Monmouth Park Preview 2014

 

It is no secret that the new management team of Monmouth Park has made a plan for the long-term financial future of the track that depends on revenue from casino gambling and/or sports betting. Dennis Drazin, who is an advisor to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association, which in turn owns Monmouth Park, took time to talk about both those topics at the recent trainer and media kickoff luncheon.

About casino gambling Drazin said, “We are waiting and praying that the Governor and the Legislature sees fit to finally expand gaming outside of Atlantic City. That conversation will probably not take place until some time early in 2016. The Senate President and the Governor had a five-year timetable for the expansion of gaming and we’ll have that conversation, but I’m confident that in the final analysis, gaming will expand beyond Atlantic City and we need to be a part of it. Our purses should grow and our operations should be well-balanced by that time.”

Monmouth’s partner on the sports betting side is the British gambling company William Hill. This summer in the back of the grandstand, the new William Hill Race and Sports Bar will be open. Veterans of Monmouth Park will recognize that this new facility replaces the old cafeteria. This $1,000,000 renovation has opened with the hopes that sports betting will be legalized in New Jersey sooner then later.

Drazin also talked about the status of the New Jersey’s battle to obtain sports betting, “Right now we are awaiting the US Supreme Court to make a decision whether they will hear the case, assuming that they decide to accept the case, which we should know by the end of June. If the Supreme Court takes the case then we will be successful in winning. If for some reason the Supreme Court decides not to accept the case, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in its written decision has laid out the framework for other options to enable us to take other measures assuming the Legislature and Governor are on board.”

On the backstretch the following new trainers will have barns at Monmouth this summer: Wayne Catalano, Hugh McMahon, Christopher Grove, the Gaudets, and David Jacobson. Jacobson could pose a threat to last year’s top two conditioners Jorge Navarro and Eddie Plesa.

Jacobson will have a barn at Monmouth for the first time, primarily for Drawing Away Stable. Sandy Levine, a major partner of Drawing Away Stable, announced on Facebook that they would be running full-time at Monmouth Park, “In addition to our current stable facilities at Aqueduct Racetrack in NYC, we now also have a fully operational stable at Monmouth Park in New Jersey…including training, racing, claiming, and winning in NJ.”

The jockey colony will be a bit different because Elvis Trujillo and Joe Bravo, two of the top riders, will not be at the Jersey Shore. Trujillio is staying in Florida and “Jersey Joe” will once again try to establish himself in the Belmont Park riding colony. Eddie Castro and Julien Pimentel will return to Monmouth. Dylan Davis and Trevor McCarthy are also listed in the first condition book. Four apprentice riders in Nik Juarez, Ivan Perez, Andre Worrie, and Jonathan Zayas are also listed to ride. Of course they will all be hard-pressed to beat Paco Lopez, who has dominated the jockey standings in recent years.

There is a new $1,000 bonus for every horse that is entered in which the trainer will receive $300 and the owner gets $700. Drazin said, “We think that will encourage larger fields, which is important to our business.”

I asked Bob Kulina, the President of Darby Development LLC, the operators of Monmouth Park, if Untapable would be in the field of the Haskell considering trainer Steve Asmussen’s comment that they might try the boys, but not in the Preakness. Kulina said, “We know he likes the race and going from the Acorn [at Belmont on June 7] to the Haskell [July 27] would be a logical progression.” Of course Asmussen won the 2009 Haskell with the filly Rachel Alexandra.

New at the Jersey Shore will be 50¢ trifectas. The 10¢ jackpot wager the Jersey Shore Six will be back again this year. Last year its biggest payout was over $160,000. In addition there will two standard Pick 4’s and a Pick 5. Monmouth Park does have a history of listening to the racing fans when it comes to the types of wagers offered at the Shore.