Wednesday, June 16, 2010
How One Romantic Optimist Just Might Save the Game
OCEANPORT, NY, June 15, 2010--Bob Kulina has read and heard the naysayers, but don’t think for a moment that it will deter him from following through with the game plan: “You’re in a much better position to ask for cooperation and help if people think they’re backing a winner.”
The model that the Jersey Shore track has fashioned for this year, loosely referred to as “The Fifty Million in Fifty Days” to date has been a huge winner. It’s become clear that he and Dennis Drazin thought their plan through and they success they’ve had thus far might be only the beginning.
Kulina, vice president and general manager of Monmouth Park, is a racetrack lifer. Drazin, a.k.a. “New Jersey SuperLawyer,” is chairman of the NJ Racing Commission and former president of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. And they‘re seeing the fruits of a three-year labor of love for horse racing pay off in a big way.
“So far the numbers have been crazy good and I have a feeling we’re going to finish as strongly as we started,” said Kulina in his Monmouth Park office before Saturday’s first race. “I’ve been married 38 years and my wife sometimes thinks that I’m a pessimist. When it comes to racing I’m a romantic optimist.”
With Drazin’s input and two years of tirelessly working the phones, the starts and stops too many to measure, the team that would save New Jersey racing has proven dynamic and visionary. Kulina’s optimism and energy is unusual, refreshing when compared to many racetrack executives who’d rather play it safe and lowball expectations than roll the dice.
Thanks to an unusual run of good weather and with time progressing toward traditional vacation periods, on-track handle has grown since opening weekend despite the small attendance decrease, betting up to 53.2 percent from the 51.8 percent logged during the meet’s first five days.
While the increase in simulcasting has slipped marginally, it remains at an other worldly 128.87 percent. “We had hoped that by racing three days a week and boosting purses, we would increase everything, handle and attendance, by 20%,” reiterated Kulina. “Despite some roadblocks the end result has been very successful.”
Those figures do not reflect an estimated $2.5 million in lost handle when a glitch at the simulcast wagering hub in Mt. Laurel shut down wagering on the sixth race at Monmouth Park and during the run-up to the Belmont Stakes. The lack of state-of-the-art wagering software continues to be a national issue.
The son of a trainer, Kulina for many years was a racing official at New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority tracks. “As a former racing secretary, I wasn’t pleased with the racing we were offering. Nobody wanted it. I knew we had to do a better job with our product.
“Rather than put $20 million into a marketing budget we decided to put the last year of our supplement into purses. The idea has been well received by horsemen and we couldn’t afford to pay for the kind of positive publicity we’ve gotten from the media. The purse money served as our advertising dollars.”
Of course, Kulina realizes that showing a profit at the end of the experimental period that concludes after the former Meadowlands thoroughbred dates are run in late September doesn’t scan.
“We thought a 20 percent increase in attendance and handle would offset our losses to the point where we could go to the state with proof that racing is still viable industry and worth funding in the future. Governor Christie is a pragmatist and we could lower purses in the future if necessary,” Kulina explained.
Unlike many of his peers, Kulina has remained optimistic about thoroughbred racing’s future. “We see Monmouth Park as the best way to market the sport and create new fans. We need to make it like it was back in the day when we had a monopoly on wagering.
“Off site, the distribution arm will help grow the business. We have a simulcast venue in Woodbridge that’s been very successful. By statute we can build eight more. We’re hoping to grow our phone betting at our South Jersey hub and with Freehold we own 70 percent of an [in-state] Internet wagering platform.”
It’s no secret that Monmouth’s raised profile, much improved product, and field size that has increased to average approximately nine horses per race, has had a negative impact on racing in New York, where recent cards haven’t been up to Belmont Park’s customary high standards.
Kulina doesn’t see this as a long term problem, even if NYRA has refused to allow wagering on Monmouth’s extremely popular 50-Cent Pick Five with 15 percent takeout. “Charlie [NYRA president Hayward] and Hal [vice-president Handel] were here [Friday]. They talked about it,” was all that Kulina would volunteer.
“Our focus is on racing and we’re both interested in offering the best product possible,” Kulina said. “The sharing of inventory has changed because of simulcasting. If this model works, we can do a better job scheduling our races.
“People have said we’re going to hurt Saratoga. I think our racing can help Saratoga. Saratoga’s the best race meet in the country. By bringing better horses here from the south and west, we think we can help the East Coast region.
“We’re trying to coordinate our post times. Our mutuels people have been in communication with their mutuels people and we’re doing a pretty good job trying to avoid each other. It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
So, then, what about the European method, the 12:50 from Monmouth, the 1:00 from Belmont, etc., etc.?
“It’s tough on big days when tracks can attract a lot of people, betting lines get long. But we love the idea of branding post times,” agreeing that horseplayers would adapt to unscheduled delays.
What about more fractional wagering, combined with the creation of new wagers and lowering the takeout?
“Takeout is a difficult issue politically. We’ve offered the Pick Five for two years and we handled $20,000, $30,000, a nice little bet. This year it’s about $200,000 every day and when no one hit it the carryover [pool] the next day was over $800,000.
“The bet is so challenging and the value it offers got everybody energized. We’ve focused on it and have seen a huge shift in handle back to our building. They’re playing those five races [individually], too. There won’t be any new fractional bets this meet but we’re definitely looking at it in the future.”
Monmouth Park management is looking back to the future as well. “Churchill had success with its ‘Dressed To Kill’ night. We’d like to see women all dressed up because the men would dress up, too. A better [appearance] brings more energy, more entertainment.
“Going to three days helped that. Getting world class riders like Garrett Gomez and Johnny Velazquez helped, too. We’re selling bets and entertainment. We’ve just got to make it more special.”
Written by John Pricci