ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Live racing at one of the nation's premier harness racing tracks would be ended under a recommendation from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's panel on the future of casinos and racetracks.

The head of New Jersey's harness racing association called the plan ``a death sentence'' for horse racing in the state.

The Hanson Commission released a supplemental report Monday evening saying there is no way New Jersey can support two state-run tracks. For that reason, it proposes ending live racing at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and consolidating it at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, more than an hour's drive south, starting in 2011.

The plan also calls for the two tracks to be sold to the private sector.

The Meadowlands Racetrack, part of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, would be used as an off-track betting facility under the plan.

``We have reached the conclusion that there is no viable self-sustaining industry model based upon two government-operated race tracks,'' the commission wrote. ``Consequently, we present a direct and difficult solution to a problem that has been in the making for decades.''

Hall of Fame driver John Campbell, harness racing's all time leader in earnings and six-time winner of the Hambletonian, called the proposal ``unbelievable.''

``This will devastate the whole harness racing, training and breeding industry in the state of New Jersey,'' he said.

Tom Luchento, president of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, said the panel's recommendations would wipe out racing in the Garden State.

``I can't believe the governor can fall for this,'' Luchento said. ``I can't believe he drank this much Kool-Aid from the casinos. I can't. He's an intelligent guy.

``It's completely and utterly a death sentence,'' Luchento said. ``The harness and thoroughbred and breeding and other industries such as the pleasure horses depend on us. They will go down, too. When the veterinarians and the farmers leave and even the hay people and blacksmiths, they fold up, too, in the state. They will all fold.''

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the Republican governor is studying the recommendation, and he declined further comment.

The task force said Monmouth Park is set to lose $6.6 million this year, and the Meadowlands an additional $11 million.

The proposal would allow a six-day standardbred meet to be held at the Meadowlands next August.

Standardbreds would race 30 days at Monmouth in the fall of 2011 and have a 70-day meet in subsequent years.

Thoroughbreds would race 59 days a year at Monmouth from May to September.

It would take about $4.6 million worth of investment and upgrades to get Monmouth ready for the consolidation, including lights for nighttime racing, track work, a receiving barn and winterizing a portion of the grandstand.

The commission recommended legislation to make it easier to locate new off-track betting facilities, even as it called for the sale of an existing OTB site in Woodbridge, and the sale of Monmouth Park's OTB license.

The panel said an OTB facility at the Meadowlands, possibly at the long-stalled Xanadu shopping-entertainment complex, could become the most successful such site in North America.

The commission's recommendation was released about an hour after a state Senate panel introduced bills that would make the biggest changes in how Atlantic City's 11 casinos are overseen and protected since gambling was legalized in the city 32 years ago, including relaxing some of New Jersey's famously strict regulation.

The Legislature responded to a call by Christie to assert more state control over the nation's second-largest gambling market, even as it does away with some rules the industry finds oppressive.

``The fundamental method of how we have been doing things over the last 30-plus years has got to change,'' said State Sen. James Whelan, the Democratic former mayor of Atlantic City. ``We have to deal with the reality of the day: The revenues are going down, going down, going down. Doing nothing or tinkering around the edges is not going to get us where we need to be.''

Changes discussed Monday in Trenton would give the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority overall responsibility for the Atlantic City casino zone, have the State Police create a joint law enforcement task force to oversee public safety there and water down some oversight and enforcement efforts by casino regulators.

Lawmakers also are proposing a tax on Internet gambling revenues to help the state's struggling horse racing tracks.

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AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan in East Rutherford contributed to this story.