Meadowland Racetrack operator Jeff Gural has penned an open letter to horsemen in which he has expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of entries to the track's pari-mutuel races
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Gural wrote that, "It seems everybody likes to qualify their good horses (at the Meadowlands), but, when it comes to racing, they would rather go someplace else."
He also added that he appreciates that, "everyone is thrilled the Meadowlands is not going to close, but the industry has to support the racing program and not just pick and choose the stakes races if we are going to survive."
The contents of Gural's letter appear below.
As we move forward with the next phase of the Meadowlands project, which consists of building a new grandstand at a cost of around $90 million, I am becoming increasingly concerned over the fact that it is becoming harder and harder to get horses to race at the Meadowlands.
It seems everybody likes to qualify their good horses, but, when it comes to racing, they would rather go someplace else. One wonders does it really make sense to build a new grandstand and try to fill it with customers young and old if there are not enough horses to race? Our income is derived solely from wagering and only half as much as is bet on a seven-horse race as is bet on a 10-horse race. The other option is to do what our competitors do and only allocate 10 per cent of our available purse money to stakes races and 90 per cent to overnights. Personally, I think that would be a disaster for the industry, especially in light of the problems we may face next year in Canada if WEG has to cut back on their stakes programs.
In any case, if any one has any suggestions as to the type of races they would like to see us card at the Meadowlands that would help alleviate this problem please email me at [email protected] and I will discuss it with the racing department.
I appreciate that everyone is thrilled the Meadowlands is not going to close, but the industry has to support the racing program and not just pick and choose the stakes races if we are going to survive. The next few weeks will be especially difficult now that the sire stakes are ending and before the two-year-olds start up again so any input would be greatly appreciated.