Daily Racing Form to shut N.J. operation

The Daily Racing Form, the bible of the thoroughbred racing industry, is preparing to shut down its printing operation in Hightstown, N.J., and has notified its unions and independent contractors of plans for a "mass layoff" on May 31.

Steve Adams, general manager of the Hightstown operation, said any announcement would be premature at this time because final plans had not been made. He said an announcement probably would come within the next three weeks.

The layoff, he said, would affect about 50 employees, "and five or six others probably will be reassigned."

But the names of 124 job-holders, fulltime and substitute, "whose employment will be terminated," were attached to a company letter to union representatives outlining management's intentions.

The plan is part of the company's nationwide reorganization as it shifts to computer technology. The Hightstown plant, which houses one of two company-owned presses (the other is in Seattle), lost its layout and design department last summer to a new pagination and telephone transmission facility in Phoenix. That move caused the termination of about 60 workers.

Print sites now for the Form, besides Hightstown and Seattle, are Gardena, Calif.; Hamilton, Ohio; Hammond, La.; Boca Raton, Fla., and Welland, Ontario.

Adams said fewer than 20 people, mostly circulation support staff, would remain in the Hightstown office.