Monmouth Park reportedly $30 million in debt to track operator

The importance of newly legalized sports wagering to New Jersey's Monmouth Park was further stated this week when the Asbury Park Press, part of the USA Today Network, revealed the track owes $30 million to the company that operates it.

Monmouth Park is unique, according to the investigation, in that a nonprofit horsemen's group owns it, with Darby Development LLC managing operations in Oceanport, N.J. What was a $20 million debt in 2014 surged by $5 million in both 2015 and 2016, the most recent filings available.

Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development, is a horse owner himself. And per the story, Darby is in "no hurry" to collect on the debt.

The issue stems from a 2010 development that stopped the flow of money from casinos to New Jersey racetracks. It's the hope of New Jersey horsemen that sports wagering could offset some of the difference.

"When Darby was formed and we took over the track, at that point and everyone said, 'Why are you doing this?'" Drazin told the Asbury Park Press. "And the answer was that I was doing it to preserve Monmouth Park and preserve horse racing in New Jersey for future generations to come. I felt like I was preserving an industry, but at great sacrifice. In the beginning, I had general membership meetings. I tried to embrace all the horsemen. No one wanted to be in on the risk.

"Many times I said to the board, 'does anyone want to be a partner and do this a different way and take on some of the risk?' No one wanted that role because they all through they were buying into a lot of debt."

Monmouth races from May through September, with its featured Haskell Invitational recently won by Good Magic.