NJ horse racing industry drafts survival plan for governor that excludes racetrack slots

NJ horse racing industry drafts survival plan

TRENTON, N.J. — A plan to rescue New Jersey’s troubled horse racing industry that includes more Internet wagering and off-track betting parlors but does not include cutting into Atlantic City’s market by installing slot machines at the tracks will be presented to Gov. Chris Christie in early October.

The business plan for horse racing’s long-term survival in New Jersey is being developed by representatives of thoroughbred and standardbred racing, who have been told by the governor they could no longer count on a $30 million subsidy. The annual payment from Atlantic City’s 11 casinos helped sweeten racing’s purses while keeping casino gambling out of the handful of race tracks in the state.

Doing away with the subsidy to racing was one of many recommendations put forth by a governor-appointed commission examining the future of casinos and race tracks. Christie endorsed the commission’s recommendations, including proposals to focus scarce state revenue on Atlantic City’s casino district and make racing stand on its own — or die. Democratic lawmakers responded by holding a series of public hearings on the issue; the third is Wednesday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport.

“It’s a fight for survival,” said Tom Luchento, president of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, who has been working on the plan. “If we don’t get an influx of money, it’s over in New Jersey for racing. I don’t think anybody wants that. This is a much larger business than just horses going around the track at the Meadowlands.”

He said racing and related jobs like veterinarians, farmers and blacksmiths account for more than 13,000 positions. Horse farms sit on 175,000 acres of open space.

Sen. Jennifer Beck, a Monmouth County Republican who has been working with the horsemen and will help present their ideas to the governor, said the plan is to restore horse racing to a thriving industry in five years. Luchento said the industry would ask for continued state support until it can become self-sufficient.

Christie has invited ideas on how to save the industry, including the possibility of privatizing race tracks. The governor’s office didn’t immediately return an e-mail message for comment Tuesday.

Some have pinned horse racing’s survival on allowing casino games, or at least slots, at the Meadowlands. But the proposal is not being included in the business plan being developed. That’s because gambling outside Atlantic City is vehemently opposed by the casinos and by a powerful group of South Jersey lawmakers including Senate President Steve Sweeney. Christie in his recommendations made it clear he recognized the obstacles and said he too opposed the idea.

Beck and Luchento said the plans being considered would generate money for racing and add to state coffers through taxes on wagering revenues; they had no estimates of how much. Three measures have already been introduced in the Senate.

A bill by Sen. Ray Lesniak would enable New Jersey residents to place wagers on casino games through the Internet. A portion of the 20 percent tax on gambling revenue would be set aside for racing.

Beck is a sponsor along with Democratic Sen. Paul Sarlo of a bill that would make it easier to get off-track betting parlors built. The bill would take away a municipality’s right to object to a betting parlor, but gives towns in which parlors are built a piece of the profits.

Sports and Exposition Authority CEO Dennis Robinson said despite stepped-up efforts to increase the number of off-track betting sites in the state over the past two years, no new betting parlors have opened. Of four sites identified as ripe for such parlors, but three were shot down by local officials, he said. An off-track wagering site in Woodbridge generates $90 million a year, he said.

Beck and Sen. Dick Codey are sponsoring a bill that authorizes exchange wagering, a type of online betting popular in Europe where two or more people place directly opposing wagers on the outcome of a horse race.

The plan also includes changes at the state’s thoroughbred and standardbred race tracks like shorter racing seasons with bigger racing purses and more special events at the tracks.

Monmouth Park shortened its racing season to 50 days this year, from 141 days last year, and saw a 50 percent increase in attendance and a 150 percent increase in betting, Beck said.

About $44 million a year is bet on thoroughbred and standardbred horses in New Jersey, she said.

(This version CORRECTS the town where Monmouth Park is located to Oceanport, instead of Eatontown, in third paragraph.)