NJ to let go at Meadowlands, Monmouth

New Jersey will officially hand over the reins on both its Meadowlands and Monmouth Park horse tracks to private operators come June 1, Gov. Chris Christie announced last night. According to the Star-Ledger, New York real estate developer Morris Bailey, who co-owns Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, has won a five-year lease to Monmouth Park in Oceanport. Monmouth, which lost an estimated $6 million last year, is slated to open for the season this weekend, and Bailey is expected to begin negotiating with the state’s thoroughbred horsemen’s association today for fewer annual racing days. Meanwhile, Jeff Gural, the Newmark Knight Frank chairman and horse-racing enthusiast who had already been chosen to redevelop the Meadowlands Racetrack, was officially approved for the deal, the governor’s office said. Gural, who has already started to build an Off-Track Wagering facility in Bayonne, has pledged to invest more than $90 million in that project and in building a new grandstand at the Meadowlands. [Star-Ledger]