Meadowlands having trouble filling card - for opening night!

[Just a Fan]

This is from the Meadowlands own press release:

The draw for the opening night card at the Meadowlands will be delayed with the entry box remaining open until 9 a.m. Wednesday morning (Nov. 20) due to an extreme shortage of entries in all classes.

The Fall Final Four stakes did not draw enough entries in any of the four divisions to require eliminations and those races will all go directly to the finals on Nov. 30.

Left to fill the card with predominately overnight races, the number of entries came up woefully short of what is needed to put on any semblance of a program, let alone the kind of race card worthy of launching the new grandstand.


Troubling. Gural doesn't mind being the bad guy, and lets loose with some familiar sounding quotes that are somewhat self-serving, but everyone should be rooting for the Meadowlands to succeed.


http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=56716&zoneid=63

[DRIVEWAY]

This is from the Meadowlands own press release:

The draw for the opening night card at the Meadowlands will be delayed with the entry box remaining open until 9 a.m. Wednesday morning (Nov. 20) due to an extreme shortage of entries in all classes.

The Fall Final Four stakes did not draw enough entries in any of the four divisions to require eliminations and those races will all go directly to the finals on Nov. 30.

Left to fill the card with predominately overnight races, the number of entries came up woefully short of what is needed to put on any semblance of a program, let alone the kind of race card worthy of launching the new grandstand.


Troubling. Gural doesn't mind being the bad guy, and lets loose with some familiar sounding quotes that are somewhat self-serving, but everyone should be rooting for the Meadowlands to succeed.


http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=56716&zoneid=63


Why did Pocono extend their meet an extra week and conflict with the Meadowlands opening night?

Gural should immediately push back opening night until November 30th.

[mrroyboy]

I agree. Meadowlands must survive and thrive or Harness Racing itself is in trouble.

All of us on this forum pretty much understand that. Now, what to do about it? Well that's a whole other question.

[lamboguy]

originally Meadowlands took over for Rockingham. what would happen if Rockingham ever gets the casino there during this governor's administration?

she has said she wants first class racing to return to New Hampshire

[baconswitchfarm]

Mr. Gural could fix this problem with one stroke of his pen. He has chosen not to.

[Just a Fan]

Mr. Gural could fix this problem with one stroke of his pen. He has chosen not to.


Not sure what you mean :confused: Are you saying that he should push back the opening by a week? I think they have done quite a bit of marketing for the 11/23 opening night. And I don't think opening on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend would be ideal.

Or are you suggesting something else, like letting in some of the horsemen on his "banned" list? Most, if not all, of the banned trainers are banned for a pretty good reason.

[baconswitchfarm]

I am suggesting he offer some competitive purses.

[Saratoga_Mike]

I am suggesting he offer some competitive purses.

As you know, there's no way for him to match slots-fueled purses at YR and/or in PA. He actually has to pay purses from handle (on/off-track and simul) - run the math - he doesn't have a lot to work with. How should he fund higher purses?

[Stillriledup]

I am suggesting he offer some competitive purses.

He's offering horsemen a mile track.....which means that if you draw post 8 on a 5/8ths or a half, those fancy purses dont mean a heck of a lot. He's also offering clean racing, so if you are a trainer or owner who isnt a cheater, you can come there and compete. Also, because the purses are not slots fueled, have weaker competition.....i'd rather race for 10k in a weaker race than 13k vs monsters.

[baconswitchfarm]

He should fund it with the tens of millions in profits from his other slot tracks. Lets say I own two extremely profitable burger kings . I open a third and it needs revenue to be competitive. Where do I get it? After the super Bowl in NJ, when he gets his casino he will more than recoup his money. But that would require his investing more than the $1 he has already put into running the racetrack. Instead he spends his time in the press lecturing drivers( many of whom grew up with no shoes on racetrack back stretches) how they owe his business their loyalty. They should ignore their families well being to generate a greater good for all. In finances, loyalty is a luxury to those born the sons of billionaires like Mr. Gural. The rest of us advance entirely on our own merit and toil.

[Saratoga_Mike]

He should fund it with the tens of millions in profits from his other slot tracks. Lets say I own two extremely profitable burger kings . I open a third and it needs revenue to be competitive. Where do I get it?

Hah! One would never run a restaurant chain like that. You'd either shutdown the third one or cut costs (in this case, the purses are the costs).

[Just a Fan]

I am suggesting he offer some competitive purses.

Here is a purse comparison for Saturday night.

PcD Preferred.... 25,000 vs M1 A1/FFA Hcp 30,000
PcD NW22000L5 21,000 vs M1 A2 20,000
PcD NW16000L5 19,000 vs M1 B1 16,000
PcD NW11000L5 15,000 vs M1 B2 14,000

Here are the Harrah's Philly purses for their Wed card.

W/O 30,000
NW17,500L5 20,000
NW12,500L5 17,000

The Meadowlands seems competitive to me - although you can argue that the PcD-M1 class comparisons that I used may not be perfectly accurate (I tried).

Yes, I'm conveniently leaving out YR, but I just don't see how the Meadowlands can be expected to compete with them right now.

I'll give you this - YR raises their purses when they are competing for horses, so maybe the Meadowlands needed to overpay purses while PcD and Chester were still racing, to ensure that they got horses.

[baconswitchfarm]

Hah! One would never run a restaurant chain like that. You'd either shutdown the third one or cut costs (in this case, the purses are the costs).

If you had a third restaurant that was getting a casino in the largest metro area in the U.s. , you would sell your blood to keep it open.

[baconswitchfarm]

He's also offering clean racing, so if you are a trainer or owner who isnt a cheater, you can come there and compete. .



It appears there are not enough non cheaters left to fill one card.

[Saratoga_Mike]

If you had a third restaurant that was getting a casino in the largest metro area in the U.s. , you would sell your blood to keep it open.

That's funny, but is it a metaphysical certainty that he will get a casino at the Meadowlands in the next couple of yrs???

[Saratoga_Mike]

It appears there are not enough non cheaters left to fill one card.

That's the problem with subsidies (slots subsidies in this case) you end up more supply (races) than the market desires.

[Just a Fan]

He should fund it with the tens of millions in profits from his other slot tracks. Lets say I own two extremely profitable burger kings . I open a third and it needs revenue to be competitive. Where do I get it? After the super Bowl in NJ, when he gets his casino he will more than recoup his money. But that would require his investing more than the $1 he has already put into running the racetrack. Instead he spends his time in the press lecturing drivers( many of whom grew up with no shoes on racetrack back stretches) how they owe his business their loyalty. They should ignore their families well being to generate a greater good for all. In finances, loyalty is a luxury to those born the sons of billionaires like Mr. Gural. The rest of us advance entirely on our own merit and toil.


I don't disagree with you on any of this. It irks me sometimes when he tells drivers how to drive, or where they should drive, and all that stuff. But since at the present time he obviously does not have a casino, but he has just not only saved, but invested $100M ish (I think) into the Meadowlands, and is probably on track to being able to offer monsterous purses by the end of the decade at a track that without him would otherwise be a Metlife stadium parking lot right now, I can understand how he feels like he ought to get a little more industry support. I don't know how profitable VD is (if at all), but I'm sure a lot of his Tioga profit has already been reinvested in the construction of the new Meadowlands.

He's probably saying to himself "If you build it... hey, how is that line supposed to go again"?

[Just a Fan]

[/B]

That's funny, but is it a metaphysical certainty that he will get a casino at the Meadowlands in the next couple of yrs???

Not a certainty. But Gural thought it looked promising enough to bet $100M on it. It wouldn't hurt if Gov. Christie became President Christie, but even Christie is going to have a hard time sticking up for Atlantic City the way they are trending down there.

[Bennie]

And on-line gambling is coming soon. Who wants to go to AC when you can sit in your living room, in your pajamas and gamble?

[baconswitchfarm]

For the one millionth time , Jeff Gural invested 0 dollars at the Meadowlands. He leased the track for $1. The state had a casino company loan the track 100 million to build the new facility. If it goes bad Gural is out his one dollar. Do you see any casino companies loaning Northville or Cal expo 100 million. They have no chance of getting slots. That is why Gural and the casino companies are not at those tracks. Worst case scenario , gural loses one dollar. Best case , he makes hundreds of millions with no takeout. Try to beat that ROI.

[Stillriledup]

For the one millionth time , Jeff Gural invested 0 dollars at the Meadowlands. He leased the track for $1. The state had a casino company loan the track 100 million to build the new facility. If it goes bad Gural is out his one dollar. Do you see any casino companies loaning Northville or Cal expo 100 million. They have no chance of getting slots. That is why Gural and the casino companies are not at those tracks. Worst case scenario , gural loses one dollar. Best case , he makes hundreds of millions with no takeout. Try to beat that ROI.

You could have beaten it if you offered TWO dollars. :ThmbUp:

[baconswitchfarm]

You could have beaten it if you offered TWO dollars. :ThmbUp:


Jeff give a lot(millions) of his fathers money to politicians. The dollar was just a formality.

[Just a Fan]

For the one millionth time , Jeff Gural invested 0 dollars at the Meadowlands. He leased the track for $1. The state had a casino company loan the track 100 million to build the new facility. If it goes bad Gural is out his one dollar. Do you see any casino companies loaning Northville or Cal expo 100 million. They have no chance of getting slots. That is why Gural and the casino companies are not at those tracks. Worst case scenario , gural loses one dollar. Best case , he makes hundreds of millions with no takeout. Try to beat that ROI.


Are you sure that's accurate? I know that Gural was looking for investors, and Hard Rock did invest in the Meadowlands project, but I never heard that Hard Rock was paying for the whole thing.

At any rate, I hope they can fill a decent card Saturday night, so they can put on a good show.

[baconswitchfarm]

Are you sure that's accurate? I know that Gural was looking for investors, and Hard Rock did invest in the Meadowlands project, but I never heard that Hard Rock was paying for the whole thing.

At any rate, I hope they can fill a decent card Saturday night, so they can put on a good show.

It is not the Hard rock. But the casino company has some affiliation with Chris Christies wife. This made some slots opponents upset, as it appears the fix would be in for them to pony up.

A strong Meadowlands is absolutely the best thing for harness racing. Hopefully they will succeed. But if your saviors resume is running the worst two tracks in America, with among the lowest handles, it doesn't look bright. If he knew how to build handle , he would have some at his own tracks. It would be like hiring the Obamacare website people to do some computer work for you.

[CHeCK EyE]

But the Meadowlands routinely has the highest purses in the industry. A card of C-2 pacers EASILY outhandled the Breeders Crown at Pocono last month.

[melman]

Bacon ---It seems one of Gural's other tracks is not doing all that bad. I would rate Vernon far ahead of Bangor or Rosecroft or Ocean Downs.

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=56703&zoneid=1

One thing for sure IMO the harness business needs a strong Meadowlands. What other harness track get have a 6 millon dollor handle on one race card. Or do a 2,8 avg nightly handle. I think the general public still will bet the large track racing but not so much on the smaller tracks, which have been afoat becasue of casino welfare purses.

[melman]

Things seem to be looking a little better for opening night at the BigM.

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=56720&zoneid=1

[wiffleball whizz]

It's a disgrace

U think the horsemen could forgo a say night at Yonkers and race there

This is why I can't stand the snob horsemen

[baconswitchfarm]

Bacon ---It seems one of Gural's other tracks is not doing all that bad. I would rate Vernon far ahead of Bangor or Rosecroft or Ocean Downs.

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/article.aspx?articleid=56703&zoneid=1

One thing for sure IMO the harness business needs a strong Meadowlands. What other harness track get have a 6 millon dollor handle on one race card. Or do a 2,8 avg nightly handle. I think the general public still will bet the large track racing but not so much on the smaller tracks, which have been afoat becasue of casino welfare purses.

Vernons handle could not pay for one purse per day. Vernons handle is in the ballpark of all the bottom dwellers you mention. Just saying. If you were trying to turn around the Yankees , you wouldn't pick out a manager of the perennial losers bracket.