Standardbred
Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey President Tom Luchento has
issued this statement/letter on the news that Showplace Farms is closing:
It started with a four
paragraph announcement, and it sent shockwaves through the racing industry in
New Jersey.
On July 23, 2015, Showplace
Farms in Millstone, NJ announced that after 36 years in business, it would be
closing its doors on October 1, 2015.
Showplace is 140 acres of
prime real estate on Route 33. When it opened nearly four decades ago, it
reflected the health of the standardbred racing industry in New Jersey, thanks
to the debut of the Meadowlands Racetrack in 1976.
Showplace, home to more than
425 horses, was a new concept: a first-class training center with its own
track, state-of-the-art barns, a swimming pool for rehabilitating horses, and
fenced in pastures for grazing.
It would be the inspiration
for other training centers throughout Central New Jersey where horsemen would
pay for the privilege to house their racehorses in pastoral Monmouth County
rather than free stabling at the Meadowlands.
New Jersey horsemen, however,
have fallen on hard times, competing against the casino-fueled purses in
surrounding states. It is making it more difficult for Showplace and
other training centers to collect rent and make their businesses viable.
Meanwhile, the racetracks – including Freehold and the Meadowlands – have torn
down their barn areas, leaving many horsemen without stabling options.
In a matter of months, the
bulldozers will be demolishing Showplace Farms, and it will not be long before
other training centers and breeding farms will be following their
example. These farms will soon be shopping malls and housing
developments.
Until now, the owners of the
farms and training centers were willing to gamble on the future of New Jersey
racing, believing that the addition of gaming at the Meadowlands would raise
the purses and justify the risks.
However, the failure of our
leadership in Trenton to put the question of North Jersey gaming on this year’s
ballot has been the last straw for Showplace Farms, and perhaps others to
follow.
“It
has been a good run,” said Bix DiMeo, general manager of Showplace, in the
announcement of closure. “But with fewer horses racing and the current
economic climate here in New Jersey for harness racing, this business model no
longer works for us.”
For anyone in the state
legislature and the governor’s office who thought racing’s leadership was
crying wolf – well, the impending closure of Showplace Farms on the heels of
the dismantling of the 1,000-acre Perretti Farms in Cream Ridge seem to suggest
that instead of crying wolf, the wolf is at the door.
This is an industry that
represents thousands of your friends and neighbors, who could go from taxpayers
to unemployed in a heartbeat.
If the racing industry in the
Garden State were to fail, it goes beyond track ownership and track
employees. Its demise would trickle down to the veterinarians, hay and
grain growers, blacksmiths, horse transport companies, and others who make
their living in some fashion off the racing and breeding industries. This
is a billion-dollar industry in jeopardy, a meaningful source of revenue to the
state’s economy.
Unless New Jerseyans want to
see our farmland, of which 20 percent is equine-related, paved over, we need
Trenton to step up and bring gaming to the Meadowlands now.
Thomas Luchento
President of the Standardbred
Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey
Manalapan, NJ
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