I took a first time "fan" to the track recently.

[Stillriledup]

I recently took a young married couple to the track for the first time. They had never been to the track and never even considered it. They know absolutely nothing about horse racing other than that it exists. The wife, who i'm friends with, is an attractive female with a seriously good college education and a good job. I asked her after the day was over, "what was different from what you expected".

She said that she had an amazing time, it was fast and she said it was much more exciting than she thought it would be. She did emphasize that it wouldn't have been as much fun if i wasn't there to answer her questions and explain what was going on. She said she never would have went unless she knew someone (me) who knew something about the races. I know for sure that she won't go back to the track unless i invite her to join me. So, even though she enjoyed her experience, it wasn't enough to get her to go back on her own.

Then, she said something that i thought was funny and i got a kick out of it. I asked "anything else that you noticed while you were there that you were surprised about?" She said, "yeah, i was really surprised that there were so many shady looking characters walking around"

So, there you have it. Racing is fun with a bunch of shady looking characters walking around!

[GameTheory]

I recently took a young married couple to the track for the first time. They had never been to the track and never even considered it. They know absolutely nothing about horse racing other than that it exists. The wife, who i'm friends with, is an attractive female with a seriously good college education and a good job. I asked her after the day was over, "what was different from what you expected".

She said that she had an amazing time, it was fast and she said it was much more exciting than she thought it would be. She did emphasize that it wouldn't have been as much fun if i wasn't there to answer her questions and explain what was going on. She said she never would have went unless she knew someone (me) who knew something about the races. I know for sure that she won't go back to the track unless i invite her to join me. So, even though she enjoyed her experience, it wasn't enough to get her to go back on her own.

Then, she said something that i thought was funny and i got a kick out of it. I asked "anything else that you noticed while you were there that you were surprised about?" She said, "yeah, i was really surprised that there were so many shady looking characters walking around"

So, there you have it. Racing is fun with a bunch of shady looking characters walking around!That's funny, when I went for the first time I expected pretty much exclusively shady-looking characters and old men, and was surprised at the amount of women there with their kids. (Of course at Santa Anita they actually have a playground in the infield, which I didn't expect either.)

[Grits]

I recently took a young married couple to the track for the first time. They had never been to the track and never even considered it. They know absolutely nothing about horse racing other than that it exists.

This sounds fantastic, SRU, glad you asked the young marrieds to go to the track. Its always fun introducing friends to racing.

The wife, who i'm friends with, is an attractive female with a seriously good college education and a good job. I asked her after the day was over, "what was different from what you expected".

She said that she had an amazing time, it was fast and she said it was much more exciting than she thought it would be. She did emphasize that it wouldn't have been as much fun if i wasn't there to answer her questions and explain what was going on. She said she never would have went unless she knew someone (me) who knew something about the races. I know for sure that she won't go back to the track unless i invite her to join me. So, even though she enjoyed her experience, it wasn't enough to get her to go back on her own.

Then, she said something that i thought was funny and i got a kick out of it. I asked "anything else that you noticed while you were there that you were surprised about?" She said, "yeah, i was really surprised that there were so many shady looking characters walking around"

So, there you have it. Racing is fun with a bunch of shady looking characters walking around!

SRU, she ain't said half as much that is funny during your afternoon at the track, as you have.:lol:

If you came home telling me about your outing, I'd smile, knowing you all had a great afternoon.

I might be a little curious though.

Then I'd ask you, "honey, what happened to your friend's husband? Leave him sitting in the middle of the damn 210 ?":lol:

SRU, I'm teasing you here, but you really need to go back over this before you tell your wife about your lovely afternoon! I promise you do!:lol:

[Jay Trotter]

Hey, I resemble that remark! :cool:

I asked "anything else that you noticed while you were there that you were surprised about?" She said, "yeah, i was really surprised that there were so many shady looking characters walking around"

So, there you have it. Racing is fun with a bunch of shady looking characters walking around!

[tzipi]

I recently took a young married couple to the track for the first time. They had never been to the track and never even considered it. They know absolutely nothing about horse racing other than that it exists. The wife, who i'm friends with, is an attractive female with a seriously good college education and a good job. I asked her after the day was over, "what was different from what you expected".

She said that she had an amazing time, it was fast and she said it was much more exciting than she thought it would be. She did emphasize that it wouldn't have been as much fun if i wasn't there to answer her questions and explain what was going on. She said she never would have went unless she knew someone (me) who knew something about the races. I know for sure that she won't go back to the track unless i invite her to join me. So, even though she enjoyed her experience, it wasn't enough to get her to go back on her own.

Then, she said something that i thought was funny and i got a kick out of it. I asked "anything else that you noticed while you were there that you were surprised about?" She said, "yeah, i was really surprised that there were so many shady looking characters walking around"

So, there you have it. Racing is fun with a bunch of shady looking characters walking around!

What track did you goto Stillriledup? Aqueduct? I went there and had a great time today but there's alot of shady characters there :D

[breezing]

shady characters at the track? i don't believe you :lol:

i get some very odd looks from the "regulars" at HP. i will admit that some seem to have my best interest in mind, one guy said, with great sincerity i might add, "what are you doing here lady? you shouldn't be here". :lol: he seem rather reassured when i told him i was merely a casual bettor and that i am very careful with my money :)

[Ejmenz]

Your friend has good observational skills.

I'll clean my act up next time I'm at the track, and I'm standing in the sun from now on.

[ranchwest]

You mean... you mean... you can go to the track without looking shady?

[TimesTheyRAChangin]

I recently took a young married couple to the track for the first time. They had never been to the track and never even considered it. They know absolutely nothing about horse racing other than that it exists.

What were the observations of the husband?

TTRAC

[gm10]

I recently took a young married couple to the track for the first time. They had never been to the track and never even considered it. They know absolutely nothing about horse racing other than that it exists. The wife, who i'm friends with, is an attractive female with a seriously good college education and a good job. I asked her after the day was over, "what was different from what you expected".

She said that she had an amazing time, it was fast and she said it was much more exciting than she thought it would be. She did emphasize that it wouldn't have been as much fun if i wasn't there to answer her questions and explain what was going on. She said she never would have went unless she knew someone (me) who knew something about the races. I know for sure that she won't go back to the track unless i invite her to join me. So, even though she enjoyed her experience, it wasn't enough to get her to go back on her own.

Then, she said something that i thought was funny and i got a kick out of it. I asked "anything else that you noticed while you were there that you were surprised about?" She said, "yeah, i was really surprised that there were so many shady looking characters walking around"

So, there you have it. Racing is fun with a bunch of shady looking characters walking around!

I went to Golden Gate Fields last October and thought the same. It wasn't threatening or anything - 'shady' is probably the right adjective.

[Bruddah]

If you think "shady looking characters" are new to Horse Racing, you should read many short stories by Damon Runyan. Most written in 1930-40's era.

Runyanesque type characters drew me to Horse Racing like a moth to a flame. It was many of these folks which taught me the basics of handicapping and I will always be indebted to those I was fortunate to rub elbows with. :ThmbUp:

[46zilzal]

She said that she had an amazing time, it was fast and she said it was much more exciting than she thought it would be. She did emphasize that it wouldn't have been as much fun if i wasn't there to answer her questions and explain what was going on. She said she never would have went unless she knew someone (me) who knew something about the races. I know for sure that she won't go back to the track unless i invite her to join me. So, even though she enjoyed her experience, it wasn't enough to get her to go back on her own.


!
in a nutshell you have described how marketing continues to miss the boat

[TJDave]

Next time, take my girlfriend with you.

Please.

[DJofSD]

Did she worry about the shady characters because she did not feel safe?

If she would not go back without her husband or some other male or in a large group with other women, she'll be hesitant to go back at all.

[2low]

Young successful people with money who might enjoy horse racing as exciting cerebral exercise are not going to become regulars at the track IMO.

If I were to start a new track, I'd video camera the crap out of the place and have very little in the way of amenities for visitors. Maybe I'd even go internet only and ban all shady buggers.

Visitors = overhead anyway, and they probably don't cover the overhead. Just guessing.

[46zilzal]

Young successful people with money who might enjoy horse racing as exciting cerebral exercise are not going to become regulars at the track IMO.


We get tons of lookie loos who get frustrated with their ADD and never come back after they come out to get blasted on the cheap beer.

YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE GAME INTERESTING TO THEM TO GET THEM TO COME BACK!

[Stillriledup]

What were the observations of the husband?

TTRAC

He liked it too. He's a shy guy, didn't say all that much. She's wearing the pants in the family, so he couldn't really get a word in edgewise.

[Stillriledup]

Did she worry about the shady characters because she did not feel safe?

If she would not go back without her husband or some other male or in a large group with other women, she'll be hesitant to go back at all.

No, she didn't feel unsafe, but no way she would go back without her husband. I think if she had a bunch of girlfriends who were going to the track, she might go, she mentioned the shady people, but it wasn't in an intimidated kind of way if that makes any sense.

[rastajenk]

If you think "shady looking characters" are new to Horse Racing, you should read many short stories by Damon Runyan. Most written in 1930-40's era.

Runyanesque type characters drew me to Horse Racing like a moth to a flame. :ThmbUp:That deserves an Amen, bruddah, if ever anything does. The things I've witnessed and the stories I've heard, definitely, to paraphrase Tom Waits, a little something that you can't get at home. Not my home, anyway. :D

[cj's dad]

I honestly don't see that many "shady" characters at Laurel; then again, maybe it's kind of like playing poker. If you look around at your opponents and don't see the sucker at the table, it's probably you.

[Dave Schwartz]

Dad,

Everything is relative, isn't it?
<G>


Dave

[JWBurnie]

I honestly don't see that many "shady" characters at Laurel; then again, maybe it's kind of like playing poker. If you look around at your opponents and don't see the sucker at the table, it's probably you.

Unfortunately, thats because LRL typically has a crowd of 163. Sad....I really like LRL, and feel they have one of the best/safest surfaces in the mid-atlantic.

[cj's dad]

Unfortunately, thats because LRL typically has a crowd of 163. Sad....I really like LRL, and feel they have one of the best/safest surfaces in the mid-atlantic.

Seriously dispute the 163 # on a nice Saturday such as tomorrow will be.
Florida Derby s'cast and all...

There will be many young folks there and the clubhouse will be fairly crowded and the "shady" folks will be in the old grandstand area.

[gm10]

Young successful people with money who might enjoy horse racing as exciting cerebral exercise are not going to become regulars at the track IMO.

If I were to start a new track, I'd video camera the crap out of the place and have very little in the way of amenities for visitors. Maybe I'd even go internet only and ban all shady buggers.

Visitors = overhead anyway, and they probably don't cover the overhead. Just guessing.

I think they should take note of how French/British tracks do it. Track management turn it into a respectable, social event for families and friends. There is no security issue at all.

I don't think you can let racing survive on betting alone, anyway. With takeout of more than 15%, it's simply a bad investment which won't attract many people. So you need to make it attractive in other ways.

[PhantomOnTour]

I never feel more pressure to win than I do when I bring someone to the track for the first time. If we lose, my companion probably isn't coming back.

[Stillriledup]

I never feel more pressure to win than I do when I bring someone to the track for the first time. If we lose, my companion probably isn't coming back.

I bet FOR them with my own money. It was worth a small WPS bet on an 8-5 shot rather than have that on my concience. (that my picks would lose and they would lose money for the day) Clear concience and we actually made small money, the first bet that i placed for them won and we just kept rebetting the original 6 bucks. Worked out well.

[Foolish Pleasure]

It almost impossible to have bad first time at a racetrack-
just abt have to be the victim of a crime or charged with a crime for it to be the case.

GM10
how is the tout business treating you? Still trying to convince the world you can separate 8 horses at the quarter pole?

Synthetic surfaces safer folks all the while dirt horses get more starts per 100days by leaps and bounds.

but dealing with flat earth society here.


Denman owner at odds with the future of racing
Simon Milham
18.03.10
Denman owner at odds with the future of racing | Sport

The red T-shirt is out of place and the language is more colourful than you would expect to hear at the Dorchester Hotel but Harry Findlay is on a roll. Denman's co-owner sees horseracing going the way of greyhounds: to the dogs. And its decline can be solved — if only those in power would listen.

“Nic Coward, the CEO of the British Horseracing Authority, knows as much about gambling as I do about the Russian Ballet. It is offensive. We all know that gambling and racing are intrinsically linked and no one in racing understands it,” says Findlay.

“You talk to the people at the highest level in racing and they haven't got a clue. It is just incredible.”

Findlay has to keep backing winners if Denman and the other 70 or so horses he owns or part-owns are to be kept in training. It costs him around £60,000 a month. But as he prepares to watch Denman attempt to win his second Cheltenham Gold Cup tomorrow, he says those in power are gambling with the industry's future. And he doesn't like racing's odds.

The way forward, he explains, is for the government to keep control of the Tote, which enjoys a monopoly of pool-betting at courses in exchange for a guarantee that money is pumped into the sport, rather than sell it to a bookmaker for an estimated £150million and take less money from it.

Findlay says: “We are crying out for a proper Tote. The government are taking pennies when they can be taking literally billions. Selling the Tote to a bookmaking company wouldn't change the bigger picture at all.”

He sees a tie-up between the Tote and Betfair, the UK's biggest on-line betting company, as the future.

“If you had a win-pool take-out of around 12 per cent, rather than the 28 per cent they take out in France, you'd get all the gangster money. They would come out of the woodwork to bet and you would take out billions.”

While passionate about the health of racing, it is not nearly as important to Findlay as the wellbeing of his co-owner, as Denman aims to wrest the Gold Cup from the Paul Nicholls-trained stablemate Kauto Star.

He said: “Denman was made for Paul Barber. I know he's won Gold Cups before and he's a wealthy man but there is nothing that will have so much effect in his life than Denman.

“No matter how many Gold Cups he wins or horses he owns, he's almost obsessed with him.

“I worry about Paul. I think about Paul well before anything else. He gets in a right state over him.”

Kauto Star is odds-on to land his third Gold Cup, while dual Hennessy Gold Cup winner Denman's odds are drifting with every drop of moisture that evaporates from the course. But Findlay says he has already won one battle.

He adds: “I don't think there is any doubt Denman is the most popular horse. He got a bigger cheer last year when he came in second than the winner did.”

Denman unseated Tony McCoy in the Aon Chase at Newbury last month and Findlay admits: “I was disappointed because the vibes from Paul Nicholls going into the race was that Denman was on fire. It was Tony's negativity afterwards that is a bit worrying.

“But watching the replays of his Hennessy win and the Aon, I've got my confidence up in the last few days. Denman's just got to turn up with his A-game and put in a performance similar to his Hennessys or his Gold Cup win — that's all I want.

“It looks like Kauto will get his ground now. Paul Barber says that on good ground Kauto wins, on heavy ground Denman wins. I don't quite agree because I think that one of Denman's best runs was against Aces Four in the SunAlliance Chase and the ground was as quick as it has been at Cheltenham in the last five years.

“I wouldn't have the ground ruling us out. We'll be in front and you never know. If Kauto starts getting a couple of them wrong...

“But I do think it is a two-horse race. I might back Kauto just for a bit of insurance and if Denman gets beat by Kauto fair and square, that will do for me.”

[gm10]

It almost impossible to have bad first time at a racetrack-
just abt have to be the victim of a crime or charged with a crime for it to be the case.

GM10
how is the tout business treating you? Still trying to convince the world you can separate 8 horses at the quarter pole?

Synthetic surfaces safer folks all the while dirt horses get more starts per 100days by leaps and bounds.

but dealing with flat earth society here.


Denman owner at odds with the future of racing
Simon Milham
18.03.10
Denman owner at odds with the future of racing | Sport

The red T-shirt is out of place and the language is more colourful than you would expect to hear at the Dorchester Hotel but Harry Findlay is on a roll. Denman's co-owner sees horseracing going the way of greyhounds: to the dogs. And its decline can be solved — if only those in power would listen.

“Nic Coward, the CEO of the British Horseracing Authority, knows as much about gambling as I do about the Russian Ballet. It is offensive. We all know that gambling and racing are intrinsically linked and no one in racing understands it,” says Findlay.

“You talk to the people at the highest level in racing and they haven't got a clue. It is just incredible.”

Findlay has to keep backing winners if Denman and the other 70 or so horses he owns or part-owns are to be kept in training. It costs him around £60,000 a month. But as he prepares to watch Denman attempt to win his second Cheltenham Gold Cup tomorrow, he says those in power are gambling with the industry's future. And he doesn't like racing's odds.

The way forward, he explains, is for the government to keep control of the Tote, which enjoys a monopoly of pool-betting at courses in exchange for a guarantee that money is pumped into the sport, rather than sell it to a bookmaker for an estimated £150million and take less money from it.

Findlay says: “We are crying out for a proper Tote. The government are taking pennies when they can be taking literally billions. Selling the Tote to a bookmaking company wouldn't change the bigger picture at all.”

He sees a tie-up between the Tote and Betfair, the UK's biggest on-line betting company, as the future.

“If you had a win-pool take-out of around 12 per cent, rather than the 28 per cent they take out in France, you'd get all the gangster money. They would come out of the woodwork to bet and you would take out billions.”

While passionate about the health of racing, it is not nearly as important to Findlay as the wellbeing of his co-owner, as Denman aims to wrest the Gold Cup from the Paul Nicholls-trained stablemate Kauto Star.

He said: “Denman was made for Paul Barber. I know he's won Gold Cups before and he's a wealthy man but there is nothing that will have so much effect in his life than Denman.

“No matter how many Gold Cups he wins or horses he owns, he's almost obsessed with him.

“I worry about Paul. I think about Paul well before anything else. He gets in a right state over him.”

Kauto Star is odds-on to land his third Gold Cup, while dual Hennessy Gold Cup winner Denman's odds are drifting with every drop of moisture that evaporates from the course. But Findlay says he has already won one battle.

He adds: “I don't think there is any doubt Denman is the most popular horse. He got a bigger cheer last year when he came in second than the winner did.”

Denman unseated Tony McCoy in the Aon Chase at Newbury last month and Findlay admits: “I was disappointed because the vibes from Paul Nicholls going into the race was that Denman was on fire. It was Tony's negativity afterwards that is a bit worrying.

“But watching the replays of his Hennessy win and the Aon, I've got my confidence up in the last few days. Denman's just got to turn up with his A-game and put in a performance similar to his Hennessys or his Gold Cup win — that's all I want.

“It looks like Kauto will get his ground now. Paul Barber says that on good ground Kauto wins, on heavy ground Denman wins. I don't quite agree because I think that one of Denman's best runs was against Aces Four in the SunAlliance Chase and the ground was as quick as it has been at Cheltenham in the last five years.

“I wouldn't have the ground ruling us out. We'll be in front and you never know. If Kauto starts getting a couple of them wrong...

“But I do think it is a two-horse race. I might back Kauto just for a bit of insurance and if Denman gets beat by Kauto fair and square, that will do for me.”


LOL
Do you actually know this character Findlay? I don't think you'd be quoting him if you did. He's a guy from Surrey who's taken on a cockney identity.

"Synthetic surfaces safer folks all the while dirt horses get more starts per 100days by leaps and bounds."

Where do you get those numbers from?