I have predicted for a long time it will be around with low-class horses. I feel Gural will never shut it down. He's too involved in the sport, and there are many jobs involved. Jobs with people who have worked for him for a long time. Sure, he can make threats that he will shut down, but that was a negotiating tool to hopefully get a casino.
     I don't think he wants to be known as the person who shut down the Meadowlands. If he has to, he can run it with mostly the same Freehold-type purses. But not with the inflated purses for these same lower conditions now. These owners and trainers will still race there, for they raced for those lower purses for years at Freehold. Others will race there too for the thrill of saying they raced at the Big M


Your thoughts?

Plop has evolved over the years.  I was strictly a nameless lurker for a long time. Only posted on Barn to Wire.  Got involved here after BTW folded (RIP Jeanine) because some asshole started posting here under my BTW moniker.  I bitched and the powers that be (Nance?) killed the name.  Posted here as Mr Ontario for awhile becase I exclusively bet Woodbine and Mohawk when Illinois racing turned to shit.   Then one day the name stopped working for reasons unknown.  I wasn't banded or anything.  Moderators couldn't fix the issue so I became Mohawk mac simply because I'm a huge James MacDonald fanboy.

https://www.ohiolottery.com/about/about-the-ohio-lottery/financial/vlt-revenue. Miami valley races less days and does way more slot revenue plus only 14 races a night where scioto downs will go with 16 races a night.  The more you slice a pie the smaller the pieces get.

Agree
 Newbies think this place is a Sesame Street for bust out gamblers and think people are going to act prim and proper!

It is what it's ment to be. Not a gambling site!  But some think its their private playground and can act and talk like they want with no repercussions. Wrong!

If you can't take the heat then there's always the Hallmark channel to watch!

 

   Anderson, IN — Beginning on Friday (June 26), Harrah’s Hoosier Park horsepeople will see a purse increase go into effect on races for non-winners of a given amount of money in their last four starts, the third purse increase instituted for the 2026 racing season.

“This is the third phase of our targeted purse increase for the 2026 season,” said John DeLong, president of the Indiana Standardbred Association. “This comes after careful budgeting for the 160-day meet, and it’s something we hope to continue to build upon for our horsemen.”

This is the third 20% purse to be put into place in 2026, with that increase also impacting non-winners of a given number of races lifetime (both straight, and claiming), as well as Indiana-sired 2-year-old conditioned events receiving a 20% boost from Indiana Standardbred Breed Development this summer.

“We deeply appreciate both the Indiana Standardbred Association and Breed Development for their support as we implement these boosts to our purses,” said Gabe Prewitt, vice president and general manager of racing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park. “We also deeply appreciate our horseplayers. With their support ,handle was up 30% year-over-year in 2025, and we are already up another 10% in 2026, which has contributed greatly to drive purses forward.”