Heavy Damage at Retama Park

[codysakic]

Tornado did some pretty good damage today here at Retama Park. The tote board is gone and there was a lot of damage inside.

[PaceAdvantage]

yikes! :eek:

[FrankieFigs]

Hopefully the tote board getting demolished was the worst of the damage...

[EMD4ME]

Tornado did some pretty good damage today here at Retama Park. The tote board is gone and there was a lot of damage inside.

OH NO. I like Texas Racing and Retama. Was anyone hurt? Any horses hurt?

How is the grandstand?

[Mr. Pick 5]

Tornado did some pretty good damage today here at Retama Park. The tote board is gone and there was a lot of damage inside.

I cant imagine how big the bomb that won that race must have been to cause that type of damage :D

[codysakic]

Nobody was hurt. A small tornado did some damage. The tote board is gone and there was some heavy damage inside. I live in Schertz which is 5 minutes from the track. A lot of work needs to be done but our QH meet doesn't start until June

[EMD4ME]

Nobody was hurt. A small tornado did some damage. The tote board is gone and there was some heavy damage inside. I live in Schertz which is 5 minutes from the track. A lot of work needs to be done but our QH meet doesn't start until June


Glad no one was hurt.

Question, who owns Retama? Who will pay for this?

[Mr. Pick 5]

Glad no one was hurt.

Question, who owns Retama? Who will pay for this?

I would assume insurance should cover something like this....not sure who owns the place tho

[barahona44]

Glad no one was hurt.

Question, who owns Retama? Who will pay for this?

Pinnacle Entertainment, they also own River Downs and 16 casinos.Their predecessor company owned Hollywood Park before selling it to Churchill Downs in 1999.

[dilanesp]

Hopefully the tote board getting demolished was the worst of the damage...

Honestly the destruction of a tote board is an opportunity. Old style tote boards waste lots of space on information about place and show pools that players don't use. They should design one from scratch with far more information about exotics.

[garyscpa]

Honestly the destruction of a tote board is an opportunity. Old style tote boards waste lots of space on information about place and show pools that players don't use. They should design one from scratch with far more information about exotics.

Yep,just use tv screens instead of the old style tote. Smaller ones inside and a big one in the infield.

[lamboguy]

this must be the ghost of WILD AGAIN, Blackchip Stables and Bill Allen

[dilanesp]

Yep,just use tv screens instead of the old style tote. Smaller ones inside and a big one in the infield.

That's part of it.

But also, think how much room there is on an infield tote board. An infield tote board could actually post Pick 3 and Trifecta probables that wouldn't work in any other format.

[rastajenk]

I think the current generation of new tote boards have less...much less...information than older ones. Smaller and cheaper, just like almost everything else in racing.

[dilanesp]

I think the current generation of new tote boards have less...much less...information than older ones. Smaller and cheaper, just like almost everything else in racing.

There's just a ton of inefficient use of space.

Santa Anita and Del Mar have big multipanel dot matrix tote boards. Plenty of room to put up all the exotics probables for 2 horse exotics AND 3 horse exotics. Instead, tons of space wasted on place and show pools which nobody cares about.

[Track Collector]

A little bit like the Great Barrington (Fairgrounds) when a tornado hit in 1995.

The track had only run once (1991) in a number years. Insurance monies were used to re-build and the track re-opened for another 2 years. Not very long, but it led to me meeting my best racing friend and fellow track collector Gary. :jump:

[EMD4ME]

Pinnacle Entertainment, they also own River Downs and 16 casinos.Their predecessor company owned Hollywood Park before selling it to Churchill Downs in 1999.



Thanks. How are they in terms of loving the game? Spending on the game and believing in the game?

[codysakic]

Another photo

[barahona44]

Thanks. How are they in terms of loving the game? Spending on the game and believing in the game?

Don't really know BUT they were willing to invest beacoup bucks to build a new racetrack after buying River Downs and changing it to Beltera.When was the last time anybody built a new racetrack? (OK, Mahoning Valley, but outside of Ohio:)) Also Retama Park was actually owned by a quasi-governmental agency after it was built in 1995 but was losing money and was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy when Pinnacle bought it in 2013.So I'd say that it appears, at least on the surface, that they're willing to give racing a sporting chance.I'd think we would need to hear from some people in Ol' San Anton' to tell us differently.

[NTamm1215]

Don't really know BUT they were willing to invest beacoup bucks to build a new racetrack after buying River Downs and changing it to Beltera.When was the last time anybody built a new racetrack? (OK, Mahoning Valley, but outside of Ohio:)) Also Retama Park was actually owned by a quasi-governmental agency after it was built in 1995 but was losing money and was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy when Pinnacle bought it in 2013.So I'd say that it appears, at least on the surface, that they're willing to give racing a sporting chance.I'd think we would need to hear from some people in Ol' San Anton' to tell us differently.

The Retama Development Corp actually did file bankruptcy in 1996, less than a year after opening. Pinnacle saved it from another filing.

Pinnacle gave Retama a lifeline, but the track has never turned a profit and has a very bleak future. I went last year just to make sure I saw it before the end of the road. I hope it's not the case since it's a nice facility in a major urban area, but it's off the beaten path a bit on the northeast side of town and the purses have made the thoroughbred meet a dud most years.

[thespaah]

Glad no one was hurt.

Question, who owns Retama? Who will pay for this?

That's why God invented insurance. This is wind damage.
Most fire and casualty policies cover for wind, wind driven rain, fire, internal water damaged caused by roof leaks, wind driven rain( not water across the ground surface or from underground. THat is considered "flood".) fire due to natural and unnatural causes.
Pretty certain the deductible is hefty. But the damage will be covered. Or most of it.