The crowds of people that would flock to the Catskill Mountains in the summer months a few decades ago are just a faint memory in 2024. While there is the nearby Resorts World Catskills Casino, it is designed to keep people on the grounds rather than even consider venturing 10-15 minutes down the road to a structure which for 40 years or so was the place to be when live racing was scheduled. Monticello Raceway, which opened on June 27, 1958, was originally developed as an option for vacationing guests at nearby hotels like the Raleigh and Kutsher's. Ironically those establishments are long gone, with Kutsher's the last to close in 2013, but the half-mile track just off Route 17 in the middle of New York is still chugging along with some of the lowest purses in harness racing but also a core fan base which continues to push its handle past most of its competitors. Shawn Wiles, the Executive Director of Racing and Facilities at Monticello Raceway, was born the same year the track went up and spent his high school years and most of his adult life working on either the backstretch or in the front office. "I was born in April of 1958 and the racetrack opened in June of 1958," said Wiles, who remembered going to see shows with Chubby Checker and Tina Turner back when the "Borscht Belt" of the Catskill region was hopping. "I remember there being lots of flowers everywhere, and the property being in pristine condition. It was colorful and everyone was happy. It was really a hub of activity. It was the place to go and it was beautiful. If I had as many men as they did taking care of the place, it better be beautiful." There have been some big moments over the Monticello surface through the years. It hosted the $250,000 Monticello-OTB Classic from 1975 to 1985. Won by Silk Stockings, the inaugural edition was the richest harness race in the U.S. at the time. Outside of New York Sire Stakes, the Grand Circuit stopped travelling to Monticello for 20 years before the track launched the "Magnificent 7" stakes in 2007 to celebrate its 50th anniversary season. Among the seven stakes offered was a revival of the Monticello-OTB classic worth $480,000 – still the richest race ever offered at the 65-year-old oval – and won by Mypanmar in a still-standing all-age track record 1:51 2/5 with John Campbell in the bike.   Through the years Monticello has experimented with racing during the daylight and nighttime hours, but with the closing of the area attractions "The Mighty M" has become a mainstay afternoon signal that has somehow dominated the market despite typically offering smaller fields and certainly lower purses than the competition. Case in point is January 2024 when the "little track that could" easily blew away not only its afternoon competition but also many of the evening tracks. Monticello Raceway offered live racing 19 times during the month of January (excluding a card that canceled after three races due to bad weather) with a starting post time of 12:10 P.M. (ET) and averaged $67,180 per race (just under $600,000 per card). Its closest challenger is The Meadows since it kicks off at 12:45 P.M. and has overlapping cards twice per week. The Meadows averaged $51,039 per race during the month over 14 dates (just under $670,000 per card). Freehold Raceway also has afternoon dates on Friday and Saturday, checking in at $37,918 per race and just over $425,000 per program. In a true "apples to apples" comparison, the three tracks went head-to-head on two dates in January with Monticello leading the way at $48,886 handled per race. The Meadows checked in second at $41,187 and Freehold third at $27,391. But what is it about Monticello Raceway that attracts bettors? Is it the consistent product with a rather basic wagering menu that has barely changed over the years? Is it the afternoon time slot? Is it simply wagering habit for a track that has more than a half-century under its belt? "What I like most is the horses there are consistent and they race often so you don't see dramatic form reversals. That leads to really trying to handicap races where trips actually matter, and that's the most fun thing about handicapping," said a regular Monticello bettor who preferred to remain anonymous. "I also like that the 'super' trainers don't race there. I love that they race year round and the pools are still strong." On February 1, Monticello recorded one of its highest handle days in history, eclipsing $1.1 million on a rare 13-race card brought on by a canceled program earlier that week which prompted management to add extra races. While the number of dates the track must race is contractually mandated at 207 according to Monticello Harness Horseman's Association President Alan Schwartz, one has to wonder whether the million-dollar results would prompt all parties to consider an option of fewer racing dates with more races each day. "Over the weekend I got asked to put together a spreadsheet," said Wiles about the possibility of a shorter racing week. "We knew the population would remain consistent, but Saratoga just opened up and Pocono is right around the corner – not that we get many horses from them, but it is enough. It is something we are definitely looking into if the horse population can handle it and the horsemen are amenable." "I think it would actually be to the horsemen's advantage and we've discussed it several times, especially for the ship-ins because they could make one less trip a week and get all of their horses raced," said Schwartz. "I've discussed it with management before, and I think they would be interested, but we really didn't get too in-depth with it. "We need to have further discussion and get everyone on board with it, but I think it is a possibility." Schwartz, who has been President of MHHA for nearly 20 years, has dealt with his share of heartache as the Sullivan County oval struggled to stay afloat while other casino-fueled tracks prospered. Consider that the average purse at Monticello in January was $4,408, well below the $9,523 for The Meadows and slightly under the $5,867 at Freehold Raceway. That doesn't even take into consideration industry leader Yonkers Raceway some 90 minutes from Monticello, where the average purse is four times that of its in-state neighbor. Schwartz says his brethren in his organization live "hand to mouth" as they try to survive to race another day. The one advantage they have is being able to avoid shipping costs when racing at Monticello as approximately 350 horses currently reside on the grounds of the track. "It really is a struggle for most of them. I don't know how they do it. Right now I have three horses in my barn; they are all in the Open and I have one in at Yonkers. At least I'm racing for half-decent purses, and I don't need the money, but I don't think I could live with Open horses here if I did need it to survive. Racing in the non-winners of $200 and $300 classes. I don't know how they do it," said Schwartz, who hears the tales of struggle from the horse people all the time. "The bottom line is they have bottom of the barrel horses and there really isn't anyplace else to race." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter While Monticello purses are partially funded by casino- and slot-fueled revenue from regional locations, the purse structure hardly compares to other New York-based tracks. In some cases it is a direct result of the number of racing dates. Only Yonkers Raceway offers more live racing dates than Monticello, and it resides in a much more populous area, leading to much higher revenue via the gaming property. Consider that the Buffalo and Batavia circuit hosts just 50 and 72 dates respectively in 2024. Saratoga will host 150 dates. Sister tracks Tioga (59) and Vernon (70) combine for 129 dates. All of those numbers fall well below the 207 for Monticello and play a major role in why purses are lower. Although there is a mandate that purses must remain at 2011 levels, those totals are simply not enough to keep up with competition from surrounding states, as well as the inflationary cost of living increases. According to Schwartz, outside of handle, the purse money comes from the slot parlor in Newburgh, New York, and the difference is made up by the Resorts World Catskills. Despite the doom and gloom purse situation, there is a potential glimmer of hope on the horizon if the MHHA gets a favorable legal decision. "There is going to be, hopefully in the near future, an arbitration," said Schwartz about a dispute over gaming revenue. "[MHHA attorney, Joe] Faraldo reads the agreement one way and some other lawyers read it another way. It will really depend on how the three arbitration judges feel about it. We just completed a forensic audit. Our attorneys were waiting for that to be completed and it has taken like six months. Now things can move forward with the arbitration and we may know something in the next couple of months." A positive arbitration result would lead to "double the purses for the foreseeable future as long as the casino and the slot parlors stay operational," said Schwartz. Perhaps the driving force behind Monticello remains the loyal bettors that continue to support the track at the virtual windows. At least some of that credit should go to Director of Pari-Mutuel Racing Maureen Flynn. She has expertly set the post times for decades in order to avoid major conflicts with other tracks and built up an impressive simulcasting network that has made a huge difference in the track's survival as fans stopped showing up along the track apron's fencing. "We are a harness track in a Thoroughbred afternoon market, so of course I stayed away from Thoroughbred signals," said Flynn, who will hit the 45-year mark at Monticello in July. "I saw it coming that the on-track crowd was going to be gone and I built up a huge simulcasting network. At one time the state told me I had a bigger network than Yonkers." Looking back on the switch to racing during the day, Flynn recalled that part of the impetus was because the track was taking simulcasting from Freehold in the afternoon and doing well but NYRA objected because they didn't want them taking any daytime harness signals. Monticello filled that void by racing live, which also allowed the opportunity to get a video signal into New York City OTB, at the time dominated by the Yonkers in the evening hours. "We were really the first in the daytime slot and everybody followed us," said Flynn, whose best memory was that it started in 1999 or perhaps 2000. Flynn sees consistency as the winning ingredient in the wagering model for Monticello. "People want consistent racing and the ability to bet a $20 exacta without blowing up the pools," said Flynn. "We don't have bigger purses so we have to compete on other levels. One of them is customer service and another is competitive racing. I think that is what they like. They want to see a race, not horses strung out on the track. "We have a nice fan base. They call; we talk to them all. I believe in good customer service – on the phone or in the betting parlor. We care. I see in a lot of businesses people don't care anymore." Perhaps like Hotel California in that people check in and never leave, Program Director John Flynn started at Monticello in 1973, back in the heyday of the track. He's seen the facility at its best and its worst. "It's a complete 180," said Flynn comparing the glory years of the track to present day. "It's more used as a warehouse now than anything; a storage facility for the casino. We only get maybe 15 to 20 people at the betting windows each day." Flynn pointed out that about 50% of the favorites win at Monticello, a factor that you would think could be a turnoff for bettors. "It obviously isn't a deterrent," he added. For Flynn, who says he hasn't taken a long vacation in 35 to 40 years because of the track's year-round schedule, he plans to continue to show up for work until he can't or there is no Monticello Raceway left. Flynn said he trained someone to do his job hoping to have a fill-in, but with so few charters in the country, he left for a full-time gig at Cumberland in Maine. "Every year I say this is it but I'm still here. I'll finish up when the track finishes up," joked Flynn. "We have a great team. [Sr. Director of Racing] Eric [Warner] and Shawn [Wiles] have been here forever. [Announcer] Howard Oil has been here since after the flood. Maureen [Flynn] in mutuels. We are like a well-oiled machine." Even with an average handle of $67,180 per race in January, Monticello Raceway, like most harness tracks in the country, is losing money. With the majority of harness tracks getting about 3% of revenue from off-track handle and likely 95% of the wagering dollars coming from that source, despite offering just $4,408 per race in purses (January average) the Mighty M still records a daily loss of about $2,000 per race or $16,000 to $20,000 per card. That doesn't even take into consideration the cost of keeping an aging building in operation. "It is just a matter of how much we lose each month," said Wiles, who has also had to deal with a number of cancellations due to weather and water main issues. "I shudder when my phone rings in the morning because it is usually the village water department telling me they are shutting me down. When they tell you that there is nothing you can do." "The infrastructure is falling apart," said Schwartz. "We've missed a few days already this season with broken water pipes. Everything is falling apart, but they are doing the best they can. All of the barns on the grounds except for one have new roofs. We had paving done last year; we need more. They are working at it." "Hope, yes. In reality it is hard to say," remarked Schwartz when asked about the future. "The casino is not doing that well. The slot parlor is not doing that well; not meeting expectations. Who knows what the future will bring. We've watched several tracks close, so who knows?" One clear certainty when it comes to Monticello Raceway is that it is filled with people who care about harness racing. The track and the people who work there are survivors. The "Mighty M" has stood the test of time and will likely keep chugging along into the future to the delight of those who tune in every afternoon.