Congratulations to Bob Kulina, the management team at Monmouth Park and the horsemen who put on a historic elite meet at Monmouth Park this summer.  In the face of a struggling economy and national racing declines, the attendance, wagering and field size at Monmouth showed double-digit or better gains over last year.

The formula for success was to cut back the racing week and expand purses and the number of races offered per program.  Monmouth offered the highest daily purses in the nation ($797,079) and the quality of racing improved accordingly.  In response to these changes the field size increased 25% which was the key to attracting increased wagering.  Racing fans responded to this bold and controversial experiment with a 47% increase in daily attendance, a 79% increase in average on-track wagering and a whopping increase in the average total handle of 213% over last year. 

The Izod Haskell Invitational on August 14 was the centerpiece of the meet.  Lookin at Lucky made a strong claim as the emerging 3-year-old champion with a dominant performance, distancing his challengers at the top of the stretch.  A crowd of 40,904 attended on Haskell day and an all-time betting record of $4,257,409 was wagered on that race.

Congratulations to Tod Pletcher, Bruce Alexander and Steve Asmussen who tied for leading trainer honors, Paco Lopez as leading rider and George and Lori Hall as leading owners for the meet!