If tracks want to draw larger crowds they need more races per day at shorter intervals. A track could have an undercard of, say, seven low level handicap claiming races with larger fields with short intervals between races. The reason to have handicap races is to level the field and make the race competitive. A competitive race should draw larger fields because more entrants will feel they have a chance to win. Then later in the day the last five to seven races could be for high level claiming, allowance, and stakes horses where the fields tend to be smaller. Maybe race three or four days per week rather than six.
Whatever model tracks are using now they need to throw out the window and start over because what they're doing is not working.
It makes sense on the one hand that a bet like the Daily Double has less churn, but on the other hand, if you take time to handicap two races in a row chances are you are betting multiple bets in both races. In effect, the Daily Double can be seen as a loss leader that draws more bets into the pool of the second race.
It would be easy to find out how much effect the Daily Double has on handle. Just eliminate it for about 30 racecards and then measure the difference in handle on the second race compared to days when the Daily Double was offered.
If handle on the second race declines on days when the Daily Double is not offered then it makes sense to lower the takeout on the Daily Double to attract even more wagering.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff P
Rightly or wrongly the presentation by Bill Nader at the Symposium in AZ this past December (mentioned in the article below) is one of the many things we were talking about on the phone yesterday...
By Matt Hegarty
12/05/2017 3:25PM
Symposium panel urges lower takeouts:
http://www.drf.com/news/symposium-pa...lower-takeouts
--this:
--and this:
Imo, racing faces many different issues/challenges.
Imo, empty grandstands are certainly one of those challenges.
But so is ever higher takeout.
And promotion of new jackpot wagers at insanely high net effective takeout rates that result in ever smaller churn.
And odds that change after the bell.
And drugs.
And regulators who are afraid to hand out penalties with teeth.
And horses that barely make six starts per year (when they used to make ten to twelve.)
Imo - all of the above (and more) lead to empty grandstands. And ever shrinking handle numbers.
We have to start somewhere. 
-jp
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