Recap: My Pennsylvania Derby Day at PARX

[TheGarMan]

Hey All,

As some of you may recall, I spent a good part of the spring traveling with my family to all three Triple Crown races, and visiting various tracks and their surrounding areas. We really enjoyed seeing all the big tracks first hand, and posting about our adventures here on PA for all to see.

So, when we heard PARX has assembled an all star field for Derby day, we decided to make the two hour trip south to check it out.

I'll cut right to the chase: We had a great time and an amazing experience :ThmbUp:

We arrived early (around 10:30) to check out the picnic area and see if any seating was available inside. By 11:00 we were perched up stairs in the top floor, in some comfy padded seats. We noted plenty of open general admission seating as the day went on. The day stayed very busy, as post time was early, and we hit a few winners right off the bat. Mid day, we took a nice walk out through the grove area. By mid afternoon, the picnic area, and the downstairs were pretty congested, but again, once we returned up top, we found the upstairs to be just fine.

A few notes if I may:

1) Free Parking
2) Free Admission
3) A very nice free hat & can koozy were provided upon entry.
4) Food and drink were very reasonable from the indoor vendors ($2.00 soda / water and $3.50 for a burger, $4.00 for a cheeseburger
5) Outside , thousands of folks had packed in their charcoal grills and picnic lunches (for free mind you) and took advantage of pony rides and face painting , with families bringing pop ups, and making it their "home" for the day
6) On the upper floors, I never waited more then 2 people deep to place a bet or cash a ticket. Most times I was the only one in the line (If I stayed to the far right hand side)
7)And despite all this free entertainment, PARX managed to put up not one, but TWO million dollar purses for the day. Attendance was reported to be around 16,000 people.

This was the view at post time from my (free) seat :cool:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z249/thegarman69/2014-09-20_173436_zps40bbdf16.jpg

I had never been to PARX before, but I must admit, I was impressed. We played all 13 races, and got out of there just before dark. We did sit in traffic in the lot for 20 min, but to me that is almost expected.

I'll never give up my Preakness day experience, but as a contrast, those tickets cost me $125 each, and a $50 just bill to park my car. (And don't get me started on $7.00 drinks or the $25.00 hats and t-shirts) :D :D -

So, certainly not comparing the two races, but we found our PARX experience to be first rate, and an excellent value for the money.

Oh, and my handicapping was pretty good as well as I had decided to make a stand against Chrome with both :4: Bayern & :7: Tapiture. :D
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z249/thegarman69/PennDerbyTickets_zps860ecd6a.jpg

I hope you enjoyed my take on a great day of racing!

I would recommend Pennsylvania Derby day at PARX to anyone.

Gar

[horses4courses]

Thanks for sharing! :ThmbUp:

Sounds like it was a great day, and value for money.
You don't hear those terms in the same sentence
too often, unfortunately, in this great sport.

[dirty moose]

Hey NYRA, you hear that word, FREE..........

[levinmpa]

Parx, AKA Philly Park has had free parking/free admission for as long as I can remember. I spent many days at the track in the mid 90's and only had to fork out a couple of bucks for the program, which contained PP's for the live racing and all of the simulcast tracks, which are numerous. This was many years before the casino, so they have always been horseplayer friendly as far as parking and admissions. They always had large numbers of self service tote machines to punch up your own ticket, so I never got shut out. My only gripe with Philly Park was the high takeout rates, that still exist. 30% on trifectas is just thievery. After the casino was built, the players still got no takeout relief. This is my biggest gripe with the Racino situation in PA and other states. The tracks get a windfall from the casino, but the horseplayers never receive any benefit. Why not seed a Pick 6 or Pick 5 pool and reduce takeout to stimulate handle. It seems like a no brainer.

I'm glad to hear they had a nice turnout. I've always liked that place and wish them well.

[jballscalls]

darn it. I took the over on "6" for which post would be the first to mention takeout.

[thespaah]

Great post....Gald you had a fun day. I was at oh, three or 4 PA derbies in the mid to late 80's
Looks like Parx handled things quite well. Good for them.

[thespaah]

darn it. I took the over on "6" for which post would be the first to mention takeout.
PA state takeout rates are pretty ridiculous, would you not agree?

[bugboy]

makes me proud........my home track

[SandyW]

Not my home track as I was from New Jersey, but I made a lot of donations their in my younger days.
They always were very customer friendly.

[TheGarMan]

Thanks Guys,

It was a big day for PARX.

Just to see the stars alone was great (Untappable, California Chrome, Rosie Napravnik, Bayern, Joel Rosario, Tapiture, Martin Garcia, etc). Where else can you see the biggest stars of a sport compete at the highest level without so much as buying a ticket? :)

Dont get me wrong, downstairs and on the rail were crowded, but (unlike the Triple Crown races) if you knew where to look, there was always room to breath.

As long as they keep bringing in the full cards, and the stars of the sport, we will be back again next year.

Gar

ps-- In full disclosure, the weather was great, I was with my family, and I left with several hundred dollars more then i came with, so maybe I have a slightly distorted view of the days events :D

[jballscalls]

PA state takeout rates are pretty ridiculous, would you not agree?

of course. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. It's just kind of an inside joke with me and some friends how no matter what the subject of the thread is here, like the 5th or 6th post will mention t/o.

[dirty moose]

Parx, AKA Philly Park has had free parking/free admission for as long as I can remember. I spent many days at the track in the mid 90's and only had to fork out a couple of bucks for the program, which contained PP's for the live racing and all of the simulcast tracks, which are numerous. This was many years before the casino, so they have always been horseplayer friendly as far as parking and admissions. They always had large numbers of self service tote machines to punch up your own ticket, so I never got shut out. My only gripe with Philly Park was the high takeout rates, that still exist. 30% on trifectas is just thievery. After the casino was built, the players still got no takeout relief. This is my biggest gripe with the Racino situation in PA and other states. The tracks get a windfall from the casino, but the horseplayers never receive any benefit. Why not seed a Pick 6 or Pick 5 pool and reduce takeout to stimulate handle. It seems like a no brainer.

I'm glad to hear they had a nice turnout. I've always liked that place and wish them well.

Not to hijack the thread,

Belmont charges $3 for preferred and $5 to walk in, along with half a card full of 1st timers. I guess I'm the dummy who goes about once a week. 5 min away is hard to beat. Aqueduct since the casino has opened is free to walk into and they have a brand new and really nice simulcast room, which they charge $5 to walk into, unless you hold a NYRA reward account.

I'd love to be able to go to Parx once a week, they're racing cards alone are worth going for. I think they have some of the best betting opportunities around. Mostly dirt, mostly 3 y/o and up. None of the full fields of MDN's.

[wisconsin]

Thanks Guys,

It was a big day for PARX.

Just to see the stars alone was great (Untappable, California Chrome, Rosie Napravnik, Bayern, Joel Rosario, Tapiture, Martin Garcia, etc). Where else can you see the biggest stars of a sport compete at the highest level without so much as buying a ticket? :)

Dont get me wrong, downstairs and on the rail were crowded, but (unlike the Triple Crown races) if you knew where to look, there was always room to breath.

As long as they keep bringing in the full cards, and the stars of the sport, we will be back again next year.

Gar

ps-- In full disclosure, the weather was great, I was with my family, and I left with several hundred dollars more then i came with, so maybe I have a slightly distorted view of the days events :D

Did that very cool mummers band show up this year? That was so cool last year.

Glad you had a great time as did I in 2013.

[olddaddy]

Not a big fan of the high take out and is the only day I play the track. Its nice though that the customers going to the track are treated well. I guess it can be a way to get new fans to the sport. As Im typing this Im thinking about AP and what they charge and the crap racing they get. This card was similar to, actually better than the million card and I think general admission was like $20 and the only way you could get a $4 buck cheese burger was if some degenerate already took a few bites of it and needed to bet the next race.

[dirty moose]

Not a big fan of the high take out and is the only day I play the track. Its nice though that the customers going to the track are treated well. I guess it can be a way to get new fans to the sport. As Im typing this Im thinking about AP and what they charge and the crap racing they get. This card was similar to, actually better than the million card and I think general admission was like $20 and the only way you could get a $4 buck cheese burger was if some degenerate already took a few bites of it and needed to bet the next race.

And the tracks wonder why no one goes to them.....

[Stillriledup]

Parx, AKA Philly Park has had free parking/free admission for as long as I can remember. I spent many days at the track in the mid 90's and only had to fork out a couple of bucks for the program, which contained PP's for the live racing and all of the simulcast tracks, which are numerous. This was many years before the casino, so they have always been horseplayer friendly as far as parking and admissions. They always had large numbers of self service tote machines to punch up your own ticket, so I never got shut out. My only gripe with Philly Park was the high takeout rates, that still exist. 30% on trifectas is just thievery. After the casino was built, the players still got no takeout relief. This is my biggest gripe with the Racino situation in PA and other states. The tracks get a windfall from the casino, but the horseplayers never receive any benefit. Why not seed a Pick 6 or Pick 5 pool and reduce takeout to stimulate handle. It seems like a no brainer.

I'm glad to hear they had a nice turnout. I've always liked that place and wish them well.

Don't bet trifectas. Problem solved!

[proximity]

when you live in pennsylvania the joke somehow just isn't as funny. :)

[takeout]

Don't bet trifectas. Problem solved!
Or supers, or pick-3's, 4's or 6's.

[Redboard]

Gar

Glad you had a good time. Parx will never be confused with Saratoga, Keenland or even Delaware Park, and the current era of casino supplements leading to these pumped up purses can’t last . But it’s fun that the national spotlight of thoroughbred racing shines for one day on Parx - very proud day for the local horsemen/horse racing fans, including myself. I was there outside around the picnic area and I thought things went surprisingly well. I was shut out betting on one race because the lines were too long, but that was it. It did take 16 minutes to get out of the parking lot which was not bad considering it was the most crowded I have ever seen it. Thankfully there were only 16k, and not 25k. You were smart to sit at the top floor area. But you did miss Sheena Parveen, which some of you may have saw on TV, but, the camera does that woman no justice. Seeing her in three dimensions is a religious experience.

Dick Jeradi wrote an article on Monday about it here:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/horse_racing/20140922_Pa__Derby_day_a_huge_success.html

[lamboguy]

Parx will get some type of subsidy up until the year 2019. the horsemen rule the place and don't want a good racing program there. customer's aren't stupid, they don't want to attend to watch junk.

no doubt they had a great program for that one big racing day, the PA Derby. it looked to me like they had over 20,000 people there even though the number listed on equibase was less. there were a lot of people that showed up late in the day. the live handle was shy of $1 million, and the total handle was about $10 million. the people that run the place think that was great. to me it looks like they want to settle for mediocrity.

[onefast99]

Not my home track as I was from New Jersey, but I made a lot of donations their in my younger days.
They always were very customer friendly.
Do you remember Outer Voyage who ran the Monmouth, Meadowlands Keystone circuit....

[affirmedny]

Hey NYRA, you hear that word, FREE..........

Why get on NYRA and not Chuchill & Pimlico?

[lamboguy]

i think they let you into Aqueduct no charge

[TheGarMan]

Gar

Glad you had a good time. Parx will never be confused with Saratoga, Keenland or even Delaware Park, and the current era of casino supplements leading to these pumped up purses can’t last . But it’s fun that the national spotlight of thoroughbred racing shines for one day on Parx - very proud day for the local horsemen/horse racing fans, including myself. I was there outside around the picnic area and I thought things went surprisingly well. I was shut out betting on one race because the lines were too long, but that was it. It did take 16 minutes to get out of the parking lot which was not bad considering it was the most crowded I have ever seen it. Thankfully there were only 16k, and not 25k. You were smart to sit at the top floor area. But you did miss Sheena Parveen, which some of you may have saw on TV, but, the camera does that woman no justice. Seeing her in three dimensions is a religious experience.

Dick Jeradi wrote an article on Monday about it here:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/horse_racing/20140922_Pa__Derby_day_a_huge_success.html

Thanks for the link, I have long been a fan of Dick Jerardi. (Both his horse racing and college basketball musings are solid :) ) Sheena Parveen? Yea, I caught a look at her down around the winners circle, she looked amazing. :D

[castaway01]

Gar

Glad you had a good time. Parx will never be confused with Saratoga, Keenland or even Delaware Park, and the current era of casino supplements leading to these pumped up purses can’t last . But it’s fun that the national spotlight of thoroughbred racing shines for one day on Parx - very proud day for the local horsemen/horse racing fans, including myself.




As someone who spent 100 days a year at Parx for more than a decade during my misspent youth (guess it went on a bit past my youth), it is remarkable that the "big tin box" hosts races with these kinds of horses. PA Derby Day drew 20,000 back then too, so I'm not sure 16,000 is such a great crowd, but you did have a show on the Comcast network as well as California Chrome. Fifteen years ago, rattling around the place with 500 people on a weekday, it didn't feel like we'd see a Derby winner there anytime soon. Then came the slots. Of course, if you know the company that owns the track and the story behind it, it makes Churchill Downs look warm and fuzzy by comparison (do a Google search). Also, all the track has really proven is if you fund your purses with your extremely lucrative casino, you can get the Derby winner. It's not the story of brilliant management, just brilliant lobbyists who greased the right people to get a very favorable deal. On the other hand, people like Keith Jones, who is a good guy and called a lot of crap races over the years, and some of the trainers and riders now making a nice living, I am happy for them.

[dirty moose]

Why get on NYRA and not Chuchill & Pimlico?

I live 5 min from Belmont.

And yes AQ is no charge, for good reason. AQ has the best simulcast room around, brand new and all. BUT it's still AQ