New Jersey Racing Commission

A proposal floated by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey (TBA) that would have significantly cut the cash awards the organization pays to the state's horse breeders and owners failed to gain approval at Wednesday's New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) meeting. The measure, which was accompanied by the disclosure that the TBA has been unable to pay out $200,000 that is still due to breeders and owners who earned incentives at the 2025 Monmouth Park meet, got tabled until the July NJRC meeting by a 3-0 vote. The money...

Can racing withstand the addition of yet another existential threat to the ever-expanding list of practices deemed harmful to our sport's health? Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, warned last week that the rising wave of prediction markets should be met with a greater sense of urgency and should be getting more scrutiny from racetrack operators and regulators. "I'm growing more and more concerned about the prediction market companies, such as Kalshi, Polymarket, and others that are now offering bets...

The New Jersey Racing Commission on Wednesday approved a 2026 Thoroughbred schedule of 50 spring/summer dates at Monmouth Park and nine for an all-turf autumn meet at the Meadowlands, mirroring the state's allotment of racing days in 2025. A one-day steeplechase license for Far Hills in '26 is expected to be okayed by the commission at a subsequent date upon completion of local approvals. The exact opening and closing dates for the meets were not discussed at the Nov. 18 meeting. In the post-pandemic era, New Jersey's Thoroughbred dates allotments...

Now at the two-month mark since the conclusion of the Monmouth Park season, some Thoroughbred owners and trainers remain concerned that they can't withdraw the purse money they earned during the May 10-Sept. 13 meet and from the turf-only mini-meet that Monmouth conducted at the Meadowlands Sept. 19-Oct. 17. When TDN first reported on the track's cash flow difficulties Oct. 22,  Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth and its sportsbook, said the payment process is a complicated one that he hoped...

Jockey Umberto Rispoli has waived his right to appeal and will serve a one-day suspension and pay a $6,000 fine meted out by the Monmouth Park stewards for striking Journalism (Curlin) a total of eight times--two more than the maximum allowed under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) rule--when winning the GI Haskell Stakes on Saturday. Marcus Hersh of Daily Racing Form broke the news on Tuesday. As of 6 p.m. Eastern time July 22, Rispoli's penalties had not yet been posted on the online rulings portals for either...

Francis X. "Buddy" Keegan, Jr., a New Jersey Racing Commissioner since 2006 and a breeder/owner who raced horses in the state since 1963, passed away on Thursday, June 5. He was 86. In addition to being a long-serving commissioner on the New Jersey Racing Commission, Keegan was president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, president of the New Jersey Horsemen's Association and was a patron of Monmouth Hunt. Keegan was also a member of the Thoroughbred Club of America, the Green Mountain Horse Association and the National Hunt Association....

Sara Ben-David has been appointed as the Acting Executive Director of the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC), Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced in a press release Thursday. The NJRC ensures the safety and integrity of the horse racing industry in New Jersey. Ben-David, a seasoned state government attorney with extensive experience in casino gaming and sports wagering as well as horse racing, was confirmed by unanimous vote during Wednesday's NJRC meeting. The NJRC is a nine-member bipartisan body appointed by the Governor. "New Jersey's horse racing culture is a...

NYRA Bets will act as the managing vendor of New Jersey's online and mobile pari-mutuel account wagering system for horse racing under an agreement signed by Darby Development, acting as agent of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. Under the agreement, all account wagering platforms will have the opportunity to enter the New Jersey market, provided those entities gain the approval of NYRA Bets, Darby Development and the New Jersey Horse Racing Commission. As a result, New Jersey residents will soon be able to choose among multiple account wagering...

Amber Cobb, the Thoroughbred owner and trainer who in 2021 had her Delaware licensure revoked through 2022 for "still participating in horse racing while under suspension" for "improper or inhumane treatment" of a horse, had her New Jersey licensure suspended and was fined $11,000 in a June 7, 2023, ruling issued by the racing commission in that state. It was unclear at deadline for this story if Cobb, 35, planned an appeal. The New Jersey ruling cited violations related to Cobb's training base at Westampton Farms in Westampton, New Jersey,...

Monmouth Park jockeys will once again be allowed to use their whips to encourage their mounts when the meet kicks off May 7. The change was made during a special hearing held Friday by the New Jersey Racing Commission, which voted to rescind rules that were put in place prior to the 2021 Monmouth meeting that allowed whipping only in cases where it was needed for safety reasons. New Jersey was the only state in the country where whipping was banned. Monmouth's whipping rules were set to change July 1,...

With new regulations regarding whipping set to go into effect throughout the country on July 1 when the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) takes effect, management at Monmouth Park has asked the New Jersey Racing Commission to adopt the more lenient HISA rules when the meet opens May 7. The story was first reported by the Asbury Park Press. At the start of the 2021 meet controversial rules were put in place by the New Jersey Racing Commission that banned the practice of whipping horses to encourage them...

Trainer Cody Axmaker has been handed two consecutive one-year suspensions and fined $5,000 by the New Jersey Racing Commission after a horse he trained named Wishful (Storm Wolf) died on or about May 9 at Monmouth Park due to an apparent overdose of Clenbuterol. He was suspended one year for possessing a prohibited substance in Clenbuterol and a second year for failing "in his duty as trainer to protect and guard the horse Wishful against the administration of the prohibited substance." The suspension is set to begin May 7, 2022...