by John Furgele Back in the day, the Road to the Kentucky Derby was different. Horses ran in races that offered a big purse and the 20 horses with the most earnings garnered a spot in the field. Today...
Despite its skeptics and general negativity, there is often good news taking place in the world of harness racing and that came to light recently when Plainridge Park announced that the Spirit of Mass...
by John Furgele Buffalo Raceway will kick off its 66-day 2019 meet this Wednesday. This year, purses are slightly higher, with open events beginning the year at $12K — up from $10,500 at the end of ...
by John Furgele As February approaches, it is not too early to start thinking about the first Saturday in May, which we all know is the greatest day of the year — Derby Day. The Kentucky Derby (G1) ...
Most of you don’t know this, but I am a Hall of Famer. That’s right; I am a member of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame. Okay, full disclosure: anybody can be a member of the Harness Hall of Fame if...
It is well chronicled that horse racing — Standardbred and thoroughbred — has been struggling in the state of New Jersey. Without “racino” revenues to boost purses, racing has suffered at Monm...
A field of five… an eight-race program… cancelled race cards — if you follow harness racing, you see this often. There are horse shortages and tracks requesting fewer dates each year; if you fol...
For years, Jeffrey Gural has complained of an uneven playing field. The owner of Meadowlands Racetrack has, at times, complained perhaps more than he should. To his credit, he has been consistent. Whi...
Drew Monti never had a chance. His parents, Darrin and Debbie, met at Buffalo Raceway and his dad was a Standardbred trainer. Based on that, it should come as no surprise that the 23-year old became i...
One of the toughest jobs in harness racing belongs to the racing secretary. It is their job to write the conditions for each race. To do this, they have to know a lot about the horses that are on the ...
