Delaware racing dates

[phatbastard]

Delaware closing early.......not enough revenue from slots.....

http://delawarepark.com/racing.php

[thespaah]

ok..If not this(slot subsidized purses)? What IS the answer? What is the silver bullet that will revitalize Horse racing?

[JimHunter]

To me, this is a clear sign that racing is dead with a bleak future. The racing product at Delaware this year has been 10x better than last year. They would wait till 8PM to release overnights in 2008 because of hustling horses and they would a lot of times not get a million in total handle. This year they had big fields, much better handle and they still can't make ends meet basically. I understand that Delaware has been dealt a bad hand, but for goodness sakes this is ridiculous and should scare horseman everywhere.

[lamboguy]

To me, this is a clear sign that racing is dead with a bleak future. The racing product at Delaware this year has been 10x better than last year. They would wait till 8PM to release overnights in 2008 because of hustling horses and they would a lot of times not get a million in total handle. This year they had big fields, much better handle and they still can't make ends meet basically. I understand that Delaware has been dealt a bad hand, but for goodness sakes this is ridiculous and should scare horseman everywhere.you are right!

i went to foxwoods casino last saturday for the first time this century, i was there because they invited me for a blackjack tournament. the joint was empty!

instead of focusing on the negetive aspects of the horse racing game they should look at the positives. if these guys had one ounce of brains they would figure out that horseracing should be more profitable than slot machines. the horserace managment has decided to sit on their behinds the last 20 years and rely on simulcast and slot machines instead of developing their own product.

i have a plan that would increase handles in major racetracks, and no one seems to be interested. maybe they will be interested when the revenue's for their slot machines fall off the map.

[castaway01]

While this is not good news for Delaware or its horsemen, remember that the track now is surrounded by casinos in Pennsylvania, so there are millions of people who now have casinos in their backyard and don't have to go to Delaware (or Atlantic City). Between that and the poor economy, there was a huge drop in slot revenue. As Jim Hunter noted, the quality of race cards from a betting perspective was much improved this year from the past few, but this move has nothing to do with that. When slots are fueling revenues and that revenue drops by, say, one-third, cutting the meet by seven days is not that big of a shock.

[JimHunter]

Except they have already cut it by about 21 days (or thereabouts). They were supposed to run well into November orignally.