Whether New England in-person Thoroughbred racing is restored and the livestock industry revived now depends on voters in the town of Hardwick, Mass., where the principals of the Center for Agriculture and Equestrianism. The Commonwealth proposes to develop a new track.
In the latest development in the saga over and over again over the past two months, as Hardwick’s Selection Council reversed itself by first unanimously voting to scrap plans to build a track on the Farm. Meadowbrook spanned 360 acres but was later approved, a three-member panel decided 2-1 on the evening of November 21 for voters to be the final arbiter.
The council’s most recent vote establishes a special town election on 7 January 2023.
Letting Hardwick voters decide is the latest development on whether Thoroughbreds will race on the all-court track for a proposed two-day short shop meeting in September 2023. are not.
In view of the changing situation in the town, at a board meeting in Hardwick on 25 October and in the face of growing opposition to the project, the three-member council voted to postpone the votes up or down so the local community can have more opinions. input. Just two days later, on October 27, the board changed course and voted 3-0 to reject the project. Then, on November 9, the board reversed itself and voted 2-1 for adoption.
Petitions signed by community members for and against the new track, which will also house a breeding center and racehorse retirement facility, have been filed with the town clerk in process took many months.
In essence, the council’s 2-1 vote on Monday is not to revisit the most recent 2-1 vote on 9 November and advance to the special election.
At the same meeting, it was decided that a committee would now be formed to gather more information on the proposed development of the farm as a racecourse and equestrian center, and present the full findings. results for voters ahead of the special election on January 7.
“Over the next 45 days, riders will prove that this project is not only good for investors but also good for riders, ranchers, towns and for all the jobs involved. created even with Paul Umbrello, executive director of the New England branch of the Horsemen Benevolent & Protective Association, “We’re fighting to keep the race going and breeding.”
Fields and his partners at the Commonwealth Horse and Agriculture Center entered into an agreement to purchase the Meadowbrook Ranch property, but that deal has an end date of February 2023.
Meanwhile, Richard Fields, one of the owners of Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, which ran Suffolk Downs when that track held face-to-face meetings, and his other partners in the CEAC applied for a license 2023 Live Thoroughbred racing license with the Massachusetts Game Commission by the October 1 deadline.
The MGC was authorized by state law to rule on that application by November 15, but the commissioners suspended that meeting in an emergency session on November 14 before voting on the application. register. It is being paused until the local townspeople in Hardwick have their say.
Sterling Suffolk Racecourse sold the property in Suffolk Downs to a real estate developer in May 2017. The last in-person New England meetup was hosted by the HBPA of New England at Suffolk Downs and ended in June 30, 2019. Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire, one of 17 defunct Thoroughbred races once scattered across the New England region, last held a face-to-face meeting in 2002 and This property was sold for a multi-use real estate development in 2016.
