Two Jersey tracks hit record

Handle at Monmouth Park and The Meadowlands, the two racetracks owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, was a record $1.57 billion in 2001, the authority said on Thursday.

The amount included $810 million bet ontrack and another $764 million bet on the tracks' races at out-of-state sites. The ontrack figure also includes money bet on imported simulcasts.

Average daily purse distribution at Monmouth was $351,000, including stakes, on average daily handle of $3,983,333. Average daily purse distribution at the Meadowlands for Thoroughbred racing was $368,559, the highest in New Jersey history, on handle of $2,271,592 per day.

The authority ran 284 live racing dates during the year, with 168 for Standardbreds and 116 for Thoroughbreds. Monmouth Park had 72 live racing days and the Meadowlands had 44.