NJ racing industry's voice heard at statehouse

Also in attendance were SBOANJ directors Robert Boni and Mark Mullen, Perretti Farm’s Bob Marks and SBOANJ Executive Administrator Leo McNamara.

“The grim reality is that surrounding states have taken bold steps to reinvent their horse racing industries as a gaming and entertainment experience,” said Perretti, who led off the presentation.  “Our New Jersey has stood still with a generations-old approach.”

“My concern, of course, is the preservation of this industry but unlike most of the speakers you will likely hear from, I am not asking for money,” Luchento told the Assembly members on the committee.  “Instead, I am suggesting a source of income – something that could yield annual revenues to the state of more than $1 billion.  Even in these days of trillion dollar deficits, that is not an insignificant sum.

“At a time of great economic turmoil, we would hope that the legislature would take a fresh look at slots as a source of revenue for the state budget as well as the means to secure the future of racing and protect the thousands of acres of land currently devoted to the care and breeding of horses in New Jersey,” he added.

"Gaming has become a local business," said Gulotta, who also testified before the Senate Budget Hearing at Montclair State University last week,  He argued that people in northern New Jersey are no longer willing to make the trip to Atlantic City to gamble and being lost to the racino at Yonkers.

Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald, D-Camden, argued that wagering on slot machines at racetracks would come at the expense of Atlantic City’s casinos.

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