The GSY Driving Club will now be the Meadowlands Amateur Drivers Club.

by Debbie Little

Effective immediately, the GSY (Gural Settlemoir Yarock) Driving Club will now be known as the Meadowlands Amateur Drivers Club (MADC).

“Jeff [Gural] and I just decided it was time for us to change the name of it to The Meadowlands Amateur Drivers Club and decided that now was the best time to do that,” Meadowlands chief operating officer/general manager Jason Settlemoir said. “We decided that it was in the best interest of The Meadowlands racetrack to actively take over the club and put together a board of directors that would meet after every quarter.”

The GSY recently made a $5,000 donation on March 17 in the winner’s circle at The Meadowlands to the Purple Haze Standardbred Adoption Program.

Future charity recipients of quarterly donations — which come from the five per cent purse earnings of the club’s drivers — will be chosen by the newly appointed club board.

The new slate of officers, chosen by Gural and Settlemoir, is:

Jessica Otten — president and board member

Gural — vice president and board member

Settlemoir — vice president and board member

Dave Yarock — vice president and board member

Dave Glasser — vice president and board member

Alex Figueras — vice president and board member

Scott Warren — race secretary and board member

Shakespeare wrote, in part:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose.

By any other name would smell as sweet”

That same view can be applied to this new club because it’s not about the name, it’s about the heart and soul of the club, which has not changed.

The GSY — founded in 2008 — has become the gold standard for amateur driving clubs. That is not to say that there weren’t highly successful clubs prior to creation of the GSY. However, they never rose to the level that the GSY has, by becoming a Friday night staple at one of the top tracks in the world.

The success of the GSY has inspired other tracks to embrace their own amateur clubs, as well as the creation of new clubs.

That legacy is a testament to club creator Yarock and all the members of the GSY that have supported it over the years to make it what it is today.

“I’m proud of how well the club has done over the years and how it’s grown to be an inspiration to others,” Yarock said. “I had no idea when I started it that this is what it would become.

“I am thankful for the support from Jeff Gural and Jason Settlemoir in allowing the club to race at The Meadowlands. And I’d like to thank all the bettors that continue to support us. It’s truly humbling to see something that you’ve worked so hard on become so successful.”

When the GSY started competing at The Meadowlands about 10 years ago, there was no way to know it would turn into the juggernaut it is today.

The GSY races are extremely well bet, due, in no small part, to their full fields and unpredictability, that leads to a low percentage of winning favorites. Their races also tend to have a lot of action, with horses moving early and coming from behind in the stretch.

Yarock is quick to point out that many people are responsible for the club’s triumphs.

“It takes a village,” Yarock said. “I would also like to thank all the owners, trainers and drivers that have supported and continue to support our club. We wouldn’t have full fields without them.”

Since this restructuring just happened, behind the scenes it’s still a work in progress. However, according to Warren, “anyone who is a member of the GSY will be a member for the remainder of the year.”

As far as the bettors are concerned, there should be no difference, except for the name.

“These races have been very popular with our customers for some time,” Otten said. “And while there has been a restructuring, the product has not changed, so I expect it to be business as usual.”