Chicago harness on life support.

[mostpost]

I remember the glory days of Chicago Harness Racing. In the 70's Sportsman's park had the second best harness racing in the country behind the Measowlands.
This morning I opened the paper and looked at the races at Maywood tonight. There are four races with a purse of $1,800. Reminds me of Sunshine Park in the 50's. The total purses for the eleven race card is $28,700.
How could we have fallen so far? I know a part of the problem started when the geniuses at Sportsman's decided they should combine horse racing with auto racing. Of course simulcasting has contributed to a drop in on track attendance, but appaerently no one is betting Maywood Park off track or on line. Any ideas on how to change things around?

[Saratoga_Mike]

I remember the glory days of Chicago Harness Racing. In the 70's Sportsman's park had the second best harness racing in the country behind the Measowlands.
This morning I opened the paper and looked at the races at Maywood tonight. There are four races with a purse of $1,800. Reminds me of Sunshine Park in the 50's. The total purses for the eleven race card is $28,700.
How could we have fallen so far? I know a part of the problem started when the geniuses at Sportsman's decided they should combine horse racing with auto racing. Of course simulcasting has contributed to a drop in on track attendance, but appaerently no one is betting Maywood Park off track or on line. Any ideas on how to change things around?

The secular decline of harness racing is merely 10 yrs or so ahead of t'bred racing, imo.

[melman]

Mostpost---It's not just Chi-Town. The entire s-bred industry is on life support. In my state it's all about slot machines pure and simple. Without that source of cash they would all be like Dover used to be. Purses of $800 and lots of very cheap claimers. Hope the people in the industry and not counting on that slot cash to last forever it's already being drained off for other things. What can be done? IMO Tioga mangement is taking a step in the right direction. If they can show a large increase in handle with there takeout reduction plan maybe some other tracks will join in. BTW the t-bred tracks in my state would all be closed also without slot cash.

[Cubbymac26]

i dont think maywoods handle is that low look at the pool totals and youll see that tonite they have introduced 50 cent tri wagering and a pk5 there trying..

any track with 50 cent wagers are trying in my opinion...

[illinoisbred]

It's not just harness racing in Chicago on the decline, last saturday Hawthorne's total T-bred handle was just 1.2 million something. That would have been a bad saturday before ADWs,inter-track, and intra-state wagering.It's one of my 2 home tracks and I'm concerned. I can't see how they are going to "make it" much longer with their pitiful winter/spring meet.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Is the IL casino subsidy issue still in the courts?

[illinoisbred]

Is the IL casino subsidy issue still in the courts?
Yes. They are more or less using the Blago scandal to their advantage.

[illinoisbred]

I'm not sure if they have yet but as of 1 month ago Hawthorne hadn't made any payments to breeders from any of the Ill.-bred run races from last year.

[MrBaseball]

Ex-harness guy here. Rember the golden age in Chicago when Sportsman Park was rated only behind Roosevelt & Yonkers.

I too, am surprised by the huge drop in purses. Didn't really follow harness last 10 years or so, but being in the casino's it appeared strong at Balmoral Park but even that track is fallen on hard times.

Got the Harness Eye in front of me now........Maywood tonight top purse is $3700 with most under $3000. Trainers and drivers almost unrecognizable.....
L. Hostetler, D. Chubb, D. Magee .........don't recognize any of the others.

When the race book is crowded in the daytime for t-breds 90% of players are mature guys (50+)...............no young blood to follow us guys when we leave the game. Nightime is like a library for harness. DEAD GAME However the idea of figuring out who will win a race and then wager $'s on the outcome is mentally pleasing to all of us who participate.

Mr BB

[sonnyp]

Ex-harness guy here. Rember the golden age in Chicago when Sportsman Park was rated only behind Roosevelt & Yonkers.

I too, am surprised by the huge drop in purses. Didn't really follow harness last 10 years or so, but being in the casino's it appeared strong at Balmoral Park but even that track is fallen on hard times.

Got the Harness Eye in front of me now........Maywood tonight top purse is $3700 with most under $3000. Trainers and drivers almost unrecognizable.....
L. Hostetler, D. Chubb, D. Magee .........don't recognize any of the others.

When the race book is crowded in the daytime for t-breds 90% of players are mature guys (50+)...............no young blood to follow us guys when we leave the game. Nightime is like a library for harness. DEAD GAME However the idea of figuring out who will win a race and then wager $'s on the outcome is mentally pleasing to all of us who participate.

Mr BB


spoke to walter "butch" paisley just the other day. you must remember him? said he took a position on an advisory board, but resigned after a short time. he said they're clueless out there and the situation is dismall.

[mostpost]

i dont think maywoods handle is that low look at the pool totals and youll see that tonite they have introduced 50 cent tri wagering and a pk5 there trying..

any track with 50 cent wagers are trying in my opinion...
I compared the handle for the first three weeks in March 2010 with the handle for the first three weeks in March 2009. It's worse than I thought.
Maywood races on Thursday and Friday; 11 races on thursday, 14 races on Friday. The average handle for the three thursdays in 2009 was $903,403.
The average handle for the three comparable thursdays in 2010 was 679,616.
That is a drop of 25%.
It's even worse on Friday. 2009 average handle was $1,366,417. In 2010 the average is $872,127 a decline of 37%.
In 2010 there was one less race total on thursday and one less race on friday than in 2010, but that does not account for the drastic drop in handle.

[MrBaseball]

sonnyp

Remember the name. I was not a Chicago player. My wagering confined to California (Los Alamitos, Hollywood, Sacramento, Fairplex) and the big "M" via simulcasting.

Most

Pickup a set of P.P.'s and check out the junk that passes for racing. Stinks!!
As bad as Cal-Fixpo. Horrible!! :blush:

Mr BB

[sonnyp]

sonnyp

Remember the name. I was not a Chicago player. My wagering confined to California (Los Alamitos, Hollywood, Sacramento, Fairplex) and the big "M" via simulcasting.

Most

Pickup a set of P.P.'s and check out the junk that passes for racing. Stinks!!
As bad as Cal-Fixpo. Horrible!! :blush:

Mr BB

just curious about the old days. you remember when mike gagliardi went to los al a couple times after the big m ?

[MrBaseball]

The "Gags"..............whata thief!!! As I recall, never was at Los Al because that meet was a winter meet when the big "M" was racing. I strictly remember him at HollyPark. Talk about board action. Gags was king. I believe after 2 years HollyPark never allowed him back. Just googled him and was surprised he died so young. :confused:

Mr BB

[sonnyp]

The "Gags"..............whata thief!!! As I recall, never was at Los Al because that meet was a winter meet when the big "M" was racing. I strictly remember him at HollyPark. Talk about board action. Gags was king. I believe after 2 years HollyPark never allowed him back. Just googled him and was surprised he died so young. :confused:

Mr BB

don't want to hijack this thread. look for new one.

[LottaKash]

just curious about the old days. you remember when mike gagliardi went to los al a couple times after the big m ?


http://images.encyclopedia.com/GetPubLogo.aspx?pub=The+Record+(Bergen+County%2c+N J)
GAGLIARDI GETS 3 1/2-YEAR SUSPENSION


The Record (Bergen County, NJ) (http://www.encyclopedia.com/The+Record+(Bergen+County%2c+NJ)/publications.aspx?pageNumber=1)| May 21, 1991 document.write("| Mike Farrell, Racing Correspondent"); | Mike Farrell, Racing Correspondent | . Provided by ProQuest LLC.


Mike Farrell, Racing Correspondent
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
05-21-1991
GAGLIARDI GETS 3 1/2-YEAR SUSPENSION
By Mike Farrell, Racing Correspondent
Date: 05-21-1991, Tuesday
Section: SPORTS
Edition: All Editions -- Four Star B, Three Star P, Two Star, One Star

The New Jersey Racing Commission suspended harness trainer and
driver Mike Gagliardi for 3 1/2 years and fined him $4,000 for
irregularities in reporting the true ownership of his horse farm in
Lakewood.

================================================== =======
From Lottakash......

Way back when, I knew Mike, and a lot about him....Too bad such a talented horsemen, and such a likeable guy, was kept under the spell of some strange people and charachters in his life.....I knew some of them too, from the old "Garden State amateur Trotting Club", Fhld, Monty, The Rock, Georgetown and the AC days.....

best,

[Pacingguy]

And the horsemen continue to insist in racing too long a season. Part of the problem with the cheap purses is the shortage in the purse account; purses were cut to knock down the deficit. When they cancelled racing in January, they took $800,000 of decifict out of the purse account thank to simulcasting on other races. If they raced only six months out of the year there, purses would probably be double what they are now.

But of course, do the horsemen want to cut back on days? No.

Will they ever learn?

[Zman179]

The first bad business decision they made was to eliminate the very popular 7&7 format at Maywood and Balmoral; those 14 race cards made for a lot of non-stop, fast paced action. The second bad thing they did was to eliminate winter racing at Hawthorne, especially the winter matinées. You don't kill things that made your product popular and expect the betting public to follow you along anyway; there are too many signals out there and a savvy track executive has to know how to make his signal stand out amongst the others. The fact that Indiana sucked out all of their good horses thanks to slot-fueled purses definitely didn't help either.

These are some ideas that I have that could help Chicago harness racing recoup some of their lost business. Maybe not all of my ideas at the same time, but you can pick and choose:

• Close Maywood as a live racing facility and combine live racing operations at Balmoral, which consistently outhandles Maywood. The total handles at Maywood and Balmoral have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Chicago fans prefer mile racing over half-mile. Keep Maywood as a training and simulcast facility.

• Reinstitute Tuesday afternoon racing. Balmoral used to be popular on Tuesdays until the Illinois simulcast laws dictated that daytime wager profits go to the flat tracks and nighttime to the trots (that law has since been repealed).

• Consider racing more afternoon cards when the flats are on hiatus in January and February, and/or on days when Hawthorne & Arlington are dark. This way, Balmoral's mile product can easily attract attention from trotter fans who wager on Monticello and Freehold, as well as attract additional action at the Illinois OTB's from flats players. Hawthorne's daytime winter cards used to be popular; you have this huge daytime winter product void and management is doing nothing to take advantage of it.

• Drop Thursday night racing and institute Monday night racing where there's less simulcast competition. If Maywood stays open, run there on Wednesdays and at Balmoral on Fridays (currently it's the other way around).

• Publicize the 10 cent High Five. It's a great bet, yet few people outside of Chicago know about it.

They've got to take a page out of the playbook of John Manzi at Monticello who says, "You've gotta hit 'em where they ain't!" In other words, maximize visibility by placing your product where there are gaps in the schedules. Why do you think that Monticello's Christmas Eve afternoon cards were so popular for so many years there? I'll leave that for you to respond to.

[Pacingguy]

They've got to take a page out of the playbook of John Manzi at Monticello who says, "You've gotta hit 'em where they ain't!" In other words, maximize visibility by placing your product where there are gaps in the schedules. Why do you think that Monticello's Christmas Eve afternoon cards were so popular for so many years there? I'll leave that for you to respond to.

One problem with the Monticello model. They never race when the fan who may want to go to the track can go. How do you develop new fans/gambleres if you never race when they can get there? I am not saying you need to race only for the convenience of the ontrack audience, but one or two days a week would be good.

[Zman179]

One problem with the Monticello model. They never race when the fan who may want to go to the track can go. How do you develop new fans/gambleres if you never race when they can get there? I am not saying you need to race only for the convenience of the ontrack audience, but one or two days a week would be good.

That is true, but if 95% of your action is handled off-track, it kind of ties your hands.

Monticello used to run at night three times per week; I used to drive up there every Friday night. They'd get around 800-1000 people there, but the handle would barely crack $250,000 (Wednesday nights they'd do a whole lot better, but that was before NYCOTB got nighttime thoroughbred signals...which promptly killed the OTB). Now they run during the daytime and handle on average $650,000-$700,000, but they might only have 40 people in the stands. Last time I went there for live racing on a Thursday afternoon, there were only 15 people watching the race in the stands. But you're right, they should have at least one night for racing there per week as opposed to the one night per year that they have now: Fireworks Night.

The difference between Monticello and Maywood/Balmoral is that Monticello is in the middle of nowhere, and the few people who do go racing there are all at work. On the other hand, Maywood/Balmoral are in a decent locale to draw fans from. I'm not saying to totally cannibalize your on-track attendance like Monticello did, but Maywood/Balmoral have to do things to drum up interest in their product.

[DeanT]

It is not going well anywhere. From Trot mag last month.

Canadian Harness handles since 2004.

2004 - $758M
2005 - $730M
2006 - $656M
2007 - $552M
2008 - $503M
2009 - $456M

[Saratoga_Mike]

It is not going well anywhere. From Trot mag last month.

Canadian Harness handles since 2004.

2004 - $758M
2005 - $730M
2006 - $656M
2007 - $552M
2008 - $503M
2009 - $456M

Dean,

Do you have the N. American harness and t'bred numbers so we can compare the trends? Thanks.

[DeanT]

Global harness handles are hard to find. Canada has quite a few harness tracks and is pretty big. US Tbred handles are below. I have always believed that harness foreshadows tbreds by about three years. So I would think what we are seeing now happened in 2005 in harness racing.

So far in 2010 harness handles are down again, as are thoroughbreds. The growth in tbred mirrored about inflation from 1998-2005. If they would have kept pace with inflation we would be at about 18B this year, so tbreds are down about a third or so, imo.

http://www.jockeyclub.com/factbook/images/Charts/Chart_PariMutuelHandle.jpg

[Stick]

Zman

The reason Maywood races on Fridays is because Balmoral is just too hard to get to in Friday traffic. Unless you get off early, it would be a real pain to drive to Crete in Friday rush hour. Maywood is located in a much closer spot for most. In fact, on Super night people use to meet at Maywood and carpool to Balmoral and back, especially when gas got real high.

The bigger problem is that any driver or trainer with any talent will certainly head to tracks with better purses. I would be interested to see a track by track breakdown of handle / purse ratio. Divide average race handle by the average race purse with a low number indicating that the purses are too low for what these guys are pulling in. I would bet Maywood and Balmoral would rank right near the bottom.