Perhaps you are right. But Gulfsteam Park {including the backstretch facilities} and the surrounding training facilities are a dream come true for the horseman.....it is just horrible for the patron unless you happen to be one of \"the hundred\" that has dibs on the right spaces. This is the flagship track for the State of Florida! I personally think it is a terrible shame for the betting public and the fans who come to the venue to experience why people like the game so much. Certainly the lack of amenities and personal space for the people who put money through the windows on site is a design nightmare. Worse yet the management doesn\'t seem to care.  GP is merely a slot heaven and a track that has been reduced to a being a place for the simulcast players around the world. They will never get the Breeder\'s Cup there again if the board of directors reviews the capacity constraints. Think how much the community loses $$$ by not having that huge Fall weekend! Airline travel, hotels, employee salaries, track wages, local restaurants, rental cars, bars and souveniers.

A regular with connections might have it good at GP....but a visitor has no chance. The employees are rude {Miami/NY attitude} Not enough comfortible seating. You couldn\'t get a spot in that restaurant you go to on weekends even if you were the first person on the grounds and every carrol is taken in the Silks room by 11:00 am.

I attended. The beautiful Wynn property in Las Vegas is as nice as it comes. The seminars at the conference were a mixed bag. That is a difficult format for guest panelists to get very specific about the infinite nuances of handicapping..... but I believe there was a sincere desire by most speakers to bring relevent information and experience to the participants. I thought Crist, Dickenson, Davidowitz, Bray, Free and the heavy hitter from Keenland {forgot his name} were good. Imagine a college professor trying to cram a semester into fifteen minutes of dialogue. Some of the lectures were on simultaneously so you had to choose which ones you wanted to attend. As a result i missed a couple of people I wanted to see. {Mark Cramer, Len Friedman } There was a temporary race book set up so you could play on the breaks or if you choose to skip a session without having to leave the area to find a window.  The speakers were accesible to anyone who had questions. The two cocktail parties and banquet dinner were also opportunities to pick their brains. I sat next to Lee Tomlinson and chatted with him at length at the dinner. We also had the representatives from the sponsor \"Case the Race\" at our table. They have an interesting concept of measuring the athletic potential of a young horse.   As their product developes.....their numbers could provide a potential handicapping edge for young lightly raced horses. Breeders and pin hookers use them now to evaluate young stock.   The general consensus was that this expo was better than the last one....and I understand the last one was better than the one before that. Worth the trip if you enjoy that type of general learning and want to rub shoulders with some of the voices in the game.  Sponsers included YouBet, DRF, ExpressBet, Case the Race and some of the tracks.

My bags are packed....leaving on a flight from the East coast to Vegas later today. Going out a night early to Caesar\'s Palace before going to the Wynn for the EXPO. Hey the seminars and format isn\'t perfect....and maybe it lacks some things that are relevent and useful....but it is a great reason to enjoy a weekend in \"sin city\" Nice to meet people who enjoy the game. Hey, I go with an open mind....a desire for a massage in the spa.....a thirst for a martini and a hunger for some fine dining. The racing discussions are icing on the cake!

Record opening Day....growing national simulcast pools, large fields, no late batch money, nice turf course, new high resolution monitor in the infield and an annouced take-out reduction on their pick 3\'s. Seems like this venue is doing something right.

Historically.....one of the top trainers at Tampa got nailed last season.

It appears that Cole Norman is going to be spending some time away from the oval based on his second offense.

to each his own Steve....seems to me that horse racing is an outdoor activity that generally works best above 45 degrees with a few fans around. I am guessing you played the A race watching a tv simulcast.         Anyone who follows professional sports or racing has suffered listening to some loud New Yorker types at a bar say that whatever is \"NY\" is the very best. In their mind nothing else compares.... unfortunately they also generally \"share\" their biased opinions with anyone nearby even without being asked.   I agree with Frank.... some patrons would much rather be at Gulstream or Tampa winter meets on their worst day than Aqueduct on its best.  Perhaps this winter you can wear a red knit ski-mask so we can pick you out as one of the six fans screaming obscene language at the losing jockey along the rail.

I don\'t play NY at all after Belmont closes....Aqueduct is a dreary, cold place that doesn\'t excite me at all. When the go to the inner track you can box the four inside hourses like a dog race the bias is so strong. Soon we will have Churchill, Oaklawn, Fairgrounds, Tampa Downs and Gulfstream which is just fine for larger fields with handicapping opportunities. I think they should just close and sell Aqueduct. Only reason the place seems to matter is the possibility of slots. With a sale....they might take the proceeds to boost the product at Belmont and Saratoga.           Wishful thinking.  

thoughtful post....but the Big A is such a dump....why not get rid of it and spend the money at Belmont and Saratoga....oh yeah the mindless slots are coming to save us all.

They do a lot of things right at this venue. Solid fields, big purses and a patron friendly management. Throw in the lower take outs in the trifectas and superfectas and you have an exotic players dream if one can understand the nuances/bias of the new surface. Be interesting to see how the first weekend goes.

 Wishful thinking....enhancement drugs and blood doping  in racing are not going away. In fact they are leading the way. Far in advance of the detection side of things. Many serious players now prefer to use trainer angles{drug angles} than any other form of handicapping. Way too much money to be gained by vets, trainers, owners and the race tracks and not enough to lose should the cheaters get caught. The rewards outweigh the risks. Until that is changed...the whining and the articles that appear in racing publications every four or five months will not do a darn thing to change the status quo.

Soon the Fall meet at Keeneland will begin on a new surface. I have read exerpts from public handicappers that indicate that horses that perform best on dirt...perform well on polytrack. Grass horses are less apt to peak on the poly. I have also heard that the inside speed bias from past meets at Keeneland is likely to disapear. I am sure the polytrack surface thread has already appeared somewhere in the archives.... but i haven\'t paid much attention because as an East coast player....i have never wagered on a polytrack surface thus far. I always tend to wager at Keeneland, so my curiousity is up....any insights that may help?  Thx

I think they are going to enter him as a four year old in a 5000 maiden claimer at Turfway Park in the dead of winter! Ha! Actually they said he had a \"setback\" in Saratoga so he wouldn\'t likely start at that meet. Assume you will see him if healthy in the late Fall. Perhaps Keenland maybe Churchill. Doubt they will wait for Gulfstream unless he is hurt now pretty bad. He has to get a start ot two in 2006 if they think he is Derby trail material.

On this forum....we know players that are successful. Why is one player a good handicapper but yet a track loser? Why is one player less of diligent handicapper but still manages to win?    It seams to me that a winning player must properly select his spots, manage his bankroll effectively, be diciplined with his observations/note taking, be \"even-keeled\" emotionally, be flexible with his wagering approach and always vigilant in improving his handicapping abilities. {Nothing seems to work all the time ....and something seems to work part of the time.}