New Track?

[dirty moose]

Do you guys/gals think we will see a new rack track open in North America the near future? Or ever for that matter?

[Peter Berry]

Austintown opens in November.

[HuggingTheRail]

Last I heard (a few months ago) the new track just outside of Calgary, Alberta is due to open late 2014 for Standardbred, and spring/summer 2015 for t-breds. Plans keep changing though, last I heard it is going to be a 5.5 furlong track instead of a mile...

[Hoofless_Wonder]

The trend for the industry is down, and existing tracks are going to racinos to survive, if possible. Real estate and other high costs virtually guarantees the chances of a track opening in a major metro area are pretty slim.

The most likely possibility I see for a new track would be possibly in Missouri, Georgia or South Carolina, in the unlikely event one of those states legalize the sport. You might see a couple of other meets in states where racing exists to gain a simulcast rights, but they would be the short Kentucky Downs style, if that elaborate.

Give the economy a couple of years or less to tank, the Deflation Monster to really come to life, and disposable income to shrink to nothing - and you'll start the see racetracks and casinos closing left and right, with the impact on on the sport nothing less than devastating.

[Wickel]

Austintown opens in November.

Where?

[v j stauffer]

Where?

http://www.hollywoodmahoningvalley.com/

[tanner12oz]

i think there is a track coming to the Youngstown ohio area

[rastajenk]

That's where Austintown is.

Yet, just as I chided someone this morning for putting Beulah on a list of closed tracks, it's hard to consider it as a new one, too, even though it will be a brand-spanking new facility. It's not moving so as to spread the gospel of horse racing fun and entertainment; it's moving to separate one Penn National property from another, to exploit another market for slots action. Sad to say.

It's hard (for me) to imagine a new track in a new market anywhere, except under similar circumstances as Beulah's.