I had a great time at the BC at DMR, but let's not do this again
 

The BC was a great experience. They screwed up the remote parking (management gave me a parking pass on site for Saturday after I complained about it), but the weather was great, Del Mar is beautiful, and there were no crowds and no lines. Saturday was a wild day of upsets and Gun Runner is the best horse in America, a legitimate champion who turned back Collected fair and square.

But it wasn't a success. Frankly, it was embarrassing to see so few people there. Belmont once had 39,000, but NYRA had an excuse-the weather was awful that day. I could barely stand to sit out in the grandstand for 2 minutes to watch the race that day. Del Mar had no excuse for the tiny crowd, and it is clear they are sensitive about this, because they are releasing inflated attendance claims.

I know there are debates about site selection, but if you are going to come to Southern California, Santa Anita is the place to be. Last year it was NUTS on BC Saturday. Del Mar is nuts on opening day in the summer. This was more of an afterthought.

Frankly...I don't give a moment's thought to the on-track attendance of a particular meet...even on the "glamour-days". Whether a marquee racing-day is held at DelMar or Santa Anita, or anyplace else...my excitement (or lack thereof) depends entirely upon the quality of the bets that I find...and the crowd around me is just an annoyance that I pretty-much phase out of the picture anyway. In fact...the tinier the on-track crowd...the better I like it. My best days at the track have been when there wasn't enough of a crowd there to start a respectable poker game.

And the only "embarrassment" that I've ever felt at the track was when a couple of Greek acquaintances spotted me there on an Easter Sunday.

Attendance was small b/c it was limited. The hoi polloi were not invited.

You aren't the BC's target demographic.

They were WAY under their cap.

Del Mar announced attendance of 37,692, slightly higher than the 37,500 cap that was set by the track. It was unclear why the attendance was higher than the cap, but tracks often count officials and members of the press in the attendance figures. Last year, the announced Saturday attendance was 72,811, without a cap.

They usually get close to 40k on opening day so not sure why they suppressed it a bit.

In your estimation about how many people were there ?

Thanks

18k Friday, 22k Saturday.

Take a look at my photos in the live thread. Place was empty.

I grew up going to Del Mar, but with their parking situation, I decided not to go. I attended every Breeders Cup that Santa Anita has had. It was sad watching on tv and seeing how empty it Del Mar was. Have heard from other friends of mine that told me the same things that dilanesp posted.

I guess its not the ideal venue for the BC for many reasons ? Many in the industry said it would not work so I guess they were right.

Z

maybe the outrageous cost has something to do with it?Personally i wouldnt spend a few hundred to go to the races.

I thought it was good in that a fair mix of horses won not just SoCal specialists.
As far as it not being crowded isn't that a good thing for being an attendee? I see in another thread dilanesp arguing BC makes money on site, not sure about that, from the consumer end it doesn't matter, at least in the short run.

On Track Record Handle Set
 

Looks pretty successful to me. I like that Del Mar isn't speed favoring, exciting finishes.