New Jersey purse bill advances out of committee

A bill that would send $20 million annually from the New Jersey General Fund to Thoroughbred and Standardbred purses and breeder awards has passed out of a state Senate subcommittee.

The bill would provide $10 million each year for the next five years to subsidize overnight purses at Monmouth Park, with $7.6 million going to purses at the Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway. The remainder would go to boost breeder awards in the state.

The bill passed out of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday on a 13-0 vote. The bill has been sent to the Senate floor, and a companion bill in an Assembly is still awaiting action in a committee there. A vote in the Senate could come on Dec. 17, supporters said.

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The bill is heavily supported by New Jersey racing constituents, including Monmouth Park, which is operated by a horsemen’s group under a lease from the state. The Meadowlands is owned by Jeff Gural, a real-estate developer with gambling properties in New Jersey and New York.

Dennis Drazin, who heads the management group that runs Monmouth, said on Thursday that he was “optimistic” the bill would get passed and signed by the governor. He said that the track had been lobbying for the subsidy for more than a year, and that the track applied for 71 racing dates this year, up from the 56 dates the track ran this year, in anticipation of receiving the subsidies.

“We’ve had very positive discussions with the legislature and the governor’s office about helping the racing industry,” Drazin said.

The bill was introduced in September, but action on the bill was reportedly stalled by harness horsemen’s insistence that the bill also include a provision requiring tracks to cut horsemen in on revenues from sports gambling at racetracks. The Senate committee added that provision to the bill before passage, shortly after the Meadowlands announced an agreement with the Standardbred Breeders and Owners of New Jersey guaranteeing horsemen at least $1 million annually from its sports-betting operation.

Racing constituents in the state have been clamoring for help from the legislature since an agreement expired in 2010 that sent $17 million annually from the state’s casinos to the tracks and their horsemen.