Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Bob99 — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:41:39 GMT

A fantastic article and very well written. Yes, NJ needs VLT's if they are to compete and survive. We need our politicians and the AC conglomerate to understand that we are all in this together.

Steve Sloan mentioned a horse called Slewpy. I remember him well. He was owned by the "Seattle Slew" people (Mickey Turner, Jim Hill & Dave Ringler) and ridden by Angel Cordero. I was there as a guest of that group the night he beat the undefeated Copelan in the Young America stakes at The Meadowlands paying $54. He became the NJ horse of the year and was teamed up with his more famous stablemate Slew Of Gold. He then went onto being a successful stallion.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Tim Maz — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:04:51 GMT

Exactly right.

Short and sweet.

Too long and like all other pro sports we all yawn.

No more 6 day race-weeks.

No more meets longer than 2 months.

Switch it up.

Why? Because my nephews will never become horseracing fans in Mass. Why because there are no fairs with horseracing in the state. They will not travel to Boston and Suffolk Downs because its too far away and why bother, the local facility is not fan-friendly anyways. Ask my wife if you don't agree.

The only chance to make them fans is by watching the Derby and will that be enough to create a real fan? Doubt it.

Shake it up, move it around. Have a plan and get the big races highlighted on SportsCenter. Young people turn to this show and espn.com, most don't even know what HRTV stands for.

So far we've done everything but.

And please keep ownership local, otherwise track owners don't know the people in the stands, and they don't attend themselves.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Turf Horse Owner — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:52:18 GMT

For AC to "deserve" funding, more race dates are needed.A spring/fall meet would be much more economical. Horses would already be based at Monmouth, and employees could come from Pa. and Monmouth on their days off. That would be possible if racetracks actually worked together to plan their turf seasons instead of punishing trainers for having to find turf races off grounds(some racing secretaries might be chuckling to themselves now.) The new NJ money would encourage investors to help rejuvenate the facility and, who knows, maybe they'll push to bring other forms of gambling there.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Bellwether — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 07:12:08 GMT

KUDOS to NJ...PLEASE AMERCIA...WAKE UP!!!

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Bellwether — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 07:04:09 GMT

PROMOTE IT & THEY WILL COME!!!...Long Live The King!!!...& keep TALKING it up!!!...

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Stu Kirshenbaum — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:17:09 GMT

Talk about a trip down Memory Lane! It's great how ACRC simply refuses to die; especially for a guy like me, who not only grew up in Atlantic City, but also spent most summers during high school and college working (and playing the races!) at ACRC.

A boutique, mostly-turf meeting in the spring and fall would be wonderful. But you'd have to build a brand new racetrack, no? I'm not an architect or engineer -- I can't even change a light bulb -- but I don't see how the present building could be suitably upgraded. Unless you've been there for some part of their mini-meets, you can't fully appreciate the state of disrepair in the current facility.

The place definitely looks much like it did in the 1970's (except for the missing hands on the ATLANTIC CITY clock, which is sad. Plus the tote boards actually used to work). And I can vouch for the fact that the area out by the paddock (the old Beer Garden) may not look the same, but it sure does smell the same!

As poster Larry said, the food absolutely is a joke...though I think the folding tables throughout the first floor, filled with high school kids selling hot dogs and sodas does add a measure of county fair charm. And the paddock is still one of the great places in racing to get up close and personal with the horses before the race. This, despite the fact that the paddock, like the rest of the place, hasn't seen a fresh drop of paint since the Ford Administration.

I love ACRC! It was a big part of my formative years as a horseplayer. To see the place reborn, with a unique niche on the racing calendar, would be terrific.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

John Manley — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:02:08 GMT

There's no reason why both A.C. and Monmouth couldn't run during the same season, only on different days. Especially since Monmouth's turf course is so fragile, even after it was rebuilt for the Breeders' Cup. A few drops of rain and they come off and go onto the main track with a dozen scratches and four stuck horses left to run. Or how about when some dufus left the sprinklers on last summer and washed out the grass on one of the turns? They had to move those races onto the main track, despite perfect weather.

They could have an all-turf card at A.C. on Wednesdays, and then run the usual at Monmouth, Thursday through Sunday.

I don't believe it would be that big a deal to Monmouth's management. The only reason they're running as many days as they are now is because of an agreement with the horsemen. And from what I heard, Monmouth was leaking money like one big sieve last year. So, I'd think they'd welcome the opportunity to get rid of a few dates.

With this scenario, maybe there'd be some grass opportunities for Jersey-breds.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Harp — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:02:22 GMT

Turf Horse Owner,

As one to another, I wholly agree: AC should be a spring/fall boutique meet that jumpstarts the MidAtlantic turf season for all of us very patient grass horse owners, and acts as a nice bandaid when the surrounding states' turf courses are rock hard, torn up and tired.

I bet the root structure on AC's grass course runs under the Hamilton Mall, it's so good. Give the bettors what they want: big fields on a great grass course at a classic old track!

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

A turf-horse owner — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:08:44 GMT

PLEASE let the racing authorities and track owners come to a much needed agreement that would allow

the patient owners of turf horses run spring and fall over AC's beautiful course. Shipping to Virginia incurs high costs and low purses, when they and Penn Natl. end racing for the lower level horses that's it for some horses. The racing card at AC is filled with a wide range of carefully conditioned races that allow the trainers to give their best and lower level horses a race over an great course. A fall meet would also relieve the torn up Monmouth turf. The betting public love to see these long lived and familiar turf horses run and thank us for feeding them all winter by betting heavily on these races.

I see a well planned spring and fall meet as the perfect complement to turf season in NJ.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

ThoroughbredZone.Com — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:29:33 GMT

Atlantic City racetrack is owned and operated by PA's Greenwood Gaming and Penn Gaming. If NJ really wants to save AC racecourse, they should buy it. That won't happen for various reasons. AC Racecourse is in a pickle with the casinos. AC Racecourses demise is do to the casinos. The casino lobby in the state is thee number 1 enemy of thoroughbred racing in NJ and until that issue is taken head on; NJ racing will continue to decline. Bottom line...Racing will falter and the casinos are rooting for it. They are only worried about their bottom line.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

dannykeno — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:56:57 GMT

Boy, A.C. brings back times I spent with my late dad, Spending the summers down at the shore, going to the track was something to behold, One year while the A.C. was running harness racing I hit the D.D a horse from our local track was entered there.I said to my dad I saw this horse on the local replays on tv and if this horse get out it will win. Sure enough it did and the D.D paid 167 bucks, funny thing about it was we got to the car and it had a dead battery,we got it jumped then the next day I said to dad let me buy the new battery he said are you sure, Being only 14 all I did at the shore was play pinball for a dime a

game and was good enough to win a lot of free games,dad didn't have that much money we went to sears and I spend 24 buck for the battery. As I got older, dad was ready to go to any track any time

When he passed something left me and now any track I go to I can still see my dad standing there in my mind with his pipe in mouth reading the form,It still brings tears to my eyes. Thinking of him.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

RiverCaller — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:28:46 GMT

Clearly novelty is something the racing doesn't have very much of anymore. I think that is where the opportunity lies with Atlantic City and racing in general. As we in the industry have seen, the common person has various misconceptions of racing that keeps them from going. #1 Bad stereotypes (we all know what they are) but I think #2 is that racing is too routine for everyone ("Oh the track...yea we can go there anytime"). I mean even when big race days are advertised, we are advertising a "bigger" day of more of the same. Atlantic City is not "More of the same" for the reasons listed by Tom and other commentors. I worked at Rillito Park In Az for 4 meets and the place was packed!! Keep in mind that most of this facility was CONDEMNED by the County Fire Marshall. But the place was always packed!! Why?? Certainly it was not to watch the 1250 (yes 1250) claimers go 4 furlongs. It was because it was something fresh and was only around for 6 weekends a year. Why do you think Carnivals are always moving?! Now I'm not saying horse racing needs to be a 6 week here 6 week there type sport. What I am saying is that folks could learn from the Atlantic City's and Rillito Park's of the world and center their facilties as destinations, with something new and exciting all the time. Well done Tom, you have once again gone to the junkyard to find a classic idea!

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

NJ — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:02:33 GMT

I respond only because I care.

If I was NJ's racing czar here's the T-bred schedule:

Atlantic City

Wednesday through Saturday Preakness Week through the last Saturday in June

Post Time 3:00pm weekdays and 1:30pm Saturdays (28 days)

Monmouth

Open July 3rd through Labor Day

Wednesday through Sunday

Post Time 12:55pm (40 to 45 days)

That's it. We are done. Load up the purses to make up for the cut in race dates. And if we must watch J-Breds run for absurd amounts repeatedly, let's at least start writing turf races for J-bred maidens, etc. to break the boredom.

Oh yea. And lets open up an OTB around where Garden State was so I can deposit and withdraw from my NJ Wagering Account. I'm sick of paying a 4.5% fee for using my debit card to deposit money in my NJ wagering account and I am sick of driving 45 miles each way to Freehold to make deposits or withdrawals.

In short, I do my fair share to bolster the handle in NJ. Is it necessary for me to feel like a fool in the process?

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

John Manley — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:15:00 GMT

I'd like to add to some of the comments here.

Steve Stone discusses the importance of dealing with the situation now, not in 2010. Let's remember that thanks to NJ's dysfunction, Monmouth had to cancel some prime July dates 2 or 3 years ago because of Gov. Corzine's grandstanding play on the state budget. Even the Atlantic City casinos had to close because state officials needed to be present. Because of this, the state lost revenue. Corzine moves at glacial speed, except when he has to appear at a photo op with Al Sharpton and the Rutgers womens' basketball team. Then he moves at 91 mph and ends up in intensive care.

As for the 3,000 or so at the track, my recollection during the late '90s (when I would often attend on summer Saturdays) is that the crowd of usually 4,000 or so was made up largely of enthusiastic young families. Unfortunately, they didn't bet much and the per capita was low. But they showed up, added life to the joint and, hopefully, became fans. Besides, minors aren't allowed in the hotel casinos in A.C., so what else is a parent going to do with children in that locale? Entertainment options are limited for families, and the track could exploit the opportunities to make new fans if it were to be marketed accordingly.

Let's be grateful that Dick Codey's plan for night racing at Monmouth never came to fruition. It didn't save Garden State or Atlantic City, and the Meadowlands is like a tomb nowadays.

That New Jersey racing is still somewhat viable after decades of neglect is a testament to the many people in the industry who toil anonymously because of their passion for the sport.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Lou Criscillo — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:41:17 GMT

All horse racing meets should be short and sweet.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Claire Novak — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:27:46 GMT

Tom,

Great article, evocative and heartfelt. Reminds me of my trip to Hawthorne earlier this month... funny how we can find love for the game just as strong - sometimes stronger - amid the low-profile tracks as it is among the hallowed paddocks of our finest ovals.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Kevin Price — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:31:41 GMT

Tom - As usual, excellent piece on New Jersey Racing. Your proposed racing calendar is an ideal combination of brevity and sustainability and would indeed "keep it fresh". Aside from recasting the Jersey racing calendar long-term success would likely require an amalgam of improvements such as fuller fields, lower takeout, new innovative wagers, the construction of additional OTB parlors, reasonable concession prices, etc. No doubt, slot machines would have to be added if for no other reason than to create purse parity with other racing jurisdictions but as you correctly point out other things are equally important. none more so than constructing a racing calendar that encourages more tracks running fewer dates rather than fewer tracks running more dates.

Kevin A. Price

Ocean Township

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

CRob87 — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:03:21 GMT

Did anyone bother to ask any of those 3,000 fans ...

Why they chose to go to the Racetrack on a Wednesday afternoon instead of to the Casino's ???

Just curious !!!

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Larry — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:40:12 GMT

Having been lucky enough to have owned part of a good horse that we ran in the United Nations back in the early 80's. I know very well what a great facility it once was. Several years ago I returned for the first time since then to run in a steeplechase race. I was gutted and horrified to see what had become of the place. Your description of the stable area is being kind. The OTB area consisted of card tables and folding chairs. The food was a joke. Heart breaking to say the least. But the turf course was still out standing. Not long after a group of friends in the show horse business asked me to contact the owners, Greenwood Racing to see if they would be interested in selling the facility. It took a number of phone calls just to get to the right person. The group wanted to set up something similar to the KY Horse Park and were offering serious money. We even offered to let Greenwood Racing keep the grandstand, track and OTB revenue. In turn the group would have restored the stable area and leased it back to Greenwood if racing were to return on a grander scale. The group planned to build a world class stadium along with a 3 Day Event course, steeplechase along with extensive landscaping. It would have been beautiful. And the area would have benefited greatly.

I was completely blown off by Greenwood. These corporate types are not interested in making fair money and doing what's right for the sport and the community. They are only interested in the bottom line. From what I understand they were trying to build a shopping mall but were turned down. I suspect they are just letting the property fall into such disrepair that it will become an eye sore and they will be allowed to do what they want with it.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

alhattab — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:02:31 GMT

Tom- agree with your premise. I frequent Monmouth Park, and am a horseplayer, but enjoy the energy in the place when it has a good, diverse crowd. I selfishly like the earlier start as I live nearby, but the early May dates cheapen Monmouth's meet and allure. Four days a week Memorial Day-Labor Day seems about right. Maybe 3 days/week through September. Returning Mth opening day to, say, a 3pm post Friday of Memorial Day weekend would be a great way to kick off the summer and would be a rousing start rather than the slow start (and no turf racing) under the current calendar.

And Steve Stone- right on target. Remember when the first supplement was enacted? I was on the cusp of expiration when there was the initial meeting on what to do next. How does anyone breed in this state with that kind of uncertainty? They gov's study needs to be done now so the issue gets resolved, and hopefully we can save some of the breeding industry before it all moves to PA.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

Abbie Knowles — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:20:06 GMT

Enjoyed reading about the New Jersey tracks and this is a very well and humourously written article.

A favourite horse of mine used to win a lot at Meadowlands when it was for horse racing as opposed to Trotting. He was called Slewpy. Maybe some of you remember him!??? i guess Meadowlands is Trotting only now as on ATR on SKY 415 it seems to be just trotting when Meadowlands is on. I enjoy the trotting too though even if I know little about it!

Atlantic City sounds fun and of course I have heard of Monmouth Park!!!!! Hope the tracks do stay open and start to attract more people away from the Casinos and onto the racetracks. Horse racing is a great sport but may need publicising better; perhaps with more focus on the horses who are never corrupt and always beautiful and less on those who lead racing into disrepute for whatever reason!!!!

God Bless

Best wishes

Abbie

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

STEVE STONE — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:27:42 GMT

Hello Tom...Yes..Monmouth Park et al in all of its short sightedness did not whatsoever followup or capitalize on the Breeders' Cup of 2007..Thats so so sad..And yes.. New Jersey racing is indeed the victim of its own lack of sincerity..However I am very non-plussed when reading your op-ed piece here that you didn't mention that the Governor is spawning an panel to address the overall state of thoroughbred racing in The Garden State and critiquing the three years casino supplement in order to bolster purses through 2010..when the current order will expire...Now whats so distressing here is that the governor is not going to roll out this panel until the summer of 2010..when in just five or six months hence the overall program will lapse.... Don't you think he should be addressing this vexing plight fortwith as negotiations of this complexity do indeed take time to critique? The bottom line here is that if some purse supplement is not implemented and New Jersey is not competitive with other neighboring tracks...you will not have to worry about racings future in New Jersey....or even the fate of Atlantic City Race Course....as there will not be any..and thats reality...obviously this study is not an priority for the governor...Thank you always for your kind window...Regards..Steve Stone..East Hanover..New Jersey

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

DONNA — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:18:10 GMT

I totally agree with Class and Jimbo. I have been to two of Keeneland's meets, just recently this past October. The Friday I was there was opening day and it was so crowed you could hardly make it down to the rail. People were six and seven deep trying to get a glimpse of the horses in the paddock. People in Kentucky actually plan their vacations around the two meets I was told.

Maybe other tracks should follow suite and cut back on days also.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

bill — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:48:33 GMT

It would really help racing in NJ if Atlantic City could once again be a part of the circuit there. Having several tracks - say 3 withing a circuit - is invigorating to the jaded racing fan [such as myself]. I grew up in Jersey and lived for the opening of each meet: Garden State, Monmouth and Atlantic City. Each of these tracks had their idiosynchrosies and attractions which I fondly reminisce about. If only some semblance of that could be recaptured. Atlantic City should thrive due to its' location. The United Nations Handicap should be the centerpiece of the meet since the AC turf course was once the best course in America.

re: Garden Plot - by Tom LaMarra

JimboScully — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:56:53 GMT

LaMarra is exactly right. What do Keeneland, Saratoga and Del Mar - the most popular race meets in the U.S. - have in common? They are short meets with big purses and good horses. As a trainer it's difficult to imagine not having any income from horses for a couple months, but if racing is to increase its popularity it needs a systematic, logical pattern of racetracks that focuses on fewer races, but better racing.