Mountaineer may not make December (turned into smoking discussion)

[lamboguy]

this year. according to the director of operations, Mountaineer only has enough to pay purses through the middle of November.

i have never seen this before, but i think they cut their purses today in the middle of the book by about 10%. maybe they can cut them again if they think they are going to run out sooner.

[Mineshaft]

they are ending Dec 1st i think not sure

the purse cuts went into effect last week

[Shemp Howard]

If they cut them any lower, who is going to race there but off-the-farm plow horses?

They're all headed to Thisltedowns because of the false positives, anyway,

[Mineshaft]

You can do vet work 21 days out but everyone is getting bad tests 40 days out. Makes no sense.

Hello Thistledowns...........................

[lamboguy]

i think the Mountain was the first to get a casino about 15 years ago. they had a few great years of racing there and plenty of good ones for the casino.

now it looks like racing is in jeopardy, and my guess is that once the new casino opens in Youngstown, Ohio, the casino will be in plenty trouble too.

[Shemp Howard]

They carded
$1,500 claimers before as Waterford Park and may do it again

[Mineshaft]

i think Charlestown also cut purses

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by Mineshaft

they are ending Dec 1st i think not sure

the purse cuts went into effect last week

on August 12 the MSW purse was $19,400, today they are $17,800. they don't race thursday and friday and they didn't have a MSW race Saturday. therefore the way i see it, this is the first day with discount purses.

[Mineshaft]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

on August 12 the MSW purse was $19,400, today they are $17,800. they don't race thursday and friday and they didn't have a MSW race Saturday. therefore the way i see it, this is the first day with discount purses.

August 16 was the 1st day of cuts. The cuts are not reflected in the condition book. I got this from there overnite.

[andtheyreoff]

I really don't think this is THAT big of a development. It's not like Mountaineer running only nine months instead of ten is going to be that big of a deal in terms of the overall racing scene.

And, frankly, a lot of tracks have to start consolidating dates. Monmouth and Parx shouldn't be racing at the same time, for example. Pimlico should close on Preakness Day, and Delaware should run from Memorial Day weekend until Timonium opens. The three Ohio tracks can each operate for four months a year without intersecting. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Remington to wait until Canterbury closes to start running their meet. Same goes for Hawthorne following the closing of Oaklawn.

I know someone is going to think, "well, back in MY day, Parx and Atlantic City and Laurel and Monmouth and Delaware and Belmont raced at the same time and the fields were big and the racing was great and everything was sunshine and rainbows!" Well, who cares! That model isn't sustainable anymore. Nor should it be. If racing wants to survive, tracks have to downsize their meets. They don't have to close- nor should most of them- but cutting dates is a virtual requirement.

[tanner12oz]

They have were approved to cut dates next year

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by Mineshaft

August 16 was the 1st day of cuts. The cuts are not reflected in the condition book. I got this from there overnite.

it looks like you are right on that one. all i was saying was that its pretty rare to see purses cut in the middle of the book. usually they wait until the new book comes out.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by andtheyreoff

I really don't think this is THAT big of a development. It's not like Mountaineer running only nine months instead of ten is going to be that big of a deal in terms of the overall racing scene.

And, frankly, a lot of tracks have to start consolidating dates. Monmouth and Parx shouldn't be racing at the same time, for example. Pimlico should close on Preakness Day, and Delaware should run from Memorial Day weekend until Timonium opens. The three Ohio tracks can each operate for four months a year without intersecting. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Remington to wait until Canterbury closes to start running their meet. Same goes for Hawthorne following the closing of Oaklawn.

I know someone is going to think, "well, back in MY day, Parx and Atlantic City and Laurel and Monmouth and Delaware and Belmont raced at the same time and the fields were big and the racing was great and everything was sunshine and rainbows!" Well, who cares! That model isn't sustainable anymore. Nor should it be. If racing wants to survive, tracks have to downsize their meets. They don't have to close- nor should most of them- but cutting dates is a virtual requirement.

With the exception of Parx, which has to run year-round to have the right to simulcast, ALL of the other tracks you mentioned have cut their meet sizes from just a few years ago, and they'll likely continue to do so until eventually there are no meets. So you'll get your wish.

The Mountaineer purse cuts are far from unprecedented---it's happening all over racing, so while it's not good news, I also don't know what makes it remarkable.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by andtheyreoff

I really don't think this is THAT big of a development. It's not like Mountaineer running only nine months instead of ten is going to be that big of a deal in terms of the overall racing scene.

And, frankly, a lot of tracks have to start consolidating dates. Monmouth and Parx shouldn't be racing at the same time, for example. Pimlico should close on Preakness Day, and Delaware should run from Memorial Day weekend until Timonium opens. The three Ohio tracks can each operate for four months a year without intersecting. It wouldn't be a bad idea for Remington to wait until Canterbury closes to start running their meet. Same goes for Hawthorne following the closing of Oaklawn.

I know someone is going to think, "well, back in MY day, Parx and Atlantic City and Laurel and Monmouth and Delaware and Belmont raced at the same time and the fields were big and the racing was great and everything was sunshine and rainbows!" Well, who cares! That model isn't sustainable anymore. Nor should it be. If racing wants to survive, tracks have to downsize their meets. They don't have to close- nor should most of them- but cutting dates is a virtual requirement.

A lot of guys on here disagree with my theory that "less is more", and some flame me for that sentiment, but I'm telling anyone who will listen, this is coming. The days of 100, 150 or 200 day meets are OVER.
The practice of tracks racing on top of each other, competing for the same stock in such close geographic proximity are killing racing. It has to stop.
The view i have on these extended meets is twofold. One, the horsemen demanded it. Horsemen as a group have a lot of clout. They could literally scuttle an entire race meet ( Colonial is an example) by simply saying "we don't agree"..
State racing authorities desire longer meets because of the revenue generated.
Racetracks simply cannot continue to operate under the current business model. It's not healthy.

[Milkshaker]

If they're truly concerned about revenue, Mnr should stop running their major race up against the Whitney every summer. Big bucks thrown away in lost handle, as discussed ad nauseum elsewhere on this board.