On Wednesday, October 17, officials from Freehold Raceway issued an open letter in response to a press release issued by the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey on Tuesday.
To view the SBOANJ release, click here.
The contents of the Freehold open letter appear below.
The following response from Freehold General Manager Howard Bruno was issued to address a release distributed by the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey (SBOA-NJ) regarding Freehold’s 2013 live racing dates application to the New Jersey Racing Commission.
“Contrary to the SBOA-NJ declaration that Freehold’s 2013 live racing date application was a ‘reduction’ in racing dates, Freehold Raceway has submitted the same number (90) of racing dates in 2013 as will be raced in 2012.
“We arrived at that amount of racing dates in 2012 with the cooperation of the SBOA realizing the weakened state of the racing business in New Jersey, the lack of purse funds and competition from surrounding states combined with ever shrinking horse supply.
“We have had several discussions with the SBOA prior to our racing date submission and we clearly stated in our application that we would continue to engage the horsemen in negotiations. We have offered several viable options to achieve similar outcomes desired by the SBOA and would hope a mutually beneficial result for the benefit of the entire racing industry in New Jersey can be achieved.
“While hardly a smashing success, racing at Freehold this year has begun to stabilize; handle on live racing has made gains but is no means near the levels from even four years ago; purses are no longer at the bottom of the industry but still are not competitive; the industry is still struggling.
“If the SBOA was concerned about racing opportunities for its membership it would also address the 50% reduction in live racing dates at the Meadowlands Racetrack. We also caution that more racing dates do not automatically mean more racing opportunities. More racing dates will reduce available horse supply and potentially mean fewer races per day. In addition, the regressive funding formula of the New Jersey Racing Commission penalizes racetracks for adding more racing dates. Our goal is achieving a balance that works for horsemen and the tracks to succeed going forward.”