Charles Town Classic in jeopardy

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by cj

I don't think a guy from the racing commission thought this all up himself. I do think tracks need to have some kind of signature, and without this race CT falls completely off the map for 99% of horseplayers.

If you are looking for thoroughbred racing action at night, then Charles Town is on your radar. If you are not...then it's not. And this applies no matter WHAT purse the "Charles Town Classic" carries...IMO.

[Tom]

I always look forward to the Classic - top horses in a TOTALLY different environment.

Day to day racing is pretty good too, IMHO.....if I don't fall asleep after dinner!

Certainly tops GP.

[Tom]

First hour of At the Races today, some total idiot is arguing the point with Steve, who has facts to back up the fact that the huge purse is NOT hurting handle at all, in fact is helping it overall.

I think he said 65%?
It was talked about on yesterday' show too, but I haven't listened yet.

I think from the faulty logic this halfwit is using he posts here a lot!

[Denny]

Steve Byk is full of crap.

The caller knew more about what goes on at Charles Town than Byk ever will.

[Denny]

It's also misleading to say that regulators are trying to do away with the CT Classic.

They want to reduce the purse to a reasonable level, not give away most of a million-point-something-dollars to carpet baggers like Baffert and Hollendorfer.

It will still be worth 300k. Far more than it deserves anyway.

The money comes from the pockets of West Virginians. Why should they just give it away to out-of-staters who come in for one day a year?

Horsemen from the state - the poorer ones - have been getting the shaft.

That's what the caller pointed out.

Byk is an Industry mouthpiece. Like other sell-outs around here.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by Denny

Steve Byk is full of crap.

The caller knew more about what goes on at Charles Town than Byk ever will.

I thought that might be you!

[Thomas Roulston]

A 330-foot run into a 660-foot turn is OK for a $1.5 million race at Charles Town - but a 620-foot run into an 824-foot turn is not OK for a $40,000 maiden claiming race at Aqueduct, at 7 1/2 furlongs on the turf.

Just saying.

[Denny]

The Byk caller was identified by name on the show.
You must have missed that.
You're an idiot if you think it's me.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by Denny

It's also misleading to say that regulators are trying to do away with the CT Classic.

They want to reduce the purse to a reasonable level, not give away most of a million-point-something-dollars to carpet baggers like Baffert and Hollendorfer.

It will still be worth 300k. Far more than it deserves anyway.

The money comes from the pockets of West Virginians. Why should they just give it away to out-of-staters who come in for one day a year?

Horsemen from the state - the poorer ones - have been getting the shaft.

That's what the caller pointed out.

Byk is an Industry mouthpiece. Like other sell-outs around here.

A million plus dollar race at CT is nuts.

[Tom]

Why?

[JustRalph]

I haven’t been to CT for about 6-7 years, but I thought it was a very nice small track. It was apparent the Casino was the priority, but the track was very well kept and clean facilities all around. It was a fun night, and I did go back a few times.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Originally Posted by Tom

First hour of At the Races today, some total idiot is arguing the point with Steve, who has facts to back up the fact that the huge purse is NOT hurting handle at all, in fact is helping it overall.

I think he said 65%?
It was talked about on yesterday' show too, but I haven't listened yet.

I think from the faulty logic this halfwit is using he posts here a lot!

Right, like I said, I believe the VP of operations at CT has done a good job of expanding/aggressively marketing the track's signal over the past 10 years or so. That's the reason some of the metrics have improved, in my opinion, not conducting a $1 mm+ race that attracts mostly Grade III runners. Why is that such an unreasonable position to take? How is it faulty logic? I think you're applying causality to where it doesn't exist. Again, if that big race at FL was such a bonanza for business, why was it canceled?

[cj]

Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike

Right, like I said, I believe the VP of operations at CT has done a good job of expanding/aggressively marketing the track's signal over the past 10 years or so. That's the reason some of the metrics have improved, in my opinion, not conducting a $1 mm+ race that attracts mostly Grade III runners. Why is that such an unreasonable position to take? How is it faulty logic? I think you're applying causality to where it doesn't exist. Again, if that big race at FL was such a bonanza for business, why was it canceled?

That Finger Lakes race was nowhere near on par with the CT Classic, not even close. The purse wasn't all the big, it was sprinters, etc.

https://www.equibase.com/profiles/Re...es&stkid=19591

[Tom]

Thanks for the link, CJ.
The race was better than I remembered!
Some very prominent names there.
We used to get all jiggy when an Aqueduct $35000K claimer showed up to run in one of our stakes.

Lukas, Mott, Cordero...big day for us hicks!

[cj]

Originally Posted by Tom

Thanks for the link, CJ.
The race was better than I remembered!
Some very prominent names there.
We used to get all jiggy when an Aqueduct $35000K claimer showed up to run in one of our stakes.

Lukas, Mott, Cordero...big day for us hicks!

Safely Kept is one of my all time favorites.