meadowlands Racetrack. Jeff Gural has now gone on the record and explained some of the specifics of the issue
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A report by Dave Little in the New York Daily News quotes Gural as saying that the item is "probably the last big issue." There are also still outstanding issues with parking lot attendants and the building trades, but Gural has previously gone on the record as saying that he doesn't foresee those as being major issues at this point.
In his article, Little states that the New Jersey thoroughbred industry currently receives 65 per cent of all simulcast revenue on bets made at New Jersey tracks, over the phone and on the internet, except on wagers placed at the Meadowlands. At the Meadowlands, harness racing gets all of the revenue for two-thirds of every calendar year with thoroughbreds getting the remaining third.
"What (the thoroughbred industry) wants is all revenue made on wagers placed on thoroughbred races while we would get the revenue bet on harness races," the report quotes Gural as saying. "That would be their first choice. Their compromise position would be to take a 65-35 split. Our position is that we are not going to change the law because there are twice as many standardbreds in the state of New Jersey, so the harness industry has twice as much financial impact."
(With files from the New York Daily News)
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