View Full Version : Switch Santa Anita to Dirt and have BC there every year
Moyers Pond
11-08-2009, 01:40 PM
Sorry Churchill and Belmont but your tracks are awful in October/November. Nobody wants to be there.
I think the sport would benefit greatly from having the BC at one track every year and Santa Anita is clearly the place. No awful hard frozen track at Churchill, or 20 below windy days at Belmont.
Santa Anita needs dirt though. This would give them a good excuse to put it back in. The BC needs great weather too, and there is no better place than Santa Anita.
andymays
11-08-2009, 01:42 PM
There is no question that Santa Anita is the best location for a Breeders' Cup. :ThmbUp:
A switch to dirt would be nice! :ThmbUp:
Moyers Pond
11-08-2009, 01:45 PM
There is no question that Santa Anita is the best location for a Breeders' Cup. :ThmbUp:
A switch to dirt would be nice! :ThmbUp:
I think they will go back to dirt at Santa Anita. I think in a few years from now they will permanently move the BC there.
The Europeans were the big issue, but they proved they can travel the extra distance and deal with the warmer weather. They have won nearly ever turf race in the last 2 years.
joanied
11-08-2009, 01:53 PM
I would bet that if, say SA, had 3 surfaces...Pro Ride, Turf & Dirt...and had races on each surface...the cards for the Pro Ride would have way smaller fields than the dirt & grass...
synthetic has not prooven to be safer...it just switched the types of injuries horses get...
As for the BC...if SA gets dirt back...it might just be a great place to hold the BC every year...as far as the Euro's are concerned...I don't think they have run any better, or won more races, on the Pro Ride...last year, IMO, those two horses would have won anyway...folks want to blame Curlin's poor finish on the Pro Ride, but I think we all agree he was tailing off and that Raven's Pass & HTN were both on top of their game coming in.
toussaud
11-08-2009, 01:54 PM
that would be the smartest thing the BC has ever done.
which is exactly why they won't do it.
ghostyapper
11-08-2009, 01:56 PM
The BC should not be run at the same track every year. I like different locations all around the country.
Moyers Pond
11-08-2009, 02:07 PM
The BC should not be run at the same track every year. I like different locations all around the country.
You prefer 30 degrees and windy to sunny and 70? I have been to the BC at Monmouth, Belmont, and Churchill and they all are miserable experiences where you are better off sitting inside watching on tv.
You are too much at the mercy of the weather in late October/November to be deciding championships.
It was really nice at Remington yesterday. I think there purses are on par with Santa Anita these days.
Grits
11-08-2009, 02:09 PM
PIPE DREAM. One that would fly in the face of every other eligible racecourse in the country, and rightfully so.
foregoforever
11-08-2009, 02:38 PM
It's 72 degrees and clear in Louisville right now. 68 and clear in New York City. Both tracks fast.
46zilzal
11-08-2009, 02:41 PM
Sorry Churchill and Belmont but your tracks are awful in October/November. Nobody wants to be there.
I do and make a killing at it. WInter is the best ROI I have all year
Moyers Pond
11-08-2009, 02:52 PM
It's 72 degrees and clear in Louisville right now. 68 and clear in New York City. Both tracks fast.
Great. Let's take a chance every couple years. Why not ruin the momentum the sport gets from great years and take the HIGH risk that it will be 40 degrees and windy at Belmont or freezing in Louisville.
Santa Anita is going to have great weather 95% of the time, NY and KY probably around 25% of the time.
Also, nobody want to be in Elmont NY, or Louisville KY when they can be in LA. What is in Elmont NY? You have to travel on a train to get anywhere decent or ride in a car for an hour in traffic.
They have the KY Derby at one track every year. They have the Belmont at Belmont.
They problem is there are so many east coast people that think the world revolves around them that they think the west coast is some foreign country.
Santa Anita did a great job (I just think the BC has too many races not SA's fault) but even when you had dirt (cough)pavement(cough) it was still an issue. No matter what you do there will always be an issue for horseman ,of course when is there not!
There should be a regular cycle of Belmont, Churchill, Santa Anita and eventually Hialeah. I honestly think Hialeah once it gets in full operation should hold it every 2-3 years. Of course this is on debate if the track handles well, but it has the elements that we are want to have when we showcase our sport to the res of the nation. That of course is history, elegance, excellent weather and excellent racing surfaces. The only element is that Hialeah is in Hialeah,FL but does anybody here remember how bad the neighborhood was in Churchill in the early 90's, let alone the BC was in Ozone Park, NY one year?
Like I said hopefully Hialeah will have an excellent track with the dates to get it done, Gulfstream can go away, they ruined that place so much that if we have to have 2 tracks in South Florida I'd rather keep Hialeah and Calder.
rrpic6
11-08-2009, 03:09 PM
No more Gulfstream or Lone Star, thanks to Magna/Stronach. My wallet will those venues.
RR
Grits
11-08-2009, 03:09 PM
Great. Let's take a chance every couple years. Why not ruin the momentum the sport gets from great years and take the HIGH risk that it will be 40 degrees and windy at Belmont or freezing in Louisville.
Santa Anita is going to have great weather 95% of the time, NY and KY probably around 25% of the time.
Also, nobody want to be in Elmont NY, or Louisville KY when they can be in LA. What is in Elmont NY? You have to travel on a train to get anywhere decent or ride in a car for an hour in traffic.
They have the KY Derby at one track every year. They have the Belmont at Belmont.
They problem is there are so many east coast people that think the world revolves around them that they think the west coast is some foreign country.
No, it has nothing to do with what coast one lives on, including the midwest that's land locked.
You seem to have the business sense of a rock.
What if the NFL and the MLB played every championship SuperBowl and every World Series in the same stadium?????????????????? DUH.....
This would not work!
It is pretty good in Florida, and Louisiana this time of year. Woodbine was a good track.
When you move it around, you give the FANS a chance to attend.
Don't they count? Flying out to California is not easy nor cheap.
And why give the west coast horses home field advantage year after year?
Keep it moving.
FenceBored
11-08-2009, 07:42 PM
It is pretty good in Florida, and Louisiana this time of year. Woodbine was a good track.
When you move it around, you give the FANS a chance to attend.
Don't they count? Flying out to California is not easy nor cheap.
And why give the west coast horses home field advantage year after year?
Keep it moving.
Ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. :jump:
Rackon
11-08-2009, 08:16 PM
Great. Let's take a chance every couple years. Why not ruin the momentum the sport gets from great years and take the HIGH risk that it will be 40 degrees and windy at Belmont or freezing in Louisville.
Santa Anita is going to have great weather 95% of the time, NY and KY probably around 25% of the time.
Also, nobody want to be in Elmont NY, or Louisville KY when they can be in LA. What is in Elmont NY? You have to travel on a train to get anywhere decent or ride in a car for an hour in traffic.
They have the KY Derby at one track every year. They have the Belmont at Belmont.
They problem is there are so many east coast people that think the world revolves around them that they think the west coast is some foreign country.
As much as I love SA, I love the BC at Churchill, and I'd much prefer to be in Louisville than deal with traffic in LA.
miesque
11-08-2009, 09:19 PM
It is pretty good in Florida, and Louisiana this time of year. Woodbine was a good track.
When you move it around, you give the FANS a chance to attend.
Don't they count? Flying out to California is not easy nor cheap.
And why give the west coast horses home field advantage year after year?
Keep it moving.
I think you make a really good point about making the Cup more accessible to a wider range of fans/horseplayers who actually would like to attend the races. I have immensely enjoyed all the Breeders Cups I attended at Santa Anita, but I will be the first to say that Santa Anita is not the easiest of tracks to visit if you live on the East Coast (especially if you don't live close to a major airport hub), in fact I consider it to be a pain in the arse and its not just the fact its in California but the fact its 45 miles from LAX (which means rental car or limo transport) with lots of ugly traffic in between which is less then fun after a cross country flight. I visit Hollywood Park a lot more frequently then Santa Anita because its so much easier (not to mention cheaper) to visit being so close to LAX that you can fly into LAX, take a complimentary hotel shuttle to an LAX hotel (which tend to be reasonably priced), get a ride to the track and back and then I can take the shuttle back to LAX and head to Vegas for a few days since its only a 45 minute flight to Vegas. Along the same vein, I am sure it was equally inconvenient and pricey for folks in California to head to the Breeders Cup somewhere like Monmouth.
framarco
11-08-2009, 11:22 PM
Hey Moyers, when did Santa Anita put you on the payroll? What is an "east-coast" bias? My answer: Whenever you Californians, like Clown Schrupp on TVG, want to have everything their own way, they invoke the bogey-man "East-Coast" bias! Do us all a favor and keep your sand and beaches to yourselves!
There is no question that Santa Anita is the best location for a Breeders' Cup. :ThmbUp:
A switch to dirt would be nice! :ThmbUp:
Maybe nice for dirt players but how about our international counterparts-if this is indeed supposed to be an international competition?
On one hand it was nice to see so many Euro entries not on the turf. On the other hand it's bad because you don't know who will pop with Lasix and relaxed US drug rules....
Robert Goren
11-09-2009, 12:32 AM
What if the NFL and the MLB played every championship SuperBowl and every World Series in the same stadium?????????????????? DUH.....
The NFL plays its Super Bowl in a warm weather site or on the rare cold weather site it is indoors. Nobody care any thing about MLB once football starts so they can play where ever.
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