Delaware Park...........HELLO !!!!

[Beachbabe]

Delaware, in just it's pending 3rd day of racing has had to cancel tuesday (May 10) card due to lack of entries.
Tuesday !!! A day with very limited competition !!! :confused:

Bodes well for this meet .

[point given]

Delaware, in just it's pending 3rd day of racing has had to cancel tuesday (May 10) card due to lack of entries.
Tuesday !!! A day with very limited competition !!! :confused:

Bodes well for this meet .

unbelievable :eek: maybe the horsemen want different racing days than Monday,Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday .

[netbet]

This is really sad!

[MickJ26]

Horesemen are holding back for Monmouth perhaps?

[sonnyp]

i quit the racing business in 1990. i was sending monthly bills to my owners of $3,200 on average (per diem, vet,shoeing,shipping etc.).

if a horse is in active training 10 months, that's over $32,000/yr. check the earnings on a card of races. how many horses pay their way ?

i saw it then and i'm sure it's gotten only worse. who wants to own a race horse ?

[Beachbabe]

Track has 11 races going on wednesday, including 1 Arabian.
According to their condition book, they had 3 turf races tentative for wednesday ( 2 sprints) for either claimers or Allow/opt claimer ; yet none of these races were used. Their turf course looks ready. You would think if they needed entrants they would have gotten them for the grass races.

Don't know what's going on here.

[sonnyp]

Track has 11 races going on wednesday, including 1 Arabian.
According to their condition book, they had 3 turf races tentative for wednesday ( 2 sprints) for either claimers or Allow/opt claimer ; yet none of these races were used. Their turf course looks ready. You would think if they needed entrants they would have gotten them for the grass races.

Don't know what's going on here.


if you assume the barn area is full, management has to take a stand on their stall allocation.

racetracks are not training facilities. questions and demands have to be made on the trainers stabled there.

how many 2 yo's that are not ready to race are on the grounds. i was a trainer. i know how easy it is to race at a number of tracks within hours of the different tracks that are open or about to open in that area. you have parx, belmont, penn, finger lakes, monmouth, charlestown, and others. management has to lay down the law....if you stable here, you run here (first priority) excluding stakes.

[davefulche]

Delaware does have a pretty strict rule on that....outside of Stakes races of course.

[098poi]

i quit the racing business in 1990. i was sending monthly bills to my owners of $3,200 on average (per diem, vet,shoeing,shipping etc.).

if a horse is in active training 10 months, that's over $32,000/yr. check the earnings on a card of races. how many horses pay their way ?

i saw it then and i'm sure it's gotten only worse. who wants to own a race horse ?

This is what always mystifies me. There are so many horses who cost more to maintain than they make. Do the owners make it up at the windows (doubt it) or do they have disposable income?

[sonnyp]

This is what always mystifies me. There are so many horses who cost more to maintain than they make. Do the owners make it up at the windows (doubt it) or do they have disposable income?

they could write it off a long time ago, but not anymore after the revisions in the tax laws of 1986. unless its their primary source of income, racing horses is considered a "hobby" by our wonderful federal government.

take a look at the # of foals bred the last few years. the # has plummeted as has the $$$'s they're bringing at auction.

it's getting tougher and tougher to get outsiders to invest in racing stock that's why you see so many owner/trainers especially at the smaller tracks.

it's near impossible to make money as an owner, the lows far outweigh the highs, there's no tax incentive.......who needs the expenses and headaches ?

its not only at the windows that the industry is in big, big trouble. even in the traditional racing families, when the oldtimers die, the kids can't wait to liquidate the stock and sell the farms. its sad but it all contributes to the overall state of racing. they don't call it the sport of kings for nothing.

ps. that is the schtick guys like barry irwin (syndicate manager- other peoples money) use to sell their product. "limit your investment, spread your risk"!! win the kentucky derby!!! he hit the grand slam on saturday

p

[Striker]

Wait a minute. Don't they have slots? I thought slot machines were a savior for racing.

[sonnyp]

Wait a minute. Don't they have slots? I thought slot machines were a savior for racing.


not filling cards will prove they don't need the horses and eventually the bottom line will show management would prefer the horses be gone.

[ukbro00]

Wait a minute. Don't they have slots? I thought slot machines were a savior for racing.

This has nothing to do with slots/no slots. Finger Lakes has this issues too. The foal crop is down, and is still going down. This will be A LOT MORE COMMON in the next few years. There are not enough horses to fill all these races at all these tracks.

[Delawaretrainer]

I heard that had 7 or 8 races made that day but cancelled. I have seen some full fields, must just be the ones that I enter.

The management is very strict about running out of town. They are also pretty strict about the % of 2 year olds you have and even hassle the big guys about it which is fair.

I just wish they would write some turf sprints and more turf races for the average horse.

[thespaah]

I heard that had 7 or 8 races made that day but cancelled. I have seen some full fields, must just be the ones that I enter.

The management is very strict about running out of town. They are also pretty strict about the % of 2 year olds you have and even hassle the big guys about it which is fair.

I just wish they would write some turf sprints and more turf races for the average horse.I read the rules on the DEL Park website's horsemen section. I understand the idea of protecting the track from trainers who warehouse horses. I also understand the notion of catering to trainers who are there to race their stock.
Question: do you think Delaware Park management should relax some of the rules if in fact it is those rules which are standing in the way of races being filled?
Obviously some racing is better than cancelling cards.

[Mineshaft]

This has nothing to do with slots/no slots. Finger Lakes has this issues too. The foal crop is down, and is still going down. This will be A LOT MORE COMMON in the next few years. There are not enough horses to fill all these races at all these tracks.





Bingo we have a winner......

[Some_One]

I read the rules on the DEL Park website's horsemen section. I understand the idea of protecting the track from trainers who warehouse horses. I also understand the notion of catering to trainers who are there to race their stock.
Question: do you think Delaware Park management should relax some of the rules if in fact it is those rules which are standing in the way of races being filled?
Obviously some racing is better than cancelling cards.

I think Del Park needs to take a look at their testing, I've noticed 3 big 'supertrainers' there in the first couple of days (Ness, Lake, Guerrero)

[Robert Goren]

I read the rules on the DEL Park website's horsemen section. I understand the idea of protecting the track from trainers who warehouse horses. I also understand the notion of catering to trainers who are there to race their stock.
Question: do you think Delaware Park management should relax some of the rules if in fact it is those rules which are standing in the way of races being filled?
Obviously some racing is better than cancelling cards. Not from a bettor's point of view. 4 horse races are plain waste of time. One race of 8 horses is better than 2 races of 4 horses. Too many tracks, not enough horses. Some tracks have got to close. Slot fueled and taxpayer underwritten tracks are only making things worse.

[Southieboy]

Some tracks (especially in the Mid-Atlantic area) have got to go soon. The sooner it happens, the better off the fans will be. Even if it means losing a few biggies to 2nd tier tracks.

[Striker]

This has nothing to do with slots/no slots. Finger Lakes has this issues too. The foal crop is down, and is still going down. This will be A LOT MORE COMMON in the next few years. There are not enough horses to fill all these races at all these tracks.
Of course it is because there are not enough horses to fill the cards. My point was that a lot of racetracks in the US view slots as a path to being successful or turning around their operation. Here in Illinois the racetracks are saying that the only way they will be able to stay alive is if the state grants them slots. With bigger purses they figure there will be more horses to fill cards and thus produce more handle. As you have stated and I agree with you it is because the foal crop is down, same here in Illinois. We were lucky to see a field of 7 even for 1 race this spring at Hawthorne. And Hawthorne even had to cancel a few days of scheduled racing for the same reason that Delaware had to.

[Robert Goren]

Tracks looking to slots might find the the answer to their revenue problems caused by the lack of handicappers, but it is not suddenly make more horses appear. Few race days and fewer tracks will solve that. Horsemen will fight it every inch of the way. Judging by the fields I have seen lately, It is the so called upper tier of tracks that are in the most trouble. There seems to be no shortage 8k maidens to run at EVD or NW of 2 8k fillies at Tampa. There is no such thing as an open 40k claimer on the dirt anywhere these days.

[Delawaretrainer]

I think Del Park needs to take a look at their testing, I've noticed 3 big 'supertrainers' there in the first couple of days (Ness, Lake, Guerrero)

Yes, I've noticed the same thing. They are congregating. Races are going super fast too, could be the track though.