By Stephen Appezzato
OCEANPORT – Monmouth Park’s 80th season will get underway this weekend, featuring 51 stakes worth $7.8 million. Ahead of opening day May 10, racetrack officials hosted a press conference to discuss ongoing projects at the park and the coming season.
“We’re proud of Monmouth Park to be launching another season here,” said Dennis Drazin, CEO of Darby Development, the company that operates the racetrack. Last August, Darby Development signed a new 85-year lease with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the state body that owns the park grounds.
“I think we’re unique in the United States in terms of a great relationship between the horsemen and management,” Drazin said. “In terms of the future of Monmouth Park, we certainly look forward to a long, glorious future,” he said.
Across the 2025 season, the park will host a number of fan-favorite events, like the annual Irish Festival June 8, Classic Car Show & Oldies Day July 6, Italian Festival July 26 and 27 and more. Visitors will again be allowed to bring coolers into the picnic area on racing days.
Drazin also discussed ongoing projects at the park, such as the new Caesars Sportsbook, a 16,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor facility with full-service dining and food provided by Shake Shack, which track officials hope will open in July.
“The design is going to be terrific,” Drazin said. “It’s really a grand sports book; Caesar’s has been a great partner.”
Long-Term Vision
Drazin said the development of the 298-unit apartment complex for ages 55 and up, a hotel and a youth sports complex project is moving in the right direction. “Oceanport has been good in terms of trying to work with us on the vision,” he said.
The residential component is slated for the large parking lot located across Oceanport Avenue, while the hotel and youth sports complex would be located directly on the racetrack grounds.
The project was initially presented to Oceanport in the summer of 2023 and is intended to secure the racetrack’s financial future.
Regarding the youth sports complex, Drazin said discussions for the project were “far along.”
“We’re trying to work closely with the town in terms of not only what we’re building here on Monmouth Park, but creating a synergy with the soccer fields that they currently have at (Maria) Gatta Park,” he said.
“And then the third piece, which we’re still working on, is the hotel component, which is important for the youth sports component,” he said. Alongside a hotel catering to youth sports meets and racetrack visitors, Drazin also discussed building a higher-end, boutique hotel to cater to actors and staff working at Netflix Fort Monmouth.
“There are probabilities that we have two hotels in the future, but certainly we will have one,” he said.
“It’s not that we just do what we want to do. Even though it’s state land, we try to work carefully with the town to address their concerns, because this is for all of us, this is for Oceanport as well as Monmouth Park,” Drazin said. “We look forward to a continued good relationship with the town and trying to plan that forward. There’s a lot of input back and forth.”
Park officials are also hopeful state legislators will “work forwardly” with the racetrack to ensure subsidies continue for the 2026 racing season and sports betting taxes do not increase.
Lastly, Drazin also touched on the park’s long-term vision of providing full casino gaming, which would serve as a major revenue source outside of racing. While the concept has been shot down in previous decades, park officials are hopeful there will be progress in the next few years.
Currently, real estate developers are competing with multibillion-dollar bids for up to three casino licenses in New York City, which could be awarded by the end of the year.
“The point that’s good for New Jersey is that with a downtown casino coming to New York, we’ve got to protect New Jersey, we’ve got to keep the revenue here,” Drazin said.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to get a casino both for the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park,” he said.
It appears all potential candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial race are not opposed to casino expansion in New Jersey to protect the state’s gaming revenue, Drazin said.
“We feel that all the legislators, for the most part, support the continuation of racing and what that delivers,” he added.
With the park’s long-term projects in line, Drazin expressed hope for Monmouth Park’s future.
“With all the development that’s planned and the cooperation of the governor’s office, the legislature and Oceanport, we think we’re headed in the right direction and Monmouth Park will be here forever.”
The article originally appeared in the May 8 – 14, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
