Jersey Dates Requests: Farewell, Garden State

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New Jersey racetracks have submitted their dates requests for 2001 to the New Jersey Racing Commission, and as expected, Garden State Park didn't request Thoroughbred dates. It did request 55 Standardbred dates, from Aug. 31 to Dec. 15.

In August, Richard Orbann, president of Pennwood Racing Inc., which owns Freehold Raceway and leases Garden State, indicated he didn't intend to
recommend to the board of directors to request Thoroughbred dates based on the results from the 2000 meet during which attendance, handle, and field sizes were down substantially from the previous year.

Atlantic City Race Course asked for eight dates, from May 11-14 and May 18-21. Racing will be held Friday through Monday at 3 p.m. (EDT). The track will distribute more than $1.2 million in purses during the all-turf meet.

"We look forward to another extraordinarily successful Turf Festival where the horsemen have the opportunity to run for serious money on our fabulous turf course, and local fans get to see eight days of sensational racing with full fields," said Atlantic City president James Murphy.

Meadowlands asked for 49 Thoroughbred dates, four less than this year, while Monmouth requested 72 dates, one less than this year. The racing commission will act on the requests at its Nov. 15 meeting.

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