EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -The head of New Jersey's harness racing industry is optimistic that the 2011 racing season at the Meadowlands will take place.

Tom Luchento, president of the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey, voiced his opinion after a two-hour meeting Thursday with Jeff Chiesa, Gov. Chris Christie's chief counsel.

Luchento would not disclose details, but he did say the two sides discussed several ways to keep one of the nation's premier harness tracks open, including a possible deal where the harness association and partners would lease the track from the state for live racing starting next month.

``Hopefully, we'll be racing Jan. 1,'' Luchento said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak confirmed Thursday that there are ongoing talks between the governor's office and the horsemen. He would not provide any details.

The talks came less than a month after a task force assembled by Christie on the future of casinos and racetracks recommended that live racing at the Meadowlands end after this year.

Luchento said the governor's office has bent over backward to work out a deal.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority owns both the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park.

The Hanson Commission released a supplemental report on Nov. 15 saying there is no way New Jersey can support two state-run tracks. It proposed ending live racing at the Meadowlands 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 a private owner.

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

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

The Hanson 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.

After the report was released, Luchento said it would be a death sentence to harness racing in New Jersey.

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Angela Delli Santi in Trenton contributed to this report.