Wow, a depressing look @ racing

[fmhealth]

Used to love this track growing up in NY. Watch the slide show get full the impact. Boy have times changed.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/nyregion/photographs-at-aqueduct-racetrack-where-horses-race-but-no-one-wins.html?_r=0#slideshow/100000003425706/100000003425721

[gheuks]

sadly this resembles a lot of tracks

[TravisVOX]

I wonder what a photo montage of [insert stadium name here] after a game would look like.

[DeltaLover]

Used to love this track growing up in NY. Watch the slide show get full the impact. Boy have times changed.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/nyregion/photographs-at-aqueduct-racetrack-where-horses-race-but-no-one-wins.html?_r=0#slideshow/100000003425706/100000003425721


A square photographer full of BS....

[Stillriledup]

You can make any sport look bad if that's the goal you have setting in. Im sure if you told a good reporter 'make the nfl look bad, with graphic pics of players injuries and their brain scans and photos of some ex players in jail or living under bridges" im sure you can make the "glorious" NFL look pretty sad too, it all depends on what you want to accomplish heading in.

[bello]

It actually catches the mood of the place quite well. If anything it is flattering.

Aquaduct is a disgrace to NYRA and thoroughbred racing in general. A true armpit

[alydar]

Funny, I saw this a few days ago and saw nothing wrong with it. It's the track, not Dinseyland.

[JustRalph]

How in hell does a piece of shit article like this make it in the Ny Times?

[VeryOldMan]

I'll defer to others who've been to more tracks than me recently - but I think I could come up with similar photo montages from CT, LRL, and PIM. I still go to them on occasion, but the horse racing side at CT isn't exactly a pretty sight and both LRL and PIM have seen better days.

[Some_One]

Compare to a Happy Valley midweek card

https://www.facebook.com/happyweds/photos_stream?ref=page_internal

[lamboguy]

i like going to Monmouth and Santa Anita. those places go out of their way to make me happy.

if i lived in California, i would hang out in the Eddie Logan room every day, i couldn't imagine a better place in the world to be.

[bello]

I'll defer to others who've been to more tracks than me recently - but I think I could come up with similar photo montages from CT, LRL, and PIM. I still go to them on occasion, but the horse racing side at CT isn't exactly a pretty sight and both LRL and PIM have seen better days.

Sorry to break this to you Old Man...But Charlestown is a lap of luxury compared to Aqueduct. But the pictures don's have a "scratch and sniff" smell capability. The pungent scent of human urine cannot be missed upon entring the Big A. There is noe excuse for that. There a plenty of old tracks that are still a pleasure to go to. My wife always goes to te track with me when we travel. But she would NEVER go near this dump.

[proximity]

other than the one poor soul who was omg....... divorced :faint: I found exhibit #5 of the pregnant woman and two guys with racing forms to be particularly troubling.

they really should be using pace figures in this modern era.

[DeltaLover]

Compare to a Happy Valley midweek card

https://www.facebook.com/happyweds/photos_stream?ref=page_internal

I will take the big A any day of the year

[Stillriledup]

The picture of the bettor falling asleep might be because he didn't have 4.50 for coffee. ;)

[dirty moose]

I will take the big A any day of the year

May I ask why?

[DeltaLover]

May I ask why?

Because it is a real race track that smells and feels like one... I will never trade the atmosphere of Aqueduct with any “race track” in the world that looks like a five stars hotel..

You can see my other favorite track, that does not exist anymore, here:


FALIRIKON DELTA
http://www.dpgr.gr/usergalleries/albums/userpics/12462/Ganian_12.jpg


and here:


FALIRIKON DELTA
http://www.dpgr.gr/usergalleries/albums/userpics/12462/Ganian_25.jpg

[elhelmete]

Funny, I saw this a few days ago and saw nothing wrong with it. It's the track, not Dinseyland.

Perzactly

On my coast, I wasn't overwhelmingly heartbroken to to see Hollywood go, but I was sad and when people asked what the appeal was the best answer I could give was, "sometimes you just want a RACETRACK."

[Shemp Howard]

"You only live once!!!"

[RunForTheRoses]

The picture of the bettor falling asleep might be because he didn't have 4.50 for coffee. ;)

:lol:

[RunForTheRoses]

The fact is in the modern world where you can bet from home or a nearby Teletheater/OTB (such as a fairly nice one I went to in Islandia Long Island-why schlep all the way to Ozone Park when you have that?) the more modest tracks aren't going to do as good. Belmont ain't what it usedta was either and lamboguy mentioned Monmouth and that is not what it was only 10-15 years ago.

[thespaah]

How in hell does a piece of shit article like this make it in the Ny Times?
Because the NYT editorial staff has an agenda that only one side of the ideological aisle agrees with.
And, those same editors, should they have it in for a person, persons, business or other entity, will go out of their way to make sure only negative stories are printed.
NYT has gone from a source of hard news to an entity desperate for readers and advertisers.
The NYT has lost all credibility.

[Prytanis]

I will take the big A any day of the year
I second that!!

[dilanesp]

It actually catches the mood of the place quite well. If anything it is flattering.

Aquaduct is a disgrace to NYRA and thoroughbred racing in general. A true armpit

Yeah, actually the wide shot of the clubhouse shows a couple of sections that look relatively full.

[dilanesp]

I will take the big A any day of the year

I like Aqueduct, although I have to admit it has been years since I have been there. But I was actually still able to get a sense of what a palace it must have been when it was built in the late 1950's.

[Stillriledup]

Yeah, actually the wide shot of the clubhouse shows a couple of sections that look relatively full.

Maybe its an artists rendition of what the track might look like if Coffee wasn't 4.50 and takeout was 5% like sports bets?

[Tom]

How in hell does a piece of shit article like this make it in the Ny Times?

Think about what you just asked?
Where else would a garbage article go?

The only bad stuff I saw was the PATRONS! Probably all employees of the Times! :D
The best shot of all was of the paddock, with race track people in it.

People would live happier if they avoided the Times at all costs. nothing good comes out of it in any section.

Of all the NY Tracks, Aqu would be my favorite if I went to any of them regularly. Even though I do call it Aquedrab in the winter.... a comment on the weather - hard to look good in white after Christmas. ;)

[Dave Schwartz]

My favorite picture, which hangs just outside my office. Beth got it for $1 at a garage sale:

http://www.practicalhandicapping.com/desktop/package/PublicImages/BBSImages/PickingWinnerAtDmr.JPG

[RunForTheRoses]

My favorite picture, which hangs just outside my office. Beth got it for $1 at a garage sale:

http://www.practicalhandicapping.com/desktop/package/PublicImages/BBSImages/PickingWinnerAtDmr.JPG

30 some odd years ago I was in a Sam Goodys Masapequa Mall with two friends-civilians, and I wanted to pick up Beyer's Picking Winners and my one friend, this is teenage days, ostentatiously starts faux picking his nose, "I'll Pick you Some Winners" Civilian Friends:bang:

[Quesmark]

How many Aqueduct players are getting there free[ironically?]via the red Resorts World buses,which are ubiquitous in Queens NY these days?

[Robert Goren]

Funny, I saw this a few days ago and saw nothing wrong with it. It's the track, not Dinseyland.I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought like you. Tracks have never been pretty.

[taxicab]

other than the one poor soul who was omg....... divorced :faint: I found exhibit #5 of the pregnant woman and two guys with racing forms to be particularly troubling.

they really should be using pace figures in this modern era.

LOL.....very clever. :ThmbUp:

[taxicab]

The picture of the bettor falling asleep might be because he didn't have 4.50 for coffee. ;)
Bazinga..... :D

[taxicab]

After I finished the short read/pics I started reading through the Thursday Times.
Here's what I learned about New York....
I don't like your guys Mayor.
What the hell were you folks thinking electing that buzzard to run your city ? :confused:
But I did like the new Grizzly Bears @ the Zoo......they were cool. :)

[lamboguy]

i don't care who the hell the mayor is, i love New York and New York racing. my guess is that Aqueduct is probably on its last legs now. and it doesn't make any sense to put to much money in it. they could use that money to fix up the other properties and attract more people there.

California is also going through a transformation as well, and it looks like they are making the transition just fine.

[burnsy]

i don't care who the hell the mayor is, i love New York and New York racing. my guess is that Aqueduct is probably on its last legs now. and it doesn't make any sense to put to much money in it. they could use that money to fix up the other properties and attract more people there.

California is also going through a transformation as well, and it looks like they are making the transition just fine.

You are right on all accounts. People get all worked up about the mayor or president or whoever. Who gives a crap? Its all rigged anyway, they bitch about sports and racing but nothing is rigged more than the 2 party, crook system that the sheeple follow.

NY racing is tops now, hands down. Aqueduct meet is the like the "minors" now and may be etched out eventually. But come spring all the best return. California is transitioning but they never get enough horses. The horse population kind of sucks so I avoid betting there. Aqueduct actually looks better now that they worked on it, but the Equestris dining room is kind of depressing though. I thought I saw the guy from Let It Ride with his gold digging wife, huffing off of his oxygen mask.

[windstone]

the only track i have ever been to is oaklawn. the management does a great job as far as i am concerned. great food, clean restrooms, always with attendant, friendly tellers, and one smoking area for the smokers. the eye candy is unreal and this year i just read they are not charging general admission for the first time in track history...

[cj]

How in hell does a piece of shit article like this make it in the Ny Times?

They should be embarrassed to have published that.

[Johnny V]

Because it is a real race track that smells and feels like one... I will never trade the atmosphere of Aqueduct with any “race track” in the world that looks like a five stars hotel..

You can see my other favorite track, that does not exist anymore, here:


FALIRIKON DELTA
http://www.dpgr.gr/usergalleries/albums/userpics/12462/Ganian_12.jpg


and here:


FALIRIKON DELTA
http://www.dpgr.gr/usergalleries/albums/userpics/12462/Ganian_25.jpg

Delta: Is this the track in Athens Greece? if so I went to it a couple of times in the late sixties or early seventies. Also if memory serves, I recall watching grooms lead horses to the waters edge in the bay in the AM. I was on a ship in the USN at the time.

[DeltaLover]

Delta: Is this the track in Athens Greece? if so I went to it a couple of times in the late sixties or early seventies. Also if memory serves, I recall watching grooms lead horses to the waters edge in the bay in the AM. I was on a ship in the USN at the time.

Of course you are right... It is the legendary track DELTA in Piraeus Greece..

In the decade of '80 the daily handle was more than one million dollars while the per capita income was less than $5K and the attendance was around to six thousand per day!


jS7kflD4u7U

[PaceAdvantage]

They should be embarrassed to have published that.Might be a PR piece for the folks that own the casino and would like to see Aqueduct go away...purely a guess on my part though...

The whole thing smells worse than bello's imagined urine.

[PaceAdvantage]

It actually catches the mood of the place quite well. If anything it is flattering.

Aquaduct is a disgrace to NYRA and thoroughbred racing in general. A true armpitMr. Genting, is that you? :lol:

[Stillriledup]

Mr. Genting, is that you? :lol:

DALcbYxWeO4

[DeltaLover]

Might be a PR piece for the folks that own the casino and would like to see Aqueduct go away...purely a guess on my part though...

The whole thing smells worse than bello's imagined urine.

:ThmbUp: :ThmbUp:

Very reasonable assumption... This is also the reason for the extremely high prices and the very low quality of the food served in the track.. It is obvious to me, that the Asian owners of the casino are trying to chase the people out of the track, attracting them to their (ridiculous) games..

[Robert Fischer]

It is obvious to me, that the Asian owners of the casino are trying to chase the people out of the track, attracting them to their (ridiculous) games..

Are there multiple ethnic groups of owners of Aqueduct, and the Asians happen to be the ones employing these tactics?

I don't doubt the possibility that such tactics occur. In fact, if the owners own both the casino and the track, it will be a certainty unless other incentives exist that I can't think of in my dull decaffeinated state.
The ethnicity stuff simply threw me for a loop.

[DeltaLover]

Are there multiple ethnic groups of owners of Aqueduct, and the Asians happen to be the ones employing these tactics?

I don't doubt the possibility that such tactics occur. In fact, if the owners own both the casino and the track, it will be a certainty unless other incentives exist that I can't think of in my dull decaffeinated state.
The ethnicity stuff simply threw me for a loop.

They are Malaysians ( Genting Malaysia Berhad) .. Obviously they do not care the least about racing, a landmark race track or even the neighbourhood...