Monmouth expands meet for 2022, will race some dates at Meadowlands
The New Jersey Racing Commission on Wednesday approved 71 live racing dates for Monmouth Park next year, with 11 of those proposed dates taking place for an all-turf meet at the Meadowlands.
While the award is a return to normal for the Thoroughbred racing calendar, the 71-date schedule is nine more racing dates than were awarded for 2020. The 60 live racing dates for Monmouth will be run from May 7-Sept. 17, while the all-turf meet at the Meadowlands is scheduled for Sept. 23-Oct. 29, running only on weekends.
Dennis Drazen, the head of the group that operates Monmouth, said the track has become profitable over the past several years and that the expansion of the meet was the “right thing to do.”
“All in all it makes sense for us,” Drazin said on Thursday. “We’ve kind of turned things around here over the past several years.”
The schedule will contain a few changes, with Friday post times being shifted from 5 p.m. Eastern to 2 p.m. in order to accommodate customers who said they would prefer afternoon cards on Friday rather than twilight cards, Drazin said. Monmouth will also race on Mondays in August, in order to capitalize on the paucity of signals in the simulcast marketplace on that day of the week.
Opening day will take place on the date of the Kentucky Derby. Monmouth has not run on Derby Day for the past several years.
“It’s the right thing to do because it’s a great day for racing,” Drazin said.
Drazin also said that regulations have been adopted by the state racing commission that will allow Monmouth to begin taking fixed-odds bets on racing. Monmouth expects to offer fixed-odds bets on simulcast signals beginning this winter, he said.
The New York Racing Association, which operates Aqueduct during the winter, has previously said it is willing to provide its signal to New Jersey for fixed-odds betting.