‘Water’ gate or just water under the bridge?
Jeff Gural is extremely sorry that his post-Hambletonian remark about track conditions was misunderstood.
by Debbie Little
Minutes after winning his first Hambletonian, Meadowlands president/chief executive officer Jeff Gural ended up in a little bit of hot water for a comment he made following the trophy presentation.
When asked how he felt about finally winning the Hambletonian Gural said, among other things, “I give Ake and Sarah all the credit and the trackman for watering the track the way Sarah likes it.”
That innocent comment thanking his trainer/co-owner Ake Svanstedt, who drove Nordic Catcher S to victory in the 100th edition of America’s Trotting Classic, and Ake’s wife/assistant trainer Sarah, erupted into a bit of a firestorm on social media with people questioning whether something nefarious had taken place.
“To be honest, I was in shock that the horse won, and won so easily, as I really didn’t think he could win, because I thought there were two or three horses in the race that were better, and I gave no thought to what I was going to say if he did win,” Gural said. “I meant to simply compliment [trackman] Gary [Wolff], because the track was in great shape. I don’t have to tell you the track was in great shape.”
On Tuesday (Aug. 12), stories discussing the controversy appeared in the Paulick Report, written by Andrew Cohen, and in DRF Harness, written by Derick Giwner.
“When Andrew called me, I had no idea what he was talking about, because I had no recollection of what I’d said,” Gural said. “It was such a thrill, and such an unexpected thrill that, you know, I didn’t even remember what I said.
“And when he told me, I realized the horsemen would understand it, but to a novice, it probably sounded wrong. But there’s no way I would ever tell Gary how to make the track to benefit any horses that I own.”
Gural has had horses with the Svanstedts for about a dozen years now, and during that time, Sarah has not been shy about mentioning if she was unhappy with The Big M’s track surface.
But it should be pointed out that The Meadowlands is not the only venue Sarah has on speed dial should the track conditions not meet with her liking.
Sarah said she has found that being so vocal can be a blessing and a curse, because, although it hopefully will help in the long run, it also attracts attention and makes you the messenger.
“She’ll text me if the track is great, and she’ll text me if the track needs water, and I’ll forward it on to get to [Meadowlands chief operating officer/general manager] Jason [Settlemoir], typically, and, she’ll also tell me what other people are telling her to tell me, because they know that she speaks to me as a horseperson, so it’s not the same as Jason speaking to me,” Gural said. “So, for example, the drivers wanted the qualifiers changed from Saturday to Friday. So, she called me, and she said, ‘The drivers asked me to call you to see if you would agree to change the qualifiers, because they’re exhausted.’ So that’s why we changed.”
According to Settlemoir, there are many trainers that have reached out over time regarding watering the track, including Nancy Takter and both Marcus and Mattias Melander. Marcus trained four of the starters in the 2025 Hambletonian, which most certainly benefited from the springy track surface that day.
In an effort to respond to their trainers, The Meadowlands has gone so far as to set up meetings between the trainers and Wolff.
Sarah said she knows that sometimes the racetracks she contacts may get tired of hearing from her, but she’s not going to change.
“I said to Jason, ‘It’s not just the complaints from us,’” Sarah said. “People are talking to us because they know I am stubborn. They know I will speak up. And I said, ‘The day I’m going to give up my voice for the horses’ care, then I shouldn’t do this anymore.’”
Three years ago, Sarah came up with a creative way of helping the track situation at The Big M.
“That’s when I said to Jason, ‘Can I put a logo on the water truck?’” Sarah said. “’I can pay whatever, just to get our name to go around the track, the water truck has to go then, right?’ He said, ‘Yeah, you can do that.’”
Following Gural’s “water” gate, questions were also raised regarding the fact that watering the track was more important to the Svanstedts because they pulled shoes on Nordic Catcher S in the Hambletonian, but according to Sarah that was not a factor.
“If they go with shoes or not, they still need a healthy track for their bones and ligaments and joints,” she said. “It’s just common sense. That’s why it’s so hard to understand the people that want this tough, rough, hard surface for those poor horses. Everyone thinks differently, but if you think of it like I said in the comment, how would you like to race on concrete with steel shoes?
“I just cannot comprehend why they want this hard track. That’s why I said to Gary, ‘Can you please find the interview with Dexter [Dunn].’ He was on In The Sulky with the story he told about Bulldog [Hanover] when he went [in 1:45.4] and the sky opened up, like an hour prior to the race, and they were concerned. How is this going to go now, because pacers need concrete to go fast? And then it got so much water, and he went :45.”
Nordic Catcher S went a lifetime and stakes best mile of 1:50 on Hambletonian Day without shoes, which shouldn’t have come as a big surprise since he went 1:50.3 the week before in his Hambletonian elim with shoes on a track surface that Sarah wasn’t thrilled with.
Sarah also explained that on Hambletonian Day, long before the races started, she simply texted Gural to remind the track staff to start drenching the track early because it was going to be a hot day and the track would dry out quicker.
“I didn’t say a specific way of doing the track,” Sarah said. “Starting to do the job two, two-and-a-half hours prior to the races starting, that’s the key for the whole card, because you only have so much time in between the races.
“Like I tried to explain for Gary, I said, ‘You cannot start baking a cake and put it in and then, pull it out in five minutes when it needs 30 minutes.’ I didn’t get an answer to that.”
Both Gural and Sarah have been quoted before in this column talking about their playful back-and-forth regarding water, or lack thereof, in the track surface at The Meadowlands.
“Of course, again, it came out wrong, but in his happy moment, like I said, it was just a funny joke,” Sarah said. “But, like I said, this has been an ongoing thing. So, I would say horsepeople, Meadowlands, New Jersey people, they know about this problem.”
Gural said he was extremely sorry that his joking remark was misunderstood.
“Ninety-five per cent of the time that Sarah calls, I don’t have a horse racing that night, so all I care about is that the racing surface is as good as possible for the health of the horses,” Gural said. “And I feel the same way about Tioga and Vernon. And if somebody calls me to complain about the track surface at either of those tracks, I’ll immediately get on the phone and address it.”
As for Sarah, she plans to keep being a vocal advocate for horses.
“Like I said, I don’t just care for the Svanstedt horses, I care for all horses, and that’s why I’m trying,” she said. “I am not going to give up my voice for the horses. I’m not ever going to do that. So, you know what? At least I feel good when I care for them instead of not caring for them. So, that comes a long way for me. And if people want to dislike me for that, that’s up to them.
“It comes down to: Do you want a safe, good surface for the horses? That’s the bottom line, because you’re spending two minutes on the track that can destroy the whole thing for owners and horses and the future.
“I hope there’s going to be something good coming out of this for the long term. So, fingers crossed that it’s a wake-up call for the industry and maybe this was meant to happen, I don’t know. Bottom line, I like horses very much and I hope more people would have that feeling out there.”
