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Originally Posted by castaway01
Unpopular opinion 2: I don't want Hialeah to come back as a thoroughbred track. Yeah, I know, flamingos and it was great 70 years ago. The last version of Hialeah had ridiculous takeout levels and mediocre racing. I don't miss it, and we don't need more tracks like that. We can spray paint some of the Parx seagulls pink and pretend it's Hialeah if you want that 30% takeout.
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Aparently little known fact: Parx reduced their takeout last January 1st.
Quote:
Originally Posted by castaway01
Unpopular opinion 3: Let Gulfstream take a break for a bit to build up some interest in their winter meet. Maybe the "summer" meet will suck less if trainers need to run. Maybe Tampa will get some of the excess horses and/or open earlier in the fall to fill the gap.
Stronach fought for 20 years to kill off Hialeah and then Calder, and he won the fight. But has he improved racing in any way in the state? He's only diluted his own brand. I think in retrospect he might be viewed in a more sympathetic light because of his willingness to throw multi-millions at racing at a time when few would, but for those who've watched his actions over the years, he's done more to hurt racing than help it.
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Unpopular opinion: Gulfstream's summer meet is a very solid meet for betting, and a massive improvement over Calder's product. Handle is, I estimate, 3.5 x higher than Calder's was for the same dates. And so I feel Florida racing is significantly improved.
