Big crowd there yesterday! People spilling over into the restaurants for food and scenery. Casino machines busy. HOT HOT Babes everywhere.
Still wish he had put a few more seats in out front and I bet those who stood out there all day did too. But it was a good crowd and shows some of what \"The Visionary\" had in mind is working.
Racing wise this has been a Super Meet!!
Good to see indeed. It was pretty damn hot (which maybe affected the horses), and seating in the shade was at a premium. The added bleachers were nearly unused, but everywhere else was packed. Upstairs, they sold out the bar seats (yes, they were selling seats at the bar) for $125 a pop. It was especially encouraging to see lots of twenty somethings, even the ladies. (Lots of people brought their kids in strollers, which I didn\'t quite get.)
If this is what it takes, then more power to Frank.
You are correct on the strollers!! I hung in the Paddock and was able to get a seat in the ring before every race. Initially were going to be in restaurant seating but some people dropped off and I went on my own.
Besides the crowd my comment was atmosphere and quality of racing related. They have had about 4 of these types of Cards. Millions Day, Donn Day, FOY Day and there have been other weekends where it was excellant as well.
On the other hand;
Handle in U.S. continues to slide
By Matt Hegarty
Wagering on U.S. horse races continued to plunge in March of this year when compared with the same month last year, dropping nearly 10 percent, or $100 million, even as purses rose significantly because of takeout increases in California and new casino subsidies in Florida.
Wagering in March was $899.3 million, down from $998.7 million in March of last year, according to figures released on Monday by Equibase, continuing a long stream of month-to-month declines affecting horse racing. The decline was exacerbated in part by a 4.2 percent reduction in race days during the month.
Despite the declines, purses distributed through U.S. races during the month rose 6.1 percent, from $73.8 million to $78.3 million, according to the Equibase figures. The boost was almost entirely tied to a 25-percent increase in purses distributed at California tracks because of a takeout increase that went into effect on Jan. 1, and a new law in Florida that has allowed tracks to retain a greater share of revenue from slot machines.
Purses at U.S. racetracks are heavily subsidized by slot machines, insulating the industry somewhat from the precipitous declines in wagering handle.
According to the figures, through the first three months of 2011 handle has declined 8.5 percent, from $2.79 billion to $2.55 billion, while purses have increased 5.3 percent, from $194.3 million to $204.7 million. Race days have declined 1.8 percent, from 1,048 to 1,029.
Right. I read in THE FORM this weekend that the Aqueduct handle was down another 7% this year. It might be the only track in the country where on-track attendance went UP dramatically because the OTBs closed, but less money was wagered regardless. HP
Yeah, but check the product out, 4-5 horse races, 44% fav. NYRA in the winter is dead, there was a time I wouldn\'t bet anything but NY, now I never bet NY, until Belmont opens
NYRA needs to close for about 8 weeks in winter.That would serve to cull the garbage NY Bred slow rat maiden claimers dominating the winter cards.NYRA should have enough money from slots to do away with some winter racing and still support purses for the rest of the year.
Of course, the clueless Upstate Politicians would have to approve the reduction in the number of racing days, IF NYRA petitioned them.Yes, some smaller outfits would go broke more quickly(they will anyway)but on the whole it would improve the overall quality of NY racing.
Almost embarrassed for Little Andy/Jason having to try to be enthusuiastic about winter cards that are a joke!
Mike
What would be more useful is a breakout of the statistics so that one could begin to isolate variables which might directly affect this decline. Start with the individual tracks. Most of the variables which are external to horse racing, such as the general economy, can only be considered speculatively, unless the decline was pretty uniform across all tracks. I\'d like to presume, however, that someone is turning these numbers inside out to provide a framework for meaningful analysis. So then the results can collect dust on the shelf, or the separate fiefdoms of the game can continue to wage war independently, and mostly ineffectively, aided and abetted in their futility by their blinkered legislative cohorts
Gambling on horses would be considered a Consumer Discretionary item. Those businesses like Tobacco, etc are down also.
Having a 9%+ Unemployment Rate takes its toll. NASCAR has slipped, other Pro Sports have some Franchise problems.
Keep promoting a good product and maybe it comes around again. However while things are down maybe its a good time for some to wake-up and generate positve change.......
Mike,
It\'s even worse than it seems !
One of the supreme NYRA idiots was up in Saratoga recently at a friends restaurant. He was singing the praises of how great everything is due to NYC OTB\'s closing. Attendance is up, there flush with money and slots are coming !
You could draw them a map and they still don\'t get it.
I\'ll refer to the politicians and the NYRA board as Nero\'s ! They sit back and fiddle while Rome burns to the ground. Totally clueless, always have been, but believe it or not there getting worse.
We had this conversation with a bunch of us the other day. At 52 years old
( slightly younger than richiebee ! ) I\'m nearly the youngest person around any of the Tele Theaters or OTB\'s parlors in the upstate area.
Our game is dead in this state and not far behind nationally.
Remember when the bottom claiming level at Saratoga was 25,000, 12-14 k at Aqueduct & Belmont, 35 k on the turf ?
Frank D.
Frank,
Agree,someone with the power has to stand up to get things changed.Political stooges all over the NY racing game need to be eliminated and replaced by people with racing/gambling knowledge.
A small but positive step would be to have the new OTB\'s privatized and out of the grasp of NYRA, which has failed miserably to change the game for the better during it\'s period of stewarding NY racing.
Mike