NO YONKERS ON TVG

[pandy]

I can't understand why TVG isn't showing Yonkers races on certain nights. Right now they are only running 3 tracks.

[lamboguy]

I can't understand why TVG isn't showing Yonkers races on certain nights. Right now they are only running 3 tracks.that is an excellent point there. i don't have the answer, but i think the harness game is on the way back. it is a very exciting sport to watch and be involved in. the guys in the thoroughbred' business are losing their minds while the harness is starting to role. you brought up yonkers, they look dedicated to bringing and achieving the highest levels of competition. they will be doing huge handles shortly. the other tracks are pretty good too.

[pandy]

Unfortunately, although the quality of racing is way up at Yonkers, and other tracks that have slots, such as the PA. tracks, the handle isn't. Harness racing has some serious marketing problems. So does t-bred racing, but the Kentucky Derby and Breeders Cup tv exposure really helps.

[lamboguy]

the big edge that i see in harness racing is that it is more adaptable to computerized betting. data does not cost as much as the other, and its more of a blue collar sport. a harness horse runs 30 times a year, a thouroughbred maybe 9. it is inexpensive compared to the other. the sport has plenty of built in plus factors that i can see.

plus guys like you pandy are pure gentlemen, i really enjoyed the conversation i had with you a few months back.

i hope your sport comes back in a big way

[RaceTrackDaddy]

Pandy
TVG has put harness racing on the back burner for as long as I have had Direct TV. I can tell you that even when they show Yonkers (or the Big M when open) they pick up the broadcast after a few races have been run.

They pay for the exclusive but fail to broadcast. I have written endlessly and am so happy that Yonkers is part of my online service so that I can watch it on the puter.

RTD
aka Bobby Z

[LottaKash]

Any Fan or Player of Harness-Racing, will tell you that "our" sport has always been the "step-child" of horse racing.....

And, these days, with the advent of the "Racinos" it is quite evident that the mangagement has no intention of promoting the "racing venue" of their establishments....

One just has to look at the "grandstands" of their race-tracks, to see what their intent is....It certainly isn't to pack them in any longer....They are so scaled back, and/or close to non-existent at some of those Racinos, how could they possibly pack them in ?.....

When I was a young man, living in the metropolitan NYC area, there was advertising for Yonkers, Roosevelt and Freehold Raceways all over the place, either over the air-waves, via tv or radio, or plastered on billboards....This is no longer the case, I'm afraid....

What lies ahead, is certainly a concern for any of us that is serious about keeping this "thing of ours" continuing...

Also, I believe that there are way too many races being carded at all of the tracks these days, and it has created a very water-downed and boring product on some days....

I mean, 16 races a day at one track....For me that is way too many races to pour over each day....I like to follow at least 3 to 4 tracks a day, and X-times say 14-16 that is 50-60 races to look at each day....That is riduculous to me...At least when trying to find a contender to play, with any degree of accuracy....And still I do it, not wanting to miss out on any 1-race, that may contain "gold" in it...Stupid me, I guess, for doing it....I keep promising myself to just play one or two tracks....But I've got something, and I want to kash it in each day, but lately, it is taking it's toll on me...

By the time I do all the prep work and filtering, I don't even have the time to play the races correctly.....Too much racing going on at one time....And, not enough owners and quality horses to go around simultaneously, imo.....

Sure, they have added to the purses and created more races at the same time, and that is good for all the horsemen, but what about the fans....I suspect most average players can't even make it to the last race(s), let alone have any kash leftover for the next day's, 16 races....Too, too much...

I believe, unless the Harness-tracks, start promoting their product, or improve the quality of it's product, racing as we know it today, and have known it, will go the way of the "dinosaur"....And perhaps, way sooner than expected....

This is the case for the T-breds as well....A very watered down & cheap product as well....Too much racing at one time....

Just my $.02, anyway

best,

[Pacingguy]

And, these days, with the advent of the "Racinos" it is quite evident that the mangagement has no intention of promoting the "racing venue" of their establishments....



While I know this is true of most racinos, I must point out that Yonkers Raceway has been doing some promotion. I just received a promotion for the casino portion and on the front page, there are four pictures. One is a couple dining, the second a row of slots, the third is a prominent picture of a standarbred warming up, the last picture some people hanging out at the bar.

Whenever you do see and advertisement for Yonkers, you do see a mention of racing. They also had a brilliant advertisement with a race horse talking in several versions; they may not be specifically promoting the racing, but they are making people aware of it. Take a look at this page: http://www.yonkersraceway.com/gaming_media_commercials.asp and view any commercial prefaced with Empire Horse and see what I mean.

I realize Yonkers, being run by the Rooneys may be one of the few racinos promoting racing. They know their bread and butter is the slot machines, but the sportsman in them will not let them desert the trotters. Other than Yonkers, Tioga Downs, thanks to Jeff Gural is the only other track I know which actively promotes racing as part of the overall racino experience.

[botster]

Yonkers has outdone themselves so far and surprisingly done a very good job in trying to promote the harness racing with the racinos.I viewed three commercials on the "boobtube" yesterday in about a two hour span.Maybe some have seen them,they are commercials that show a harness horse literally in the casino "fully equipt" to race and explaining to a gentleman exactly what is going on there.

I don't know what lies in the future there, but I can tell you this,I rode that place off ten years ago and cannot believe it has been renovated and now have droves of people in the facility only within a small walk out of the casino doors to the apron of the track.I try to be optomistic and see their is still a possibility, unlike MANY horsemen.

Yonkers IMO has once again become playable for me as a handicapper.It's my home track and have raced there many years without ever taking it seriously over the last twenty years to wager upon.Not bragging just making a point, but I scored on an amost three thousand dollar triple there the other day with a horse SWEEPING THE FIELD.Horses are winning from off the pace more frequently now.The horseman are racing for the purses and not playing the "chemical guys" with the best drivers on them on their tickets anymore.The drivers are doing the same. Brian Sears has made the move as a regular with the Meads closed and that helps enourmously! To attract the best drivers in the game will attract other players who generally stay away from this half, in which let's face it, has only an average driving colony currently as it is.

Let's give it some more time before we squash it.The fact is the sport was non existant before the racinos and now they are getting some publicity.When was the last time anyone had ever heard a Yonkers commercial anywhere in the media circle here in the Metro area before the racinos?

Tim Tetrick the best and most talented driver in the sport has the right idea, but knows if it doesn't work, he needs to get out as quickly as he can.PUBLICITY is the key and good racing that show gamblers they have the possibility to make good scores!When Lotto advertises,they don't advertise winners getting two dollars back on their ticket.They hit the public with the "JACKPOT WINNERS".Gamblers need to see a combo of both to attract them to wager their money in the sport.

[LottaKash]

Whenever you do see and advertisement for Yonkers, you do see a mention of racing. They also had a brilliant advertisement with a race horse talking in several versions; they may not be specifically promoting the racing, but they are making people aware of it. Take a look at this page: http://www.yonkersraceway.com/gaming_media_commercials.asp and view any commercial prefaced with Empire Horse and see what I mean.

I realize Yonkers, being run by the Rooneys may be one of the few racinos promoting racing. They know their bread and butter is the slot machines, but the sportsman in them will not let them desert the trotters. Other than Yonkers, Tioga Downs, thanks to Jeff Gural is the only other track I know which actively promotes racing as part of the overall racino experience.

It is good to see that they (YR) are actively promoting the "racing" aspect of that racino.....

Many years ago, I spent all my free nites @YR, and I mean "all"... It was the first track that I ever went to.....The first bet I ever made was on a horse named "Bill Tally", he won, then followed by win on "Pocomooshine", and then "Lord Gordon" in the featured "trot", and I was hooked from then on, with a capital "H"....I remember the crowds so big, that you had to get there early if you wanted to sit anywhere...the lines were always so long, having separate windows for Win, Place and Show & combos of such....and a separate line for "kashing" (they were always the shortest) So, it was my home-track for so long...I loved making the commute each nite, from Jersey over the GWB and up the Henry Hudson Pkway (cept for the tolls)....

Then the Big-M came into the limelight, and quickly became the "mecca" for all of harness-racing, and remained that way up until recently.....Yonkers, as a result, fell on hard times, and players abandoned that place in droves, until it became a sort of ghost-town of sorts.....

Since moving a few years ago to N.Central Florida, I must admit that I have lost touch a bit with the current state of advertising & promoting the tracks.....Everything in life is a trade I guess, but I surely do miss the live racing up north...Thanks to the Internet and ADW wagering, I am still good with racing tho, as I have with Youbet, live video feeds and all the replays that I can eat....Still, there are no local tracks around here, and that is the trade....We have a local OTB called OBS (Ocala Breeder Sales) and they have a very diverse simulcasting menu, but not too much Harness, I'm sad to say....too bad....

Since, finding that YR is actively promoting itself again, I find that quite refreshing....As the Botster stated this track is much more playable now, than since the good old days....I have taken notice of this as well, and find that the races are much more playable than ever....The outcomes are like that of the old days....Sure, some nites the insiders or leavers have it all their own way as with any track on some days, still, there are fewer gimmes, than before, the current purse hikes....I like that...I have never completely abandoned searching for winners at that track, but it has gained so much more of my handicapping attention, as of late....

For my money Chester (Phila-area) has the best mix of classes of any of the tracks that I like to play, but as Tim Tetrick alluded to, in his recent interview, the track is not promoting itself enough to draw the fans....I, like TT, believe that, most area residents are not even aware that there is a racetrack there, right in their own backyards....Too bad...

Good for you,Yonkers...Now if only the Big_M could get it's thing going again, as imo, they have slipped big time this year.....(Big-Name races aside)

Three cheers for the "tracks" that get it.......:jump: :jump: :jump:

best,

[Pacingguy]

In the old days, the worst thing that could happen was you won. The lines on Saturday night were so long that if you didn't run to the cashing window before the race was official you would be stuck on a line so long there was a good chance you would still on line when the next race went off.

Remember, how the tellers had a machine to their left which looked like an upright seismograph which wrote out the pay offs and the tellers actually had to calculate your pay off if you had multiple tickets? Good gosh, that was primative, but somehow I miss it.

[LottaKash]

Good gosh, that was primative, but somehow I miss it.

Yeah, alot........:cool:

best,