“Sportainment.”
Maybe you don’t recognize that word, but the definition is simple: a marriage of sport and entertainment.
It’s a perfect designation for the Far Hills, N.J., Race Meeting, which combines high-level steeplechase competition with tailgating, major hospitality offerings and shopping at scenic Moorland Farm Oct. 17. (Click here for a link.)
It’s a fun time all around, drawing more than 22,000 people to the borough of less than 1,000 residents in its 4.8 square miles. Even better is the fact that local charities are the beneficiaries.
The event is more than a century old. Its roots were in the 1914 debut of the Farmer’s Day Race Meeting, started as a low-key informal affair organized by the Essex Fox Hounds to thank area landowners for allowing the hunt to gallop across their property.
It has grown into a nationally televised fixture featuring the cream of the steeplechase crop, with horses coming from Ireland and Great Britain to test their luck against the best U.S. contenders.
Featured is the $300,000 (up from $250,000 last year) Grade 1 American Grand National Hurdle Stakes, a demanding 2-mile, 5-furlong test over national fences.
Spectator interest is such that organizers had to find new areas on the scenic property where they could erect tents, opening up areas on the back stretch and near the homestretch.
Covid in 2000 was a demarcation point for the race meeting, as it was for so much else in the world. The event took the year off, due to restrictions from the state involving how many people were permitted to attend.
Prior to the pandemic, attendance could go as high as 50,000 or so, and there were episodes of rowdiness from young people who saw it as an occasion to drink heavily while they partied in the infield.
“It was not an event we were really proud of as pertained to the infield,” said Guy Torsilieri, who co-chairs the race meeting with Ron Kennedy.
“We took a long look at ourselves and turned the Queen Mary around. Covid opened up our eyes. We were running in the red before Covid.”
After that year’s pause, when the meet returned in 2021, “We redirected what we wanted to do and what we wanted to accomplish. Our goal is to have world class steeplechase racing and continue to support all our local charities,” Guy commented.
Attendance-wise, he said the “sweet spot” would be about 30,000, and no more. A larger meet “became unmanageable at many levels,” he explained.
“It put too much stress on the town and surrounding towns. We made a conscious decision to redirect our efforts into multiple avenues. We have had a nice 10 percent growth year after year since Covid.”
Massive planning is required, with copious notes and maps involved, along with the efforts of employees Michelle Basto and Michele Oswald. The pressure is always on.
“We only do this once a year. If you make a mistake, you can’t fix it next day; you have to wait 364 days to fix it,” the co-chairman pointed out.
Steeplechasing brings excitement to the countryside.
Now it’s “quality over quantity,” and the traffic situation, once a massive tangle, is improving.
A number of management updates have helped.
“We don’t mail out tickets,” Guy mentioned, noting that sending tickets to spectators’ phones instead is a money-saver, paying off for the event’s beneficiaries.
However, to improve traffic flow, he advises people to print tickets at home before they come, saving time instead of fumbling through their phones as they enter. An inducement is an express line for those with printed tickets.
The races used to have live tellers for parimutuel betting.
“It was costing us a fortune to have live tellers and set up machines,” he said.
Now all wagering is via phones and laptops. NYRA Bets has joined 4NJBets. For the latter, a bettor has to be in New Jersey, but now the bettors from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and elsewhere can place wagers, which led the race meeting to expect “a huge increase” in betting. And it already was three times the betting at a Giants football game.
However, even though organizers are working with Verizon to increase internet capacity, it is not enough to download the betting apps on site, so racegoers should do that at home before the races.
Steeplechasing is growing in multiple areas of the country. Before Covid, total U.S. purses were $4 million; last year, the figure rose to $7 million. Far Hills attracts European trainers who are very successful. They bring groups of horse owners with them who contribute to the economy during their stay, attending Broadway shows, going to restaurants and booking hotel rooms.
But financially, the race meeting’s most important benefit is to its charities, which have received $22 million so far. The charities include the RWJ Steeplechase Cancer Center/RWJBarnabas Health; Crossroads4Hope network of cancer support, Bonnie Brae, CIC for Prevention and Recovery and the Life Camp.
What sporting event would be complete without branded merchandise?
This year, for the first time, Barstool Sports is offering The Hunt X Barstool collection of hats, T-shirts, hoodies, etc. They are emblazoned either with The Hunt or Far Hills Race Meeting lettering.
The races no longer have anything to do with the hunt, but the origin of its nickname is the fact that those in the know called them “the hunt races” because of the Essex Fox Hounds link. That dates from the days when a few thousand people who knew each other would show up at the races wearing tweed to cheer on their own and their friends’ horses. We’re talking decades ago. It all changed in the 1970s, when organizers got the idea of promoting it as “Family Day in the Country,” which brought in people who weren’t from the Somerset Hills.
“For years,” Guy recalled, “I would work to not call it `The Hunt’.”
But in that regard, he was fighting “all the social media and all the kids. I gave up: Call it the races, call it The Hunt. It’s called both. I chose to take the high road and let it happen.”
He’s so busy looking at the big picture that he doesn’t have the time to bother with minor issues.
“I’m just thrilled with where we are, how we got there and where we’re going,” he emphasized.
