After two years without a Media Day due to COVID-19 concerns, officials at Monmouth Park were pleased on Thursday to welcome back dozens of familiar faces who have long frequented New Jersey’s lone thoroughbred racetrack.

And when the first race goes off on May 7, bettors will have two choices for how to make their win, place, or show bet – through the traditional, fluid parimutuel system or by making bets with fixed odds.

Monmouth operator Dennis Drazin said the new wrinkle addresses common gripes that gamblers have when they bet on a horse at, for example, 5-1 odds – only to see the horse bet all the way down to even money when last-minute wagers are tallied moments after the horses have left the starting gate.