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[Jeff P]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Give an example of a track that CDI should try and copy as a business model. The fact of the matter is that CDI has a changing customer base. They can be like Radio Shack and hang on to the past or they can embrace the future and new endeavors and move forward.

Kentucky Downs anyone?

Just before the 2013 meet, The Blood-horse ran an article titled Kentucky Downs Touts Low Takeout Rates:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...tes?source=rss

A Kentucky Downs release said the 18.25% takeout on exacta wagers is the lowest in North America. The track will have a 14% takeout on its new Pick 5 bet, with a takeout rate of 16% on win, place and show wagering. There will be a 19% takeout on exotic wagers other than the exacta and Pick 5.

"Kentucky Downs offers some of the best betting value anywhere," Jeff Platt, president of the Horseplayers Association of North America, said in the Kentucky Downs release. "Exacta takeout is the lowest in North America. Combine that with a 19% takeout on other exotic bets and great average field size, and I am not surprised that the handle trend is up."

"HANA's recognition of our product offering means a great deal, because we want Kentucky Downs to be known as the 'horseplayers' racetrack,'" Kentucky Downs president Corey Johnsen said in the release. "Providing value to the betting public drives every decision we make. Our goal is to present quality racing run over a safe, consistent race course with an attractive takeout structure and wagering menu."

Then, oddly enough, after the meet was over, DRF ran an article titled Kentucky Downs handle, purses soar at five-day meet:
http://www.drf.com/news/kentucky-dow...-five-day-meet

Horseplayers showed their enthusiasm for the big fields and purses offered this fall at Kentucky Downs, with all-sources wagering surging past $12.8 million, an increase of nearly 70 percent over 2012. Handle on the 13-race Wednesday finale alone was $3,371,476, an all-time single-day record for the south-central Kentucky track and more than double what was handled on the corresponding date last year.

Kentucky Downs paid out more than $4.1 million in purses, or more than $820,000 per day and more than double what was paid out during a five-day meet in 2012. The purses were fueled in large part by the Instant Racing video machines that have been operational at the facility for two years. Field size for the 50-race meet was 9.96 horses per race, and takeout ranged from 14 to 19 percent on exotic wagers.

"We were proud to offer quality racing with a low takeout, and horseplayers responded with record handle,” track president Corey Johnsen said in a media release. “We had top-quality horses, trainers and jockeys from all over the country."

-jp


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