Casinos will bolster New Jersey racetrack purse levels for the next three years, but the future of horse racing in the Garden State remains uncertain without a stable source of funding.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced on March 3 that the Casino Association of New Jersey has agreed to pay the racetracks $90 million over the next three years in return for banning the use of video lottery terminals [VLTs] at the tracks during that time.
“Both the equine industry and the casino industry play important roles in New Jersey, from preserving open space to attracting visitors, and it was essential to strike a balance that will allow both industries to thrive,” Corzine said. “The agreement involves no taxpayer dollars and will not reduce casino funds that flow to the state.”
Tom Luchento, president of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey (SBOANJ), called the agreement a bittersweet victory.
“While the standardbred horsemen of New Jersey are grateful for the funding, which will allow the state’s tracks to maintain their purse levels for the next three years, this agreement is only a stop- gap measure,” Luchento said.
He said the state’s racing and breeding industries need a stable source of funding.
“For the future of the racing and breeding industries in New Jersey, we need to find a permanent solution in the form of other types of gaming at the racetracks so that we can exist on a level playing field with the tracks in the surrounding states – NewYork, Pennsylvania and Delaware – which already have VLTs or slots,” he said.
The SBOANJ wants the New Jersey Sire Stakes program to be better funded and has initiated legislation in Trenton to do so, according to Luchento.
“However, there is a rather bleak fiscal picture in Trenton,” he said. “The governor has proposed cuts in spending and [cutting] three departments, including agriculture, so this is an even more difficult task.”
Millstone Township Mayor Nancy Grbelja, a standardbred racehorse owner, said, “Our fight has just begun.” Grbelja said owners and breeders will continue to press legislators for VLTs at the tracks so they can be self-sufficient.
“We need a mechanism so the racing industry can remain viable and not depend on handouts,” she said.
Upper Freehold Township’s Elaine McMinn, who owns Briarwood Saddlery, a mobile tack store that operates out of Monmouth Park in Oceanport, said she is very pleased there is an agreement with the casinos.
“With that being said, I personally wonder if VLTs would bring more people back to the track itself,” McMinn said. “I do not have the perfect answer, but the horsemen have got to have a reason to come here, to breed and to race.”
McMinn said the three-year extension of the casino supplement does not provide enough time to breed more New Jersey racehorses and guarantee that money will be available when it comes time to sell or race them.
“I think the horsemen of New Jersey should look longer down the road than just the three years for the sake of the horse industry here,” she said. “We should not sit back and relax, but rather formulate a plan for the future so we are not in the same position three years from now.”
New Jersey Horse Council President Maggi Romano, of Millstone Township, said the supplement is like a band-aid.
“Hopefully it stops racing stables from leaving New Jersey for now,” Romano said. “There is still a bill pending that would support the breeding program.”
Romano said horsemen need to work with legislators to find a way to make the horse industry self-sufficient, whether through the placement of VLTs or other gaming options at the racetracks.
“The purses at the tracks in our surrounding states show that is the way to go,” she said.
Upper Freehold Township’s Dr. David Meirs, the owner of Walnridge Farm, a standardbred breeding facility, said $90 million is not an “impact amount” and not enough to do much good.
“If you’re drowning and a little two-byfour comes along, you’re damn glad to see it,” Meirs said. “It keeps us from sinking completely. It leaves us treading water.”
Meirs does not think the agreement with the casinos will reverse the trend of breeding horses leaving the state.
BobMarks, the spokesman for Perretti Farms in Cream Ridge, said he believes the agreement will temporarily halt an exodus of horsemen from the state and help keep New Jersey competitive with other states.
“However, it would seem that the state is leaving substantial revenues on the table by not installing gaming machines in the megalopolis region The Meadowlands (racetrack) inhabits, asAtlantic City no longer enjoys their monopoly with Philadelphia casinos around the corner from which the state of New Jersey gets nothing,” Marks said.
Upper Freehold standardbred breeder Pete Blaso said the agreement is the governor’s way of kowtowing to the casino interests in Atlantic City.
“It just goes to show you just how deep someone’s pockets are,” Blaso said. “Why does Atlantic City have such a hold on New Jersey?”
Blaso said racinos (which combine gaming options and racing at the tracks) are the answer to the state’s horse racing and debt situations.
“Without having to raise taxes or eliminate entire departments like the Department of Agriculture, [racinos] would have been a steady flow of cash,” he said.
Blaso said the agreement with the casinos did nothing to aid the future of racing in New Jersey or to entice people to breed to New Jersey stallions. He said that by the time New Jersey-bred foals mature and are ready to race, the supplement would be depleted.
“It would be back to begging Atlantic City for the funding again,” he said.
Luchento said many of the details of the current agreement still have to be worked out, including distribution of the supplement.
“It took a lot longer than it should have [to come to an agreement] and we still have a great deal of work to do,” he said.
Luchento thanked the state’s horse industry.
“I want to thank the trainers, drivers, breeders, owners and caretakers for their patience, support and understanding as we worked to obtain this agreement,” he said.
He also thanked the legislators and the governor’s office for their mediation in this matter.
“We thank state Senate President Richard Codey, who has always championed the horse racing industry’s cause, senators (Jennifer) Beck and (Paul) Sarlo, who have racetracks in their districts, Sen. (Jim) Whelan, who supported the subsidy whenever he talked to casino operators in his Atlantic City district, Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts for his leadership role, assemblymen (Neil) Cohen, (Joseph) Malone and (Ronald) Dancer for sponsoring legislation to help fund an appropriation for the New Jersey Sire Stakes, and other legislators too numerous to mention who have been in our corner,” he said.

