You can’t have it both ways

The state should get its act together and decide whether it wants to help support the thoroughbred horse industry or not.

What many non-horse people don’t get is that the racing purse supplement, which has gone from $18 million to zero this year, was intended as a stop-gap measure until Off-Track Betting is up and running.

"We wouldn’t need a supplement if that were in place," Bo Smith, a Millstone horse breeder and member of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association of New Jersey, emphasized last week.

The problem is compounded by the number of thoroughbred racing days, which the Sports and Exposition Authority has cut from 141 to 120, and which, according to Smith, could be cut even further.

Why do that, you ask?

To get high purses and premier meets at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, according to Smith.

Another Millstone breeder, Dianne Boyken, says between the purse cuts and elimination of racing days, she sees the end of the breeding industry in New Jersey.

For Monmouth County, home to a quarter of the state’s horses and ranked first in every equine-related category, according to a 1996 survey by the state Department of Agriculture, that would be grim.

As Upper Freehold Mayor David Horsnall states, "The New Jersey horse industry supports many collateral industries that are important to the economy of our township, county and state," from farm enterprises to construction to tourism and on and on.

Horsnall expresses some optimism that by working together, the governor, Legislature and those involved with the horse industry can find a solution to the problem.

We hope he’s right, for the equine industry has become vital to the preservation of farmland and open space in Millstone and Upper Freehold — a priority for most panhandle residents.

If farmers can no longer make a living with horses, the pressure to sell out to developers will become enormous.