Monmouth Park opens meet with higher purses, sportsbook in full swing

Monmouth Park enters a new era Saturday when the 74th season at the Jersey Shore track opens with an on-site sportsbook and a $10 million annual purse subsidy from the state legislature signed into law this winter by Gov. Phil Murphy.

The historic art-deco track has been on the decline since former Gov. Chris Christie pulled a subsidy from the casino industry in 2011. But after years of legal wrangling and strategizing, Monmouth is again back on firm financial footing.

The meet has been expanded from 52 to 61 days this year, and purses, which averaged approximately $325,000 a day in 2018, will now be about $500,000. The sportsbook and purse subsidy make Monmouth a more competitive player in the Mid-Atlantic, where virtually all of the other tracks either operate a casino or share in revenue from casinos operating in their state.

Dennis Drazin, the chairman of Darby Development, which operates Monmouth on behalf of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, was the driving force behind the seven-year battle to legalize sports betting, which became a reality last May when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Drazin also was instrumental in securing the purse subsidy from the legislature.

“On one hand, there is a sense of relief but also enthusiasm and optimism,” said Drazin, who on April 25 was inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame. “We’ve been working on all these things, and now they are a reality.”

The sportsbook, which opened last June, helps Monmouth’s bottom line, contributes to purses, and makes the track a year-round business, not just a summer destination. The five-year purse subsidy should improve field size and help the track generate more wagering on its races.

“Now that our purses have increased, we hope that translates into an improved product,” Drazin said. “The backside is close to full, but to get the subsidy each year, we need to show the legislature that the aid is helping our industry. We need the owners and trainers to support our meet, to race here, and not ship out of town.”

The Monmouth stakes program, which consisted of 39 races worth $4.34 million in 2018, has been increased to 64 stakes worth $7.1 million. There will be five bundled stakes programs during the meet, topped by the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational, which highlights a six-stakes card July 20. The Haskell has been moved forward a week on the calendar and switched from its traditional Sunday home to a Saturday to accommodate NBC, which broadcasts the race.

Jorge Navarro will be shooting for his seventh consecutive Monmouth training title. Last year, he broke a four-way tie with John Forbes, Budd Lepman, and Juan Serey, each of whom had been leading trainer five times.

The jockey colony will include five-time leading rider Paco Lopez, 2018 titleholder Jose Ferrer, and Nik Juarez, who led the 2017 standings. Lopez is serving a careless-riding suspension until June 15.

Jason Beem will handle the announcing duties at Monmouth until full-time race-caller Frank Mirahmadi, who is working at Santa Anita, takes over June 28.

The gates will open at 8 a.m. Eastern on opening day to allow patrons to play the Kentucky Derby card at Churchill Downs, which has a 10:30 a.m. first post. The races at Monmouth begin at 1:45 p.m.

The eight races have 68 entrants, not counting main-track-only runners, or 8.5 horses per race. Filly-and-mare $6,000 claimers will race for a purse of $25,000 in race 2; the fifth-race, a first-level allowance, has a purse of $45,000; and the last race on the card is a maiden sprint for 3-year-olds and up with a purse of $45,000.

The featured $100,000 Cliff Hanger Stakes, a one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, will match the Grade 2-winning geldings Hawkish and Projected.

Hawkish, a 4-year-old trained by Jimmy Toner, returned from an eight-month layoff to finish a close second in the Grade 3 Appleton at Gulfstream Park on March 29 and should go favored under Trevor McCarthy, the leading rider in Maryland, who will be in and out for stakes during the Monmouth meet.

Projected, a 7-year-old conditioned by Chad Brown, is almost always in the thick of his races but has not won in nine starts dating to September 2017. Antonio Gallardo, who won his first Grade 1 last summer on Funtastic in the United Nations for Brown, will ride.