Monmouth limited to 2,100 to 3,000 spectators each day

Monmouth Park will be permitted to admit 2,100 to 3,000 people each day of live racing this weekend, with the number in flux leading up to its opening card on Friday evening due to ongoing discussions between track officials and the state government, according to the track’s top official.

Monmouth Park began the week not knowing exactly how many people would be allowed to attend the races, despite approvals from state government to allow a limited number of spectators into the track when Monmouth begins its 37-day live meet Friday. The number now “seems to be 2,100 at a minimum, maybe 3,000 as a maximum,” according to Dennis Drazin, chief executive officer of the company that operates Monmouth under a lease with the state.

“We thought we were going to be able to use a little more open space and have a few more places for people to go,” Drazin said Friday morning. State officials are “trying to help us, they’re trying to get the state opened up, but they’re also trying to keep people safe and make sure we keep flattening the curve, and that’s the right thing to do.”

Drazin said that discussions with state officials center around the limits of the term “gathering,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has defined as 500 people. Currently, Monmouth is attempting to cordon off certain areas of the track in order to use those areas as limits, so that, for example, 500 people will be allowed into the track’s outdoor dining area, and another 500 people on the track’s apron.

Monmouth was not expecting huge crowds this weekend, but it is the three-day Fourth of July holiday, and track officials are not eager to have people show up and then get turned away at the gates. Drazin said that Monmouth will have staff at its gates to determine how many people have been allowed into the facility and how many people have left, so that it can offer admission to spectators that may be waiting to enter.

Earlier this week, Monmouth said that all spectators will be required to pass health checks before entering the track. In addition, all attendees will be required to wear face masks while on the property, with the exception of when they are “eating, drinking, or smoking.”

Monmouth also paused its plan to open its Favorites OTB in Woodbridge for simulcasting on Thursday, Drazin said. The facility had not yet received approval from the state health department on its cleaning procedures, Drazin said, but he anticipated receiving that approval sometime Friday.

Last week, New Jersey granted permission for casinos and OTBs to open at 25 percent capacity.