Pulling in the Welcome Mat

I am no fan of protectionsim when it comes to racing but alas, one must remember one of the reasons states allow racing is to promote agriculture in state, which means horse breeding.  If you have no where to race your horse, there is no breeding industry to speak of.

Freehold Raceway and the SBOANJ have reached an agreement designating at least 40% of the races at Freehold, starting with the next condition sheet will be for New Jersey-owned or sired horses.  Even when it comes to preference, a horse that may have raced four days earlier will have first crack at a race before an out of state horse gets a chance.  This means it will be hard for out of state horses to get out of the box into a race at the Central New Jersey oval.  With Pocono Downs and Harrah's Philadelphia being closed during the winter months, non-Jersey horses may have a hard time getting in to race during the winter; especially if they can't compete at Yonkers or the Meadowlands. 

Before out of state horsemen complain too loudly, I would suggest they look at their local condition sheets and preference rules and note how racing at their tracks are limiting if not preventing out of state horses from getting in to race at their local tracks.


The steel is going up at the Meadowlands for the new grandstand.  Progress is expected to go fast with all the steel being in place by mid-February.  The new grandstand is expected to be completed by the end of summer though it will not be used for racing or simulcasting prior to the start of the 2013 fall meet.