Far Hills Race Meeting 2018: Ready, set, place your bets on Oct. 20!
FAR HILLS - For thousands who attend the Far Hills Race Meeting every year, the steeplechase races have been secondary to a fall afternoon tailgating and partying in a beautiful country setting.
But that may be changing this year when pari-mutuel betting will be allowed Oct. 20 on the seven races in the 98th running of the Far Hills Race Meeting at Moorland Farm off Route 202.
"The wagering experience is yet another way for our fans to enjoy and be intimately involved in our races, which, every year, draw top horses from the United States and overseas," said Guy J. Torsilieri, co chairman of the event.
In fact, according to Torsielleri, wagering on the steeplechase races will be allowed wherever Monmouth Park, the Race Meeting's partner, bets are allowed.
That includes off-track betting parlors in the state, including Favorites at Hillsborough and Favorites at Woodbridge, and Belmont Park in New York which will offer an unique Pick 4 wager, allowing bets to be placed on a single ticket for the winners of two Belmont races and two Far Hills races.
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Having legalized betting at the races is a quantum leap for the annual event which for nearly a century has raised millions for local charities.
"It's pretty exciting," Torsilieri said, who has worked for many years to bring pari-mutuel betting to the races.
Under New Jersey law, Far Hills will conduct its one-day of wagering under Monmouth Park's pari-mutuel license. All races will be under the supervision of the New Jersey Racing Commission.
"After years of working closely with the Far Hills Race Meeting team, we're so pleased the partnership is finally official," Dennis Drazin, president and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, said in a news release. "We are grateful to have an opportunity to support this beloved 98-year tradition while also raising greater awareness for steeplechase racing and all equine sports throughout the region and beyond."
The state Assembly and Senate passed legislation authorizing pari-mutuel wagering at Far Hills in August 2016, with the law taking effect the following month. Far Hills officials had worked to prepare for pari-mutuel wagering last year, but logistical issues at Moorland Farm delayed the launch until the 2018 event.
Best bets
There will be 64 tellers accepting bets at the races. They will be stationed primarily at four locations at Moorland Farm — the back stretch, the infield, top of the hill and base of the hill. In addition, Torsilieri said, tellers will be in some corporate tents and the Chairman's Pavilion. There will also be automatic ticket machines throughout the property.
Betting on the races has always been part of the afternoon that has raised more than $18 million to support local healthcare organizations. Those bets have been between friends and fellow tailgaters.
But in pari-mutuel betting, you are betting against everyone who is making that type of wager in a particular race.
For example, if you bet a horse to win, your bet goes into the win pool. Based on how much is wagered on each horse to win, the odds will change accordingly until post time.
The traditional wagers are win (if your horse finishes first), place (if your horse finishes first or second) and show (if your horse finishes first, second, or third.)
In additional to the traditional bets, the race meeting will offer "exotic bets" — Exacta (picking two horses to finish first and second in exact order), Trifecta (picking three horses to finish first, second, and third in exact order) and Superfecta (picking four horses to finish first, second, third, and fourth in exact order.)
Place bets have the lowest payouts while the Superfecta, because of its difficulty, has the highest payout.
The minimum wager is $2, except for some multiple combination bets, like the Trifecta, with a $1 minimum. For example, if you bet $2 on a horse to win at 5-1 odds and it wins, you will get back $12 (the cost of the bet plus the turn on the odds.) For a show bet, you will get less money because the betting pool has to be split three ways.
The changing odds will be updated every 45 to 90 seconds on television monitors and the infield tote board. The odds will change depending on how much money is wagered on a particular bet. Your winnings will be determined not by the odds at the time you place your bet, but at the odds at post time.
The morning line odds in the program are set by an oddsmaker before the betting begins. This is an educated guess on how the horses win finish by an experienced handicapper based on many factors, including the horses' previous race results.
The Race Meeting has reached an agreement with the Daily Racing Form to have the horses' prior performances listed in the daily newspaper and website, which contains statistics on the horses running in every race in the country.
Torsilieri won't guess how much money will be bet, but if 35,000 people attend — the target attendance — the total amount of money wagered, known as the handle, could reach into the millions. And that does not include the bets not made at Moorland Farm.
Calling the races at Far Hills will be Mark Johnson, the only person who has called the Kentucky Derby and the Epsom Derby in England. He has also presented horse race commentary on both sides of the Atlantic.
At Far Hills, Torsilieri said, Johnson will also be handicapping the fields.
International flair
The Race Meeting will offer more than $850,000 in purses, a record for a National Steeplechase Association race meeting. The day will climax with the $450,000 Grand National in which 13 horses have already been nominated. Because steeplechase racing, where horses leap over fences and other obstacles, is more popular in the rest of the world, only one horse in the Grand National is from the United States, Torsilieri said, adding that most are from France and Ireland.
"We feel that Far Hills offers a premier steeplechase experience, and we welcome the opportunity to share our races with all of America and jump-racing fans around the world," said Torsilieri, who also is the National Steeplechase Association's president. "We hope that this combination of top-level competition, a superior video experience, and a wagering opportunity will attract new fans to steeplechase racing."
There will be other winners at the Far Hills Race Meeting besides the horses and the lucky bettors. Besides Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville, the association has added several charitable beneficiaries, including Cancer Support Community of Central New Jersey, The Arc of Somerset County, Bonnie Brae, Life Camp and Community in Crisis.
Through the years, the Far Hills Race Meeting has provided more than $18 million to fund local healthcare initiatives.
There are still tickets left for the afternoon, Torsilieri said. Attendance at the Race Meeting has reached 50,000, but organizers are aiming for 35,000 to avoid any logistical problems.
"We prefer quality over quantity," Torsilieri said. "We want to maintain that 35,000 number."
For more information, visit https://www.farhillsrace.org.
Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com