Gural’s reaching for the Benjamins to keep things lit in the Garden State

The owner of The Meadowlands, in conjunction with the New Jersey SBOA, has created the $1 million Meadowlands Trot and $500,000 Meadowlands Oaks Trot for 2027 to replace the Hambletonian and Hambletonian Oaks that have moved to Indiana.

by Debbie Little

Meadowlands president/chief executive officer Jeff Gural has said on multiple occasions that if he eventually gets a casino at his East Rutherford mile oval, he will raise purses.

According to a press release (see pg. 10) sent out on Thursday (Sept. 17), Gural will start delivering on that promise long before the casino question even goes to ballot.

In response to the decision of the Hambletonian Society to send its signature trots — Hambletonian, Hambletonian Oaks, and Hambletonian Maturity — to Indiana’s Hoosier Park for at least three years, starting in 2027, The Big M, in conjunction with the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey (SBOANJ), have created replacements.

The $1 million Meadowlands Trot and $500,000 Meadowlands Oaks Trot will make their debut in 2027.

“Well, simply put, even though we don’t have a casino, we were taking $1.2 million dollars a year out of the purse account to fund the Hambletonian and the Oaks and the Maturity and some minor races,” Gural said. “I breed trotters, and I love racing trotters, and I thought it was important to show the industry and to show the people who breed horses in New Jersey, and have stallions, that I’m serious about making sure that The Meadowlands remains the No. 1 harness track in North America, even though we don’t have slot machines.”

In addition to those two new Meadowlands stakes races for 3-year-old open and filly trotters, respectively, several other races will get a boost in purse: Stanley Dancer Memorial — $400,000 (est.), Del Miller Memorial — $400,000 (est.), Cane Pace — $500,000 (est.), Graduate Trot (open) — $400,000 (est.), Graduate Trot (mares) — $200,000 (est.), Graduate Pace (open) — $400,000 (est.), Graduate Pace (mares) — $200,000 (est.), New Jersey Classic Series finals (trot) — $300,000 (est.).

“Back in the day, the Dancer and the Miller races used to be eliminations and a final, and they used to be very important prep races for the Hambletonian, and then we got away from that, where we had no eliminations, and basically the purses were like $130,000,” Gural told HRU. “So, I really wanted to come up with a program where, if you’re buying trotters now, you’re going to have a $400,000 race [Dancer on July 10] and then three weeks later, you’re going to have a million-dollar race [Meadowlands Trot on July 31], and then three weeks after that, you’re going to have another million-dollar race [the Hambletonian, although no date has been announced].

“So, I’m trying to do what I can to bolster the yearling sales, the breeders, and at the same time make anyone thinking of relocating out of New Jersey, understand that that’s foolish, that we’re not going anywhere.

“I believe that it’s critical to have at least one racetrack that’s not owned by a casino, where the program is designed for the yearling buyer and the yearling breeder, because it’s a crapshoot when you buy yearlings. You can pay a million dollars, that doesn’t mean you’re going to get the best horse.

“I’m keeping the payments the same as they were for the Miller and the Dancer and the Graduate. So even though the purses are going up, the payments are the same.”

In addition to raising the purses for Graduate Open Trot and Pace, Gural is also bringing back the Graduate Mare Trot and Pace.

“I’ve always been a supporter of racing older horses at 4, so I thought now that the Maturity is moving to Hoosier, that the easiest thing to do was to boost the purse for the Graduate, and then to come up with a graduate for the 4-year-old mares, because there’s really not a lot of races for them,” he said. “If you look at the sales, they pay a lot of money for filly trotters.

“So, I wanted to have a solid stakes program to offer and encourage people not to go anywhere because I have every intention of making sure that The Meadowlands is the No. 1 harness track in North America.”

According to Gural, it was important to share this information now with the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale right around the corner.

“I spoke to some of the breeders, and they said to me, ‘As long as you announce it before the sales, we’re okay,’” Gural said. “So, I said, ‘Okay, I will announce it before the sales, so people know when they’re going to the sales in two or three weeks what’s going to be at The Meadowlands next year.’”

“This is better for the breeders. I’ve done them a big favor. I’ve just added a million-dollar race and [made the Dancer] a $400,000 race, so, if you’re lucky enough to get an Apex, you’re going to win a lot more money next year than you would this year.

“I think the sales will be strong because of what we’re doing.”

Purses for the eight races receiving boosts for 2027 are estimated, however, Gural said the million for the Meadowlands Trot and $500,000 for the Meadowlands Oaks Trot will race as advertised. He’s even committed to adding $150,000 of his own money through Allerage Farms to the Meadowlands Trot.

When asked why he felt it was necessary to personally help fund the new race, Gural said, “It’s important because I intend to ask the industry for help, and I asked John Campbell how much Mrs. Key put up, and he said $150,000… I need the industry to support me, and I don’t want someone in the industry to say, ‘Why should I support you?’ I’m putting my money where my mouth is, and I need additional sponsors… every penny of it is going into the purses for the stakes, none of it’s going into operating overhead. The money we get from the state can only be used for overnights.”

The Meadowlands is taking a page out of the Hambletonian Society playbook by looking for two $25,000 sponsors for each of the races listed above other than the Meadowlands Trot.

“Nobody on the Hambletonian Society writes a check,” Gural said, adding with a laugh, “I’m the only one writing any checks.”

In addition to the higher purses for those selected races, The Meadowlands will also offer a 20 per cent bonus to any New Jersey-sired horse that wins any of them.

“I just hope I buy a New Jersey-sired horse and I can win the race and I can give the bonus to myself,” Gural said with a laugh. “So, if you win the million-dollar race, you’re getting a check for $500,000. If [your horse is] New Jersey sired, you’re getting a check for $600,000.

“So, it gives an incentive for people to keep their stallions in New Jersey… In the last two weeks, we’ve had the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes, which go for $300,000. We’ve had the New York Sire Stakes finals, which go for $300,000, and next year we’re going to have the New Jersey Classic [trots] that will go for $300,000 plus the Sire Stakes goes for $225,000. So, there’s more money for New Jersey-sired horses than there are for Pennsylvania- and New York-sired horses in the finals, because we have two finals.”

When it comes to the 20 per cent bonus, Gural will again be digging into his own pocket, putting up half of the money (10 per cent) through Allerage Farms.

“When I ask someone for a $25,000 sponsorship, I want them to say, ‘Hey, Jeff stepped up for $150,000 plus this bonus, so I’ll help.’ I just need help for two more years, because I’m sure I’ll get a casino.

“We’re going to promote whoever sponsors these races. We’ll promote it, and everybody will know that they stepped up when needed for the next two years… I would hope that everybody we ask says yes, because I’m only going to ask the people that I think can afford it.”

In regard to the Meadowlands Trot and Meadowlands Oaks Trot, Gural said he’s all-in making sure those purses are $1 million and $500,000.

“You can put your head on the pillow knowing that those particular races, the Meadowlands Trot and the filly race will go for [a combined] $1,500,000,” he said. “I’m guaranteeing those.

“It’ll go for a million and if I have to put in more than $150,000, I will for both races.”

Should that occur, it would be far from the first time Gural has reached for his wallet when it comes to The Meadowlands, as he put up $20 million and then raised $100 million to keep the place open, before the possibility of sports betting was even on the scene. And over time, when The Meadowlands was losing money, he loaned the company $17 million so they could stay afloat, and keep racing at the sport’s top track.

So, for 2027, The Meadowlands will still have a big daytime race card with a million-dollar race, it’ll just be a week earlier on the calendar.

“This is what I love to do, and I’m committed to getting a casino [at The Meadowlands],” Gural said. “And when we do, like I said, I’m going to put $50 million into the purse account from the casino profits, not from the state’s share. So, yeah, I’m committed to this. I hope people will recognize that I’m putting my money where my mouth is, and that they’ll step up and help. Because this is a major benefit to everybody that we have a big stakes program on, in this case, July 31.”