Monmouth v Meadowlands: NJ racing squabbles

[biggestal99]

https://www.app.com/story/sports/2018/09/13/nj-racing-turf-war-erupts-between-monmouth-park-new-meadowlands/1287872002/

Both Drazin and Gural should sit down on all these issues and compromise and do what is best for Jersey racing.

Bringing the fight to the media does no one any good.

all this petty arguing isn't doing anyone any favors.

Allan

[Thomas Roulston]

This is exactly like what happened in Florida - which destroyed racing at Hialeah.

[rispa]

This is exactly like what happened in Florida - which destroyed racing at Hialeah.

I agree. Wouldn't be nice for Hialeah to run a meet after the GP championship meet ends in April? They could run April and May, and then GP could start up again in June. Maybe its not that easy, but I for one would like to see it happen.

[pandy]

https://www.app.com/story/sports/2018/09/13/nj-racing-turf-war-erupts-between-monmouth-park-new-meadowlands/1287872002/

Both Drazin and Gural should sit down on all these issues and compromise and do what is best for Jersey racing.

Bringing the fight to the media does no one any good.

all this petty arguing isn't doing anyone any favors.

Allan

Gural would have to be an idiot to spend a million bucks to turn the harness surface into a thoroughbred surface for a short meet like that. The whole idea is ridiculous.

[Tom]

I agree. Wouldn't be nice for Hialeah to run a meet after the GP championship meet ends in April? They could run April and May, and then GP could start up again in June. Maybe its not that easy, but I for one would like to see it happen.

Yes. Been a long time since Florida has had a turf race.
GP offers green dirt at best. :lol:

Maybe the timers at Hialeah still work? :bang:

[alhattab]

Gural would have to be an idiot to spend a million bucks to turn the harness surface into a thoroughbred surface for a short meet like that. The whole idea is ridiculous.

Pandy from reading the article it seemed like the T-bred horsemen have the option to run at the Big M, but have to pay the cost?

Only in NJ could moving dirt around over a one mile oval cost $1 million!

[Thomas Roulston]

Yes. Been a long time since Florida has had a turf race.
GP offers green dirt at best. :lol:

Maybe the timers at Hialeah still work? :bang:


Gulfstream's turf course is in terrible shape - and I haven't seen a turf race at "Gulfstream Park West" recently enough to form an opinion.

[biggestal99]

Gural would have to be an idiot to spend a million bucks to turn the harness surface into a thoroughbred surface for a short meet like that. The whole idea is ridiculous.

It doesn’t cost a million, that’s Gural angry at drazin.

Two millionaires kicking sand in each other’s faces.

Allan

[titans1127]

If whiny Gural won’t allow for the dirt track to be converted to run a proper 3-4 month meet like they use to do up until a decade ago, why doesn’t Monmouth just extend the meet an additional month or two instead since it seems like they are in charge of the grass racing at the Meadowlands?

[alhattab]

If whiny Gural won’t allow for the dirt track to be converted to run a proper 3-4 month meet like they use to do up until a decade ago, why doesn’t Monmouth just extend the meet an additional month or two instead since it seems like they are in charge of the grass racing at the Meadowlands?

I think they're much better off moving Titans. Even for a degenerate like me, the racing gets stale at Mth after 3 months, even if running only a few days a week. Especially this past meet. They're better off going to a different venue. Plus the local Monmouth area population shrinks significantly after Labor Day.

[ZippyChippy423]

I’ve been to Gulfstream the last 5 years and I disagree that the turf course is that bad. Gulf west however is pretty bad but this is the last year of racing there. In my opinion Gulfstream Park is in the top 5 tracks . In no particular order, Saratoga, Gulfstream, Del Mar, Keeneland and Churchill.

[Longshot6977]

Pandy from reading the article it seemed like the T-bred horsemen have the option to run at the Big M, but have to pay the cost?

Only in NJ could moving dirt around over a one mile oval cost $1 million!

Only $1 million? Remember RT35 2 years ago: (from app.com)

"If current budget projections hold firm, the average cost, per mile, would come in at $27.3 million. That's 30 percent higher than the per-mile cost for building the Garden State Parkway in the 1950s, after inflation is factored in.

All told, the $76 million cost overrun accounts for 29 percent of the final price tag, the Press found. Despite repeated requests from the Press, government officials still can't explain how $23 million in cost overruns were spent."

link at https://www.app.com/story/news/investigations/watchdog/investigations/2016/05/06/brick-toms-river-nj-route-35/83509730/

[thespaah]

Pandy from reading the article it seemed like the T-bred horsemen have the option to run at the Big M, but have to pay the cost?

Only in NJ could moving dirt around over a one mile oval cost $1 million!

Gotta make those labor union thugs get their palms greased.

[thespaah]

Only $1 million? Remember RT35 2 years ago: (from app.com)

"If current budget projections hold firm, the average cost, per mile, would come in at $27.3 million. That's 30 percent higher than the per-mile cost for building the Garden State Parkway in the 1950s, after inflation is factored in.

All told, the $76 million cost overrun accounts for 29 percent of the final price tag, the Press found. Despite repeated requests from the Press, government officials still can't explain how $23 million in cost overruns were spent."

link at https://www.app.com/story/news/investigations/watchdog/investigations/2016/05/06/brick-toms-river-nj-route-35/83509730/

"Cost over runs"...In new Jersey, this has been an expected way of doing business with government.
No job in New Jersey has EVER come in under or at budget and NEVER on time.
This is my home state. And I am saddened to see the depths to which the place has fallen.
One million dollars to convert the surface to accommodate thoroughbreds is ABSURD.

[thespaah]

If whiny Gural won’t allow for the dirt track to be converted to run a proper 3-4 month meet like they use to do up until a decade ago, why doesn’t Monmouth just extend the meet an additional month or two instead since it seems like they are in charge of the grass racing at the Meadowlands?

Unless the Monmouth building has been upfitted for winter racing ( heated/enclosed) once the cold weather arrives, its a recipe for misery. Especially on days when the direction of the wind is from the east.

[thespaah]

I’ve been to Gulfstream the last 5 years and I disagree that the turf course is that bad. Gulf west however is pretty bad but this is the last year of racing there. In my opinion Gulfstream Park is in the top 5 tracks . In no particular order, Saratoga, Gulfstream, Del Mar, Keeneland and Churchill.

Have you actually taken a close look at that turf course?
By the end of February, the turf is unable to recover.
it is a shallow rooting bermudagrass surface. This type of turf cannot take the kind of use required for a virtual year round turf program.