Tom Barklage met his wife at the Far Hills Race Meeting. Nancy Tagliareni met her husband there. So did Tiffany Prasad of Hoboken. At the annual charity event, people from Hudson County and points south sometimes use the event to “hunt” for companions.
“The race is a fun, lighthearted event,” Prasad said, a Hoboken resident. “As you walk throughout the grounds, everyone invites you to stop by their parking spot for a cocktail or a bite to eat. There is an atmosphere of community.”
Hailed as the biggest fall event in New Jersey, the Far Hills Race Meeting holds its 87th running on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Moorland Farms in Far Hills. Six races, including the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Grand National, begin at 1 p.m.
Attracting more than 50,000 spectators, Race Day is one of exciting horse racing, great food, celebration, fun, fashion, and networking. Over $17 million has been raised to benefit Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, N.J. This year’s event will benefit The Steeplechase Cancer Center at Somerset Medical Center.
Met her hubby
Prasad met her now-husband at the 2004 Far Hills Race Meeting.
“We hit it off immediately,” she recalled. “There was just this chemistry.”
Tom and Alison Barklage, of Westfield, met one another at the 1999 Far Hills Race Meeting and started dating immediately following the event.
“The first time I saw her, she was sitting on a bale of hay,” Tom Barklage recalled. “I just said ‘wow.’ ” The two and a group of friends returned to the event in 2000 and continued their tradition picking a horse to root for by drawing names out of a hat.
However, Alison Barklage when picked, instead of finding a horse’s name, the slip of paper read, “I met you one year ago today and I can’t think of a better place to ask you to marry me.”
Through tears of happiness, she said yes to the proposal. The couple married in June 2001 and now they have two children.
Muddy clothes
Tagliareni, of Bloomfield, also found love at the race.
“I met my husband, Charlie, through a mutual friend at the race in 2002,” she said. “It was rainy and he was the only one who helped me load my car when it was over. We went out for a drink when we got back to town, but then I never heard from him.”
A few months later, she ran into him at a friend’s party.
“He said that after he got home he threw all his muddy clothes in the wash,” Tagliareni said. “My number got lost in the wash, but we reconnected at the party and the rest is history.”
The event, which welcomes nearly 50,000 people each year, is a great place to meet people and network because it’s interactive and brings people together for common reasons.
“When you go out to a bar, you’re limited in the number of people you can meet,” Tagliareni said. “But there are 50,000 people at the race. People are there to have fun and support Somerset Medical Center.”
About the race
On Race Day, the Moorland Farms grounds open to the public at 8 a.m. Post time for the first race is 1 p.m. The Far Hills Race Meeting will be held rain or shine.
General admission tickets prior to the day of the event are $50. A parking pass is $30.
Tickets and parking passes are available at local merchants (visit farhillsrace.org for a listing) through Oct. 19, while supplies last. They are also sold online at farhillsrace.org.
On the day of the event, general admission is $100. Tickets are non-refundable. DUI laws will be strictly enforced. Mass transit is strongly encouraged. No refreshments are sold on property.
For additional information, contact the Far Hills Race Meeting Association at (908) 685-2929 or visit: www.farhillsrace.org.