Monmouth Park, the racing jewel by the Jersey Shore that continues to defy the thoroughbred industry’s shrinking fan base, will swing open its gates for a new season Saturday with new faces, new features and millions of dollars of renovations.
It’s not only the start of the Memorial Day weekend, but for many, it signals the launch of the official summer vacation season by the sea.
They’ve been doing it this way for 54 years at Monmouth and if betting handles and prize money are any guide, they’ve never done it better. Since 1990, Monmouth’s total betting handle has zoomed from $150 million to $298 million and prize money has rocketed from $12 million to more than $21 million.
So it’s no wonder that when the track threw its annual pre-post luncheon bash yesterday, it was standing room only.
“This is not only the best racing facility in New Jersey, it’s one of the premier tracks in the nation,” chortled Jim DiEleuterio, the new president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
The bad news about this season is that Joe Bravo, the seven time leading jockey, will be missing. He has gone to California to try his luck.
The good news is that Joe Bravo will be missing – which means that the riding colony will be thrown up for grabs, there will be fewer odds on favorites and more races will be bettable.
One railbird said yesterday, “Bravo would have four calls in a race, everyone would wait to see which one he chose, and then it would be bet so heavily you couldn’t bet the race.”
One of the happiest innovations is that Monmouth, this year, will have its first post at 1:10 p.m., thereby avoiding the mad 1 o’clock starting time of so many other tracks. Sanity has finally prevailed.
Racing manager Bob Kulina and new racing secretary Sean Greely have also cracked down on the scratch racket. “From now on, there will be no such thing as scratch time anymore,” said Greely. “All races will be final as they are drawn and scratches and rider changes must go through the stewards.”
In other words, you enter the horse, you run and you don’t change riders without steward permission.
The track has added more than 2,500 tons of new cushion to the racing surface, resod the last three furlongs of the turf course (it is now virtually a brand new grass course), spent more than $10 million on an energy project and renovating the Parterre boxes overlooking the track.
The highlight of the meet, as always, will be the $1 million Haskell Invitational for 3-year olds on Sunday, Aug. 6.