by Ben Massam
With a massive crowd of 23,483 on hand Saturday at Monmouth Park, Robert Kulina, president of Darby Development–which operates the venue–said he couldn't be happier with the public's reception of both the annual Food Truck Festival and the racing product. Monmouth paired a 12-race card with the first day of a weekend-long culinary event featuring 38 food trucks parked in the backyard.
“We're having a very good day,” said Kulina from the Oceanport racetrack Saturday afternoon. “Everything's packed. We have the makings of a great weekend.”
The Food Truck Festival, which was held for the first time as a single-day event during Memorial Day weekend of 2012, has expanded every year in response to heightened public interest.
“We maxed out in the size of the grounds at 22 or 23 trucks, and then we expanded it out to the parking lot,” added Kulina. “We now have 38 trucks. It's a great way to introduce Monmouth to a lot of new people.”
While bringing more patrons through the gates at Monmouth is surely the immediate goal, Kulina said he believes that a broader initiative must be taken by all storied racing venues to expose younger fans to Thoroughbred racing.
“I think it's the obligation of places like Monmouth Park, Del Mar, Keeneland and Saratoga to introduce racing to new fans,” he continued. “All of us have these old venues that are historically well-maintained. If we can do this with these other great tracks, it will create a lot of new fans. I'm probably one of the few people in the industry that doesn't think the game is anywhere near dead. Every industry has to change the marketing mix of their product, and I think we have done that a lot here in the last decade.”
As the crowds continued to pour in Saturday at the Oceanport oval, Kulina added that he hopes a memorable Memorial Day weekend will translate to return visitors during the track's other high-profile events. Father's Day [June 21] and the Fourth of July weekend historically attract large crowds of younger fans, while the GI Haskell Invitational Aug. 2 serves as the annual racing centerpiece of the meet.
“We do five of these food-type events in the course of a season, and they're all different,” concluded Kulina. “We've had great success with them.”
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