Gp Park and Stonach

[NoCarolinaTony]

From what I\'ve been reading the new GP is a disaster.

* Good seats for Saturday\'s Sunshine Millions card at Gulfstream Park are costly. All carrels with televisions in the first floor of the clubhouse, which normally go for $10 a day, cost $40 on Saturday - as will each of the 900 seats on the second floor. Carrels without televisions, priced at $5 daily, will sell for $20 apiece on Saturday.



http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do?NID=71571&subs=0&arc=0

What the hell is this man Thinking.

TGJB please let us know your thoughts as well. Im probably going to be there midweek next week as I have a customer golf outing at the Boca Raton Resort followed by GP visit. Let me know what you really thingk of this facility.
NC Tony

[STB]

Magna\'s marketing wizard refers to this as \"upselling.\" The rest of us call it \"price gouging.\"

Frank\'s flacks call him a \"visionary\", yet it sounds like almost no one at GP can actually see live racing.

I am already sick with worry about the ways in which he\'ll decimate Saratoga. The only hope is that the historical preservation types up there will tie him up in court when he tries to make drastic changes to the physical plant. Hey, they stopped the replacement of the brick sidewalk on Union Ave a few years back, so maybe there\'s a sliver of hope.

[Kasept]

For starters, you\'re jumping to a conclusion that is highly unlikely to happen involving MEC and NY. Second, SRC is on the Historic Register and little can be done to alter the basic physical plant. That said, the departure of George Hathaway will be a blow to those that prefer to keep things totally as they are at Toga. For years, George prevented many odious overtures for change from moving forward..

[RICH]

Damn, I hope Frank and crew are never allowed in NY, especially Saratoga. With his visions, the Carolina BBQ would be the first to go.

[STB]

Not being argumentative, just wondering why you think it\'s unlikely Stronach would wind up with the franchise. I basically have no idea how it\'ll play out, but I based my fear of Stronach\'s chances on his strong lobbyist connections in Albany - he had or has ins w/Pataki (via D\'Amato\'s firm), Bruno (via Bruno\'s son\'s firm), and Silver (via Patricia Lynch\'s firm). I also figured that since many of our elected officials know next to nothing about what racing fans want, and care even less, that\'d they\'d be easily swayed by the glorious tales of Frank\'s big \"success\" at \"upgrading\" GP, Laurel, etc.
But Pataki\'s gone soon and I think Bruno\'s son left the lobbying biz, and of course, Magna Entertainment continues to drown in a sea of red ink. Their position is probably weaker than it was a year or two ago.
I wonder if NY would be best served by some sort of partnership with a casino operation - there\'s a business that seems to get customer service.

[miff]

There are many strong financial forces (Former adversaries) working together to ensure that Stronach does NOT get NY Racing.The only way he will is if the uninformed imbeciles in Albany allow it. Word is that it looks less likely right now that Stronach gets it.

The parasite NYC OTB and the other OTB\'S will make the franchise award process even more difficult.

[TGJB]

Tony-- if you can get there early, I\'m playing somewhere Monday with Don Brauer (Bloodstock agent of VG, Distorted Humor, Da Hoss, War Emblem etc. fame).

[gowand]

Stronach testified yesterday in Albany concerning the future of racing in ny.  The highlights were his suggestion that saratoga should be a year round facility and basically include restaurants and shops along with simulcasting.  I don\'t
think Saratoga has a heating system in place and certainly would need major changes to accomplish any of his ideas.  One thing is for sure...a number of state officials are going to get paid before this is over.

[STB]

New! From the 2006 Webster\'s Dictionary...

Magnalomania n. 1. A mental disorder characterized by delusions of grandeur, specifically related to the mismanagement of racing facilities and racing product, and the inability to perceive that making billions selling sprockets does not give one the power to revitalize racing by eliminating ability to actually view races, and revamping race tracks with shoppes, cafes, and locations for concerts by washed-up rock bands; also characterized by overweening desire to desecrate racing shrines such as Saratoga Race Course. (adj., magnalomaniac).

[JR]

Not the old tote boards.

[JR]

Because they can afford customer service. Casinos are the end of racing. Pray the industry can manage to preserve just a few old gems like Saratoga, Belmont, Churchill and Santa Anita. Sadly, Florida and Maryland are lost. At least until MEC\'s losses force them to abandon their wild venture into the world of entertainment and sell the tracks. So far, that seems to be the trend.

[Silver Charm]

Stronach will destroy Live Racing in New York just as he has done in Florida. Already Beyer and Finley have weighed in on how the \"New and Improved\" Gulfstream is a disgrace. Silver Charm agrees.

You can expect the \"New and Improved\" Saratoga to have the current Clubhouse/Grandstand completely razed with Condo and Hotel Rooms built in their place. Stronach can then Sell or Rent the Trackside Rooms for Millions. The non-Trackside rooms would have a live feed into their Rooms on the TV just like the pee-ons at Gulfstream currently do.

The existing picnic area would be turned into a Muvico and an Amusement Park.

The Wager Facility would be Relocated Miles away to the highest bidder or who carrys the biggest stick.

And that would be none other than Albany.

[congaree1]

This guy doesn\'t get it. Horseracing is not a fan based or spectator sport. It\'s for gamblers. For me it\'s allabout REBATES and betting in the comfort of my own home. This is all about Stronach\'s own pockets!

[STB]

As I was reading this, a friend of mine called. Due to a last-minute meeting cancellation, he had some extra time, so he went down to yesterday\'s hearing for a couple of hours. He said two things stuck out: the lack of knowledge about racing among the committee members, and the fact that none of the committee members or speakers seemed to display much awareness of the fact that gambling is what drives the sport. People don\'t go to the track to get high-quality coffee, or for a sale on jeans, do they?
Of course, we the horseplayers don\'t have a seat at the table where the decision will be made. And I don\'t see that ever happening. Organize horseplayers? The very nature of the game, where we\'re all playing against each other, seems antithetical to the process of any kind of political organizing. A wagering boycott until players get some say? Beyond unlikely. So the whole process will play out with no input from the people who make the game go, and the decision made by people ignorant of the issues. Great.
A couple of other random second-hand observations from the hearing:
My buddy missed Frankie\'s moving, wowing PowerPoint show, but he did say that several Saratoga area business people and politicians, including the mayor of Saratoga, spoke against Frankie\'s \"vision\" for Saratoga.
Surprisingly, to me at least, Stronach suggested having a separate franchise for the slots. I had thought that the reason he lusted after the franchise was due to his desire to get his hands on the revenue stream from the cash cows.
Speaking of which, what\'s to stop the state from deciding one day to change current wagering law and disconnect the tracks from the VLTs? Where does that leave the tracks then? They act like VLTs are the salvation, yet that magic carpet could conceivably be pulled out from under them at some point in the future.
Ugh. Not a lot to be optimistic about on the racing front these days.

[dutrowfan]

The only and best thing we have going for us is that NYRA still claims(and most legal experts agree) that they own the land.  Very hard to argue that since they have the tax bills marked paid since the 1950\'s.  If the politicians get nervous about losing that legal battle they may come to their senses in the end.  
A question I have is that if the State asserts that they indeed own the land wouldn\'t NYRA have a claim that the state owes them the back money on the taxes they paid plus compounding interest over 50 years?  Imagine what that would come to?