The state of thoroughbred racing in this country has gone through many phases throughout history. The “sport of kings” has seen a steady decline since the heydays of the 70’s and has struggled for its survival the past thirty years. We’ve seen attendance decrease both at Belmont and Aqueduct during this time and only has Saratoga , the track where the sport is still fully at its prominence. NYRA has fallen on such hard times and it’s been widely publicized. Most thoroughbred tracks need the implication of video lottery terminals or VLT’s to survive in this day in age. New York doesn’t have these options, nor does Maryland or Kentucky . Without these additions to thoroughbred tracks, racing in these states are doom for financial disaster and non-existence in the near future. Change has to come in the way the racing product is presented. One such racing venue has taken a bold step in the way they do business and could be the trend of the future when it comes to the thoroughbred product that is put forth for the wagering dollar.
Today, Monmouth Park has taken a risky, but new exciting new way in which thier thoroughbred meet will be run in 2010. It’s a 50 day racing meet with one million dollars in purses each day. A new and very risky proposition, that would turn a rather long race meet into a more exciting one with top quality horses over a shorter race week than before. This could revolutionize the sport of thoroughbred racing, if the wagering fans take to it.
The summer meet at Monmouth is 50 days – Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday (with holiday racing on three Mondays) will encompass purses averaging one million dollars a day. The meet goes from today through Labor Day and will also have a fall race meet for 21 days with purses equally $300,000 a day. Gone are the fall Meadowlands meet and the 141 race schedule of past years. This one year experiment is out to prove that high purses are better than more racing days. The concept is 50 days – 50 million, a product that the racing fans want. Higher purses mean better quality horses and more value on the betting dollar than longer meets and lesser quality fields both in class and field size. Less is more when it will come to the quality of thoroughbred that Monmouth offers and hopefully this will attract more people to its race track and increase handle.
The key here is increased handle, something all race tracks throughout the country are looking for. Less daily racing means better fields for increased purses. More money for the Monmouth race meet means more money for its owners the state of New Jersey .
The sport of thoroughbred racing in the past was one of race meets that were shorter with top quality fields for the betting dollar. In recent years, it’s been longer meets, watered-down quality and small field sizes. The wagering dollar has disappeared from the track and gone to other forms of gambling, such as casinos and VLT operations. If many race tracks had VLT’s; like Delaware Park, Mountaineer, Presque Isle Downs and Philadelphia Park, the purse structures would be greater and more horsemen would be attracted to these venues. The shorter race meets mean better fields and better quality thoroughbred runners. It’s a chance that Monmouth is taking and only time will tell if it truly works. But, in this day and age of uncertainty and steady decline in thoroughbred racing, it’s a gamble worth the chance. Maybe New York should take note!
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