Bettor-friendly changes and the return of Joe Bravo

OCEANPORT, N.J. – When Monmouth Park begins its 70th season Saturday, there will be a few tweaks that should appeal to bettors, a new face in the announcer’s booth, and the return of a local hero to the jockey colony.

At the same time, Darby Development, which operates the track for the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, continues to work on legislative initiatives intended to guarantee long-term financial stability for the industry. The New Jersey horsemen’s group has leased Monmouth Park from the state since 2012.

Joe Bravo, who has won 13 Monmouth riding titles, will return this summer after making only limited appearances last year. This should lead to a more competitive jockeys’ race after Paco Lopez dominated in 2014 while winning his third local title. Lopez won 120 Monmouth races last year. Runner-up Gabriel Lopez, who also will be back, won 58.

The daily wagering menu at the meet will include a pair of pick fives with a 15 percent takeout. The 50-cent-minimum bets will be held on the first and final five races each day. If nobody picks all five winners, there will be a carryover to the next pick five offered.

In another wagering change, the minimum wager on the Jersey Shore Six, Monmouth’s version of the Rainbow 6, has been increased from 10 cents to 20 cents, making it harder to hit and potentially leading to larger carryover pools.

Monmouth has upgraded its video to high definition both ontrack and for its simulcast signal. Flat-screen televisions have been installed throughout the facility.

Smaller yet noticeable improvements include a much-needed paving of the grandstand parking lot and darker wood chips in the paddock area, changing the area’s appearance.

Frank Mirahmadi is the new Monmouth announcer, replacing Travis Stone, who is now calling at Churchill Downs.

Monmouth’s two signature races, the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 2 and the Grade 1, $500,000 United Nations Stakes on July 5, will both be televised. The Haskell will be broadcast on NBC, while the United Nations will air on Fox Sports 1. The Haskell and United Nations are both Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In races, the Haskell for the Classic and the United Nations for the Turf.

Two ongoing projects include the construction of a high-end restaurant outside the picnic area at the top of the stretch and the soon-to-be-completed offtrack wagering parlor in Hillsborough, N.J., northwest of Monmouth in Somerset County. Both are expected to open prior to Haskell Day.

A plan to build a music amphitheater on track grounds has been put on hold.

Dennis Drazin, the head of Darby Development, said Monmouth’s final 2014 business figures “put us at about break-even, or we may have shown a small profit.”

In the first two years the horsemen leased the track, Monmouth lost $4 million to $4.5 million annually, according to Drazin. Those losses were largely due to capital improvement projects at the track, repairs needed after Superstorm Sandy, and money spent on the Hillsborough OTB, he said.

“We’ve tightened our belt a little this year,” Drazin said. “We want to be fiscally responsible and show the state that we can live on our own without a subsidy. We want them to give us the tools we need to stand on our own.”

Those tools include exchange wagering, sports betting, and the expansion of casino gaming to northern New Jersey, with a portion of the revenue directed to the Thoroughbred industry.

According to Drazin, a Betfair application to offer exchange wagering is pending in front of the legislature.

Sports-betting legislation is back in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for a second time. Drazin is hoping for a favorable ruling, but if not, at least a recommendation from the court on a path to pursue.

“If we don’t have real sports betting by football season, we will have fantasy sports betting,” he said.

As for the expansion of gaming in the state, Sen. Raymond Lesniak said he hoped to have a referendum on the ballot this November.

“The most likely sites are a golf course in Liberty State Park and the Meadowlands,” Lezniak said.

Monmouth will race 58 days this year through Sept. 27. There will be 13 turf-only dates at the Meadowlands between Sept. 24 and Oct. 31. Monmouth will race Saturdays and Sundays in May and then add Fridays to the schedule.

Purses will average approximately $320,000 per day, according to Michael Dempsey, Monmouth’s director of racing. That figure does not include the major stakes program.

There will be a number of new trainers at the meet to take on Jorge Navarro, who has led the standings the past two years. They include Gerald Bennett, who finished second in the standings at the recently concluded Tampa Bay Downs meet, and Joan Scott.

◗ Bob Baffert, who won his seventh Haskell last year with Bayern, has been announced as this year’s winner of the Buddy Raines Distinguished Achievement Award.

◗ Get Serious, a three-time winner of the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes, will have his banner hoisted in the Monmouth Park Hall of Champions on opening day.