Board Questions Millions Of Unpaid Purse Money At Monmouth Park

Board members of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association "held an emergency meeting" one day after a report showed "millions of dollars in unpaid purse money at Monmouth Park due to lengthy delays in getting results from post-race drug-tests," according to Stephen Edelson of the ASBURY PARK PRESS. The NJTHA, which holds the lease on Monmouth Park, yesterday afternoon "decided it would pay the purse money owed to horse owners in full, pending approval of the plan by the New Jersey Racing Commission." Some $7M of the $10M in purse money up for grabs over the first six weeks of the meet "remains unavailable to horse owners." The New Jersey Racing Commission "oversees the testing program, with tests performed by Truesdail Laboratories" in Irvine, Calif. The NJTHA is requesting the Racing Commission "hold an emergency meeting to approve the resolution, rather than waiting its next regularly scheduled meeting, which isn't until Sept. 16" (ASBURY PARK PRESS, 8/19).