Just What we need.....a new Track.........

[JustRalph]

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=41216

Plans Unveiled for New Michigan Track, Retail Complex

Michigan Thoroughbred owner and banking executive Jerry Campbell announced Oct. 8 plans for a new racetrack and retail complex to be located near Detroit Metro Airport.

According to a press release, Post It Stables Inc., which is led by Campbell, will apply for a license to build and operate Pinnacle Race Course. According to the announcement, the 10,000-seat track and 200,000-square-foot retail development would cost an estimated $142 million.


~more at the link~

[turfnsport]

Heres a new one in northern Fla...

One-mile racetrack scheduled to open here in October 2008

By Robert Bridges, Editor

Plans for bringing horse racing to Hamilton County are in the home stretch, the owner of a soon-to-be-built one-mile racetrack said Tuesday.

Glenn Richards said construction of the facility is set to begin in December. The facility should open for business next October. Thoroughbreds, Arabians and quarter horses will see action on the track, Richards said.

Richards expects big crowds early on. "We've done a survey within a 100-mile radius, and a lot of people will come," he said.

Business won't just come from trackside patrons, though. Racing at the facility will also be simulcast to off-track betting establishments throughout the country. "A couple of tracks in California will carry us and a number more in between," Richards said.

Night racing will be a big draw as well. Richards said a $1.25 million lighting system is in the works as well.

The track will be located eight miles north of Hamilton Jai-Alai and Poker, which Richards also owns. The gaming rooms opened just over two years ago. They've been a big hit not just locally, but throughout the region.

"I enjoy playing cards. It's a nice form of entertainment," said Lea Wooley of Valdosta, who drove down Tuesday for a few hands of poker. Dan Dudeck and Stan Bonett agreed. They drive up from Gainesville once or twice a week to play cards.

"The action's good here," said Dudeck.

"It's a nice, friendly environment," said Bonett. "The dealers are nice."

Jeff Armstrong, a card room supervisor at Hamilton Jai-Alai and Poker, said that was a common sentiment among customers. "They come here for the atmosphere of our room," he said. Armstrong said the facility draws players mainly from the tri-county area (Hamilton, Suwannee and Columbia), but from as far as Atlanta as well.

In addition to poker, patrons can bet on horse and dog racing as well. Racing from around the nation is simulcast at the facility.

Finally, there's jai alai. The closest thing to it is racquetball, but the comparison isn't really close. Instead of a racquet, players wield a pelota, which looks like a curved basket, to sling the ball off the walls in an enclosed court. The ball can travel at more than 150 miles per hour.

A luxury hotel will soon complement the site. The $5 million-plus facility will mean visitors won't have to drive eight to ten miles to Live Oak for a place to stay, Richards said.

For Richards, a land developer who grew up around horse tracks in New Mexico, his latest project is a dream come true. "I always said I wanted to own a race track when I grew up," he said.

[gIracing]

this goes to show why we need a nationwide governing body. it's out of control.

[Kelso]

So much breeding/training goes on there. Why not regular racing meets? Was there ever? (Not disagreeing that there are probably too many tracks, nationwide. But Ocala area just seems a natural.)

[gIracing]

So much breeding/training goes on there. Why not regular racing meets? Was there ever? (Not disagreeing that there are probably too many tracks, nationwide. But Ocala area just seems a natural.)

It's business 101.. you can't have more products than product demand.

For an industry complaining about handle.. the LAST thing you need to do is add 2 more tracks! divying up the pie even more.

Unless both of thoose tracks are going to attract pepole who otherwise wuldn't bet any other track, it's pointless and it's moving backwards.

It's like the NFL putting 3 teams in jacksonville. You might even survive (might..with TV revenue).

@@@@ is going to hit the fan and alot of tracks will be out of business wthin the next 10 years. at least that's my opinion. It's no different than any other business.

[northerndancer]

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=41216

Plans Unveiled for New Michigan Track, Retail Complex

Michigan Thoroughbred owner and banking executive Jerry Campbell announced Oct. 8 plans for a new racetrack and retail complex to be located near Detroit Metro Airport.

According to a press release, Post It Stables Inc., which is led by Campbell, will apply for a license to build and operate Pinnacle Race Course. According to the announcement, the 10,000-seat track and 200,000-square-foot retail development would cost an estimated $142 million.


~more at the link~
I guess Jerry Campbell will just sell the track to MEC once it is up and running...... remember he is the one who sold MEC Great Lakes Downs and in return ended up on the MEC Board........ how in the world was he able to convince MEC to buy Great Lakes Downs.

[kenwoodallpromos]

"Campbell owns 125 racers and they are heavy into racing (wife is MTOBA head).
MI and the Pinnacle track will have much more income than just from racing- and maybe they are willing to hold out longer for slots than Stronach is!
Stronach did not have the local area set up for his ideas- he expected to force his mall and slots ideas on the locals, which did not work.

[Capper Al]

Michigan needs any break it can get at the moment. I'm just glad someone is willing to invest in Michigan at all.

[ryesteve]

Why would anyone assume so early that a new track will be a bad thing? Personally, I was very pleasantly surprised with what I saw at Presque Isle Downs.

[Tom]

They already had one near Metro Airport - it failed.
What has changed?

[boomman]

Why would anyone assume so early that a new track will be a bad thing? Personally, I was very pleasantly surprised with what I saw at Presque Isle Downs.

ryesteve: I agree! giracing makes a good point, too that it's saturation UNLESS you reach folks that otherwise would not be wagering on our product, and that is EXACTLY the case in Northern Florida. You are reaching a demographic in Northern Florida and 8 million folks in Georgia within close proximity who will now have an opportunity to attend LIVE racing and their flow to the poker and simulcast rooms in that area have proven that they will show up! The new track running at night during the winter months (approx 7:30PM Eastern Time) will also make them a prime simulcast package as it is not unusual in the winter time to have ONLY 1 thoroughbred signal up and running on Monday evenings (Mountaineer) and the 4:30-5PM timeslot Pacific time is perfect as Hol/SA is just ending and Los Al hasn't started yet. I look for this track to actually do very well!:ThmbUp:

Boomer

[shanta]

It's business 101.. you can't have more products than product demand.

For an industry complaining about handle.. the LAST thing you need to do is add 2 more tracks! divying up the pie even more.

Unless both of thoose tracks are going to attract pepole who otherwise wuldn't bet any other track, it's pointless and it's moving backwards.

It's like the NFL putting 3 teams in jacksonville. You might even survive (might..with TV revenue).

@@@@ is going to hit the fan and alot of tracks will be out of business wthin the next 10 years. at least that's my opinion. It's no different than any other business.

Agree with this whole post G1. :ThmbUp:

[Whitehos]

No new track in Michigan. Our beautiful ,corrupt Governess won't let it happen.
she is owned by the owners of Hazel Park harness track and they don't want another track in the State, no matter how badly we need one.

Whitehos

[SMOO]

No new track in Michigan. Our beautiful ,corrupt Governess won't let it happen.
she is owned by the owners of Hazel Park harness track and they don't want another track in the State, no matter how badly we need one.

Whitehos

I agree, and that place (HP) is a dump that they never put any money into.

[Tom Barrister]

I doubt the owners of these racinos care much about the parimutuel handle. The basic agreement is that the casino subsidizes the racing.

[Kelso]

It's business 101.. you can't have more products than product demand.

<snip>

@@@@ is going to hit the fan and alot of tracks will be out of business wthin the next 10 years. at least that's my opinion. It's no different than any other business.


I certainly agree with your supply/demand thesis, but unless one is of a mind that Delaware and Saratoga impose upon each other's handles (with PHA, MTH, BEL and AQU in between, SUF/FL/PIM/LRL not too far beyond and a few harness tracks scattered along the way), then an Ocala track shouldn't have much effect on the three Miami/Tampa tracks. The respective distances are almost identical.

And while there are a lot more residents along the I95-NYThruway corridors, there are a lot more fair-weather racing days (and tourists?) in Florida. I expect a properly situated, nighttime track up north could feed nicely off the Orlando crowd.

But my puzzlement is really more one of history. Why hasn't there been a major track in that area all along? Even before Disney, it wasn't exactly deserted. Gainesville and Tallahassee aren't all that far off, and there isn't another major track to the north until Kentucky/Virginia, to the west until Louisiana ... and to the east until Hong Kong :eek: .

With all the facilities and horse people for so long there, why no long-established, significant race meets?

(Nationwide, it won't surprise me at all to see your 10-year forecast confirmed.)

[rastajenk]

The new track in Florida's Hamilton County isn't really near Orlando, and shouldn't be expected to draw from its residential and tourist base(Tampa Bay is much closer). It's way north, on the Georgia border, about where I-10 and I-75 intersect. In fact, it's kind of hard to say where it will draw the locals from. By my reckoning, Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Tallahassee are all about sixty miles or more from this point in the middle of nowhere. the Okefenokee Swamp is nearby; that's about it.

I don't agree with the assessment that in ten years lots of small tracks will be gone. People have been saying that kind of thing for thirty years. In that time, some indeed have closed up shop, but other new ones have been established, and many other small ones keep churning along as always.

I tend more to agree with Boomman. If it's properly positioned in the simulcasting schedule, people will play it.

[SMOO]

I don't know how some of these tiny tracks survive on what I see in the mutual pools (3 digit win-place-show for example). They must sell a lot of hot dogs.

[JustRalph]

I don't know how some of these tiny tracks survive on what I see in the mutual pools (3 digit win-place-show for example). They must sell a lot of hot dogs.

they only have ten employee's and a bunch of old people who volunteer