Economics of racing at Beulah

[VeryOldMan]

Having the two tracks I follow most closely - CT and LRL - snowed/frozen out, I found myself paying attention to Beulah the past few days.

The low purses and resulting quality of the horses struck me.

I'm not being sarcastic - how do the owners and trainers make money at this track or at least minimize their losses? Why are these horses running? What am I seeing?

Help me out - I'm not looking to bash Beulah (it's an example of a low-end track) or for sarcasm. Who is putting up the money for these horses, training them, paying for their feed, vet, farrier, etc. - and, most importantly, why?

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by VeryOldMan

Having the two tracks I follow most closely - CT and LRL - snowed/frozen out, I found myself paying attention to Beulah the past few days.

The low purses and resulting quality of the horses struck me.

I'm not being sarcastic - how do the owners and trainers make money at this track or at least minimize their losses? Why are these horses running? What am I seeing?

Help me out - I'm not looking to bash Beulah (it's an example of a low-end track) or for sarcasm. Who is putting up the money for these horses, training them, paying for their feed, vet, farrier, etc. - and, most importantly, why?

very low costs compared to the rest of the country. Btw, these are the dying days. The last meet. I would surmise you are seeing the worst of the worse there right now.

Columbus Ohio has a low cost of living. Lower costs all around. Good town, but pretty drab.

[tanner12oz]

I don't remember beaulah being this bad maybe 7 years ago or so when I could pick up there signal...things seem to have significantly changed though from what I'm hearing

[1GCFAN]

Things changed at BEU after the sale to Penn. Their focus was to get slots and they were able to open a nearby casino. For 25M they were given the option to move the track and open a racino. So while the new track is being build nearly 200 miles away the racing and facilities deteriorate.

Basically, fans have abandoned BEU even for simulcasting. Even though BEU is only a couple miles from my house I go to Scioto Downs to do my betting.

[Sparky13]

I started following the races at Beulah Park about 25 years ago. My first time there was on a Sunday afternoon in September. I couldn't get into the large parking lot because it was filled and couldn't get into the Clubhouse parking lot because it was filled. I had to park about 2 blocks away. When finally at the track, I would guess there were 7,000 fans in attendance. I haven't been at the track now for 3 years (30 mile round trip and with the cost of gas, I stay home and bet by computer). I sure attendance in down to less than 200 on a daily basis. Sad to see this old track go away. Don't understand why they are going to build a new track close to Thistledown, Mountaineer and Presque Ile Downs.

[speed]

Beulah also had an equine virus on the grounds for a few months a few years ago They have not had full fields since. Before the virus they had many 10-12 horse fields daily.

[VeryOldMan]

I am most curious about the ownership/training side - how does anyone make money (or even lose money slowly) racing horses for purses in the $2,800 to $3,500 range?

The economics of it don't make sense to me. What is going on?

[CincyHorseplayer]

As recently as 2004 Beulah my most profitable track every year.Once the casino horse exodus began and claiming tags were dropped to 2500(I hadn't seen that from 1998-2004 or at least regularly)I had to abandon it.I still get the occasional big race there but gone are the days I could play half the card and win while getting solid exotic payoffs and a decent avg mutual.I miss those days.

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by VeryOldMan

I am most curious about the ownership/training side - how does anyone make money (or even lose money slowly) racing horses for purses in the $2,800 to $3,500 range?

The economics of it don't make sense to me. What is going on?

That's a very broad question, but if rephrased slightly to: How do said connections SURVIVE?, there are lots of answers that individually apply to different outfits.

And as your question correctly implies, in many cases it's something of a mystery, a mystery only answered by factoring in other sources of income and individual standards of living.

Even then, it's a lot like the couple next door. She works in a dollar store while he surfs the net, but they each drive sharp suvs, smoke up a carton a week, drink a case every 2 days, order pizza every night, and watch a 75 inch Panasonic-hooked up, of course, to the new play station 4. You tell ME how they pull it off? To me, it's one of life's greatest mysteries.

[Robert Fischer]

Once in a blue moon, a horse who I was already keeping an eye on at Turfway will ship over to Beulah. Those pretty much make up 99.9% of my interest in Beulah at this point in time.

I'm not super familiar with Beulah to begin with, and whether it was beginner's bad luck or whatever, one of the first (non-turfway) horses I bet to any significant level there was a real high% type of favorite. He sat a good trip saving ground behind the speed without even having to be asked, and when they hit the stretch cruised home in a hand ride, to finish 4th.

[Valuist]

I've been to Beulah once. Back in the early 90s, before full card simulcasting became available most places, I decided to head to Turfway one weekend in January. Sure enough, a brutal cold spell hit and the temps were around zero to 5 below and Turfway had to cancel. Craving the action, I suspected that even though TP would cancel, Beulah never would. Sure enough, I got there a little into the card but they were racing. And they even were taking bets on Gulfstream, which was a huge bonus.

I remember sitting in an indoor grandstand and the cigarette smoke was so thick you could cut it.

[speed]

Originally Posted by VeryOldMan

I am most curious about the ownership/training side - how does anyone make money (or even lose money slowly) racing horses for purses in the $2,800 to $3,500 range?

The economics of it don't make sense to me. What is going on?

More of the horses are owned by the trainer eliminating a part of the bills. More deals where there is no day rate but a ownership in the horses occurs. Possibly to cut down on overhead the trainer does more of the day to day work. Still have no clue how you turn a profit with those purses.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Originally Posted by VeryOldMan

I am most curious about the ownership/training side - how does anyone make money (or even lose money slowly) racing horses for purses in the $2,800 to $3,500 range?

The economics of it don't make sense to me. What is going on?

Most probably lose money, but I suspect the day rate is around $35 to $40, the vet bills are kept to the bare minimum and you race as often as possible.

As for the economics not making sense, that's true of racing overall - just compare industry purses to estimated annual costs. The latter exceed the former every year.

[1GCFAN]

Valuist - The smoke was a big problem until Ohio outlawed smoking in public places.

The city is formulating a post racing plan. There is no hope that Ohio's first thoroughbred race track will reopen unless the Mahoning Valley Track stalls.

[startngate]

Beulah used to fill its races with a lot of shippers. Horses that wouldn't do at Turfway or Mountaineer could win races there. Many of the connections were doing OK because their better horses were running for bigger purses elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, there were many people not making any money too (just like at any track) but if you have decent stock (for the track you are running at) you can make money anywhere. I remember when purses at Mountaineer used to be <$2,000 and people were somehow surviving there before slots. Bottom at Beulah looks to be $3000, or $1800 to the winner. Not easy, but if someone can win a couple of races a month and hit the board a few times (especially with OH breds) they'll be above water. Unless they own OH bred stakes quality horses they aren't getting rich there.

Sparky ... the reason they are moving the track to Youngstown has nothing to do with racing. Penn National already has a casino in Columbus (less than 10 miles from the track) and Scioto Downs has slots (less than 5 miles from the track). Move to Youngstown, and they are 60 miles (minimum) away from the nearest casino in an area with over 500,000 people in the surrounding counties. Also, Youngstown was actually upset they were left out of the casino amendment, so it's a win/win for Penn National.