Arlington Park-great facility

[1st time lasix]

Just returned back to Florida from the Million Prevue weekend in Chicago. What a tremendous place Arlington Park is. Spent Friday outside....and Saturday in the Million Room. Walked all around....including the picnic area, the paddock, the concession area and the rail. All very nice. Everything is so well maintained. Employees were helpful and friendly. The betting machines are plentiful and modern. The place is clean and the eye candy on Saturday {ladies day} was outstanding.:ThmbUp: Hats off to the mangement there. Now if only they could reduce takeouts on tris, supers and pick 3's! Great time. I will definitely return there again. Next stop on my wish list is Keeneland.

[alhattab]

Just returned back to Florida from the Million Prevue weekend in Chicago. What a tremendous place Arlington Park is. Spent Friday outside....and Saturday in the Million Room. Walked all around....including the picnic area, the paddock, the concession area and the rail. All very nice. Everything is so well maintained. Employees were helpful and friendly. The betting machines are plentiful and modern. The place is clean and the eye candy on Saturday {ladies day} was outstanding.:ThmbUp: Hats off to the mangement there. Now if only they could reduce takeouts on tris, supers and pick 3's! Great time. I will definitely return there again. Next stop on my wish list is Keeneland.

Management of every racetrack should be forced to take field trips to Arlington and Keeneland (maybe some others but I'm familiar with these two), and maybe even Gulfstream. Management pays attention to details at these tracks, food is decent, bathrooms clean and well-maintained, and the facilities are in excellent shape. I was at Monmouth Saturday and there are no paper towels in the men's room. This was the one of the main, ground level bathrooms and there were 11,000 people in the place, yet no paper towels. A minor inconvenience yes but speaks volumes to management's attentiveness to details and desire to give customers the ultimate experience and seek their continued business. Absolutely inexcuseable.

[ddog]

Just returned back to Florida from the Million Prevue weekend in Chicago. What a tremendous place Arlington Park is. Spent Friday outside....and Saturday in the Million Room. Walked all around....including the picnic area, the paddock, the concession area and the rail. All very nice. Everything is so well maintained. Employees were helpful and friendly. The betting machines are plentiful and modern. The place is clean and the eye candy on Saturday {ladies day} was outstanding.:ThmbUp: Hats off to the mangement there. Now if only they could reduce takeouts on tris, supers and pick 3's! Great time. I will definitely return there again. Next stop on my wish list is Keeneland.


Been there many many many times , always a great time.
:ThmbUp:

[OTM Al]

I must agree. Very nice place and I was there for Arlington Million day a couple years ago. Of course I like Chicago a lot too, so that helps

[Black Ruby]

Always makes me wonder how AP can be connected to CD. Can't wait to get back to Arlington for the Million this year, Mr. D does a great job.

[JeremyJet]

Well, sure it's nice, it's still relatively new. But old Arlington had it's charm as well. It's the caliber of racing that I most care about. Best racing I've seen there was when they raced under the tents.

Regards,

JeremyJet

[Bruddah]

Well, sure it's nice, it's still relatively new. But old Arlington had it's charm as well. It's the caliber of racing that I most care about. Best racing I've seen there was when they raced under the tents.

Regards,

JeremyJet

I went through two periods with fires and reconstruction at Arlington. The period of time they were in tents was fun. It was even better racing when they first built Ditka's Restaurant and Bar. I have to admit, I never could understand how a steel and concrete framed structure could burn like a grass hut. (twice) Especially with fire houses less than a mile away. :eek:

[JeremyJet]

I went through two periods with fires and reconstruction at Arlington. The period of time they were in tents was fun. It was even better racing when they first built Ditka's Restaurant and Bar. I have to admit, I never could understand how a steel and concrete framed structure could burn like a grass hut. (twice) Especially with fire houses less than a mile away. :eek:

The inaugural running of the International Festival of Racing was the best. It ran from August 19 to September 1, 1986. Two weeks of racing with $4.5 million in purses. $346,000 in daily average purses. 6 G1's, 4 G2's and 3 G3's. Every day was like a Saturday. It was the Saratoga of the Mid-West for that one memorable year ... under the tents.

Regards,

JeremyJet

[JeremyJet]

Where are you located in Mississippi, Bruddah? I used to live in Gulfport when I was a yearling. Right across the street from the beach. Lovely. Chicago weather can't compare.

Regards,

JeremyJet

[ArlJim78]

Arlington does not have the very top class racing (although its not exactly Thistledown either!), but it does have what I think is the gold standard for cleanliness, comfort, customer service and an overall beautiful establishment.
The floors shine, the landscaping is immaculate and everything is spic and span.
A great environment for friends or families to have fun and enjoy the sport.

[miesque]

Management of every racetrack should be forced to take field trips to Arlington and Keeneland (maybe some others but I'm familiar with these two), and maybe even Gulfstream. Management pays attention to details at these tracks, food is decent, bathrooms clean and well-maintained, and the facilities are in excellent shape. I was at Monmouth Saturday and there are no paper towels in the men's room. This was the one of the main, ground level bathrooms and there were 11,000 people in the place, yet no paper towels. A minor inconvenience yes but speaks volumes to management's attentiveness to details and desire to give customers the ultimate experience and seek their continued business. Absolutely inexcuseable.

I absolutely agree with you, based on my experiences at a wide range of tracks, Arlington Park and Keeneland, definitely not only at the top, but ahead by a comfortable margin. In addition to a forced tour, the management of a few tracks might benefit from a crack or two of the whip to help reinforce some very basic tenets of good customer service that seems to be missing at their tracks. Its the little things and attention to detail that make really the difference between an ok experience and a great experience and it starts at the top and works its way on down through the organization.

Its interesting you bring up bathrooms because if you think about it, they are a great barometer of management's attention to detail (or lack threof). I have started paying a lot closer attention to conditions of the womens bathrooms when I am at a track ever since my rather unpleasant experience during the great toilet fiasco of Belmont Stakes 2008 and I make it a point to include a brief mention of their condition, location and waiting time (if any) in any reviews I write about a track visit.

[pktruckdriver]

I would like to add Finger Lakes to the list of tracks wanting to improve.


I filled out a card the day me and Tom went and I hav had three phone calls asking how they could have done this or that better, and may come up with something so the public can now watch the morning works, something they don't allow now.

Now FL is not GP or AP, but they seem to have the right team in manangement to at least make it pleasant when you do visit, kudos for trying.


PATRICK

[rrbauer]

I absolutely agree with you, based on my experiences at a wide range of tracks, Arlington Park and Keeneland, definitely not only at the top, but ahead by a comfortable margin. In addition to a forced tour, the management of a few tracks might benefit from a crack or two of the whip to help reinforce some very basic tenets of good customer service that seems to be missing at their tracks. Its the little things and attention to detail that make really the difference between an ok experience and a great experience and it starts at the top and works its way on down through the organization.

Its interesting you bring up bathrooms because if you think about it, they are a great barometer of management's attention to detail (or lack threof). I have started paying a lot closer attention to conditions of the womens bathrooms when I am at a track ever since my rather unpleasant experience during the great toilet fiasco of Belmont Stakes 2008 and I make it a point to include a brief mention of their condition, location and waiting time (if any) in any reviews I write about a track visit.

A couple things that I remember about the "new" Arlington from my first visit back in the 90's. Clean. Clean. No seats behind support columns and great views of the races from everywhere. A display board upstairs in the clubhouse that would allow you to get an idea of how trifecta combinations were being bet. Roving TV cameras to get the fans' reactions.

The 2008 Belmont restroom fiasco must have been a repeat of the 2002 Belmont restroom fiasco (105,000 beer-drinking attendees with weak bladders). And I'm thinking these people are in line to bet! Wait a minute. Guys only, I admit. SAM terminals on the wall above urinals?

[Valuist]

Maybe other tracks can learn from Keeneland and Arlington in terms of how they run their facility, but Kee and AP could learn from a track like Saratoga that you can have a good, safe surface with real dirt.

[Bruddah]

Where are you located in Mississippi, Bruddah? I used to live in Gulfport when I was a yearling. Right across the street from the beach. Lovely. Chicago weather can't compare.

Regards,

JeremyJet

I live within a 1/2 hour of the Casinos in Tunica. My other hobby since retiring is poker. I lived in Chicago in the late 70's and early 80's. I traveled in, out and thru Ohare for almost 30 years. Still, some of my closest friends live there. Love the City, people and Arlington. Unfortunately, AP is on my do not play list because of the Poly crap surface. To me, they ruined both Arlington and Keeneland when they installed Poly. (JMHO) My favorite track Oaklawn has a real dirt surface.

As far as excellent racing, clean facilities, friendly staff and people, I think Oaklawn won't take a backseat to any track in the country. They still have attendants handing you paper towels after washing. The attendants are responsible for the cleanliness of their assigned Men/Ladies room and it doesn't take long for them to make any needed corrections. :ThmbUp:

[gordo]

I love AP and Kee. I woud add Santa Anita and suprisingly Ellis Park as enjoyable tacks that I have visited. I have seen ~42 tracks around the country since 2003 and those are my top few favorites.

[Niko]

AP is beautiful, clean, good food, full fields, nice for families and the young crowd etc. But the mutuel tellers are another story. The slowest I've ever come across and many times they'll continue their conversation for a good minute before taking your bet-I feel like an inconvenience at times.. Must be nice to be part of a union. Good thing I can use the auto tellers now.

[Scanman]

My only visit to Arlington was back in the summer of 1991 and at that time I found it to be the finest racecourse that I have ever visited (64 at that time). Fast forward to today and after 198 additional racecourse visits in 14 countries, I still have yet to see a racecourse that could surpass the beauty and wonderful ambiance of Arlington. By most of the positive posts, I can see that it still has not lost its splendor. I am jealous of those who get to call Arlington their home racecourse.

[cj]

The surface, however, is pretty bad. It is wildly inconsistent and often manipulated by track maintenance at least a few times each card. Other than that, the piped in crowd noise and fake hoof beats, it is a very nice place.

[ddog]

The surface, however, is pretty bad. It is wildly inconsistent and often manipulated by track maintenance at least a few times each card. Other than that, the piped in crowd noise and fake hoof beats, it is a very nice place.

give it a shot ON TRACK.

As to the track surface, I don't see it. But, maybe I am just lucky there. :)

[cj]

give it a shot ON TRACK.

As to the track surface, I don't see it. But, maybe I am just lucky there. :)

I've been there, it is nice no doubt.

[miesque]

This is somewhat offtopic but this thread came to mind as I have been sitting back surveying the Las Vegas Strip from my room at Steve Wynn’s newest creation, Encore, getting ready to fly back home to “the real world” in the morning. I have been thinking about that the reasons why Las Vegas ranks so high as a destination, not just for myself, but for millions of others. For myself, I spend 10-14 days in Vegas every year and there are a lot of reasons I do so but if I were to summarize the reasons, it would be (1) it has an environment that I feel extremely comfortable in and hence I can am more relaxed overall , (2) Vegas is a place that is multi-faceted enough that it can effectively cater to many different types and I have figured out which hotels are my “niche”, (3) you are treated well and addressed respectfully and deferentially, (4) there are a lot of little “extra touches” and amenities which are executed well and the surroundings are aesthetically pleasing and (5) its reliable in that I always have a good trip, its just a question of how good a trip. The net result is that Vegas makes you feel good enough about yourself that you are more than willing to pay for things like $15/day internet charge, ridiculous spa treatment prices and of course dropping some money in the casino and when you leave you can’t wait to get back. Now I realize that Vegas means different things to different people so I am sure there are some who will disagree with my assessments, but this is based on my experiences.