Total handle falls 28.1 percent at Aqueduct spring meet

[denniswilliams]

https://www.drf.com/news/total-handl...ct-spring-meet

'Average field size at this spring’s meet was 6.88 horses per race, down 3.2 percent from last year’s figure of 7.10.'

[lamboguy]

the handle and the horse count must have been way down this year in Gulfstream. but the place that i think did very well was Turfway Park. thanks to larger purses, penny breakage, a fun time if you are at the actual track and of course the addition of Tony Calo calling the races

[racenomics]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

the handle and the horse count must have been way down this year in Gulfstream. but the place that i think did very well was Turfway Park. thanks to larger purses, penny breakage, a fun time if you are at the actual track and of course the addition of Tony Calo calling the races

And a nice addition of slots welfare

[denniswilliams]

Turned on America's Day at the Races just in time (as it turned out) for the Sheepshead Bay GIII $200,000 (some nice memories of this race)

Bad News: 5 horse field - 2 Brown's

Good News: Acacia is now back to using 'left' instead of 'inside' -- the public just wasn't ready for such a huge 'change' (pun intended)

Constant: more slow paced nonsense

Conclusion: Apparently, horse shortage continues to be worse than housing shortage in NY.

[Tom]

Horse shortage or glut of races?

I see the strategy of slow paced races.
Run enough races slow enough and a slow race will eventually ecome an average pace! Genius!

[Sheffwed]

Originally Posted by Tom

Horse shortage or glut of races?

I see the strategy of slow paced races.
Run enough races slow enough and a slow race will eventually ecome an average pace! Genius!

if you didn't know any better, you would actually think NYRA was trying to run NY Racing into the ground

[racenomics]

Originally Posted by Sheffwed

if you didn't know any better, you would actually think NYRA was trying to run NY Racing into the ground

May I ask you how you would get aqueduct to average 8+ horses a race?

[Parkview_Pirate]

Originally Posted by racenomics

May I ask you how you would get aqueduct to average 8+ horses a race?

Well, the first idea that comes to mind is the "Big A at Finger Lakes" meet. Urban prices don't help contain costs.

I believe Keeneland's spring meet also was down in handle. Sign of the times, economic times. At least part of it. Folks have less discretionary money for entertainment. I will not be surprised to see the downward trends in handle continue for meets later this year.

[burnsy]

Sports betting since it’s been legalized about 6 years ago has handled 350 billion.
But here’s the thing since September 2023 the handle has been double digit billion through March , Aprils numbers are not out yet .
And during football season all those years the handle is in the billions per month and in 2022 it began to approach 10 billion a month during football season. Like I said this year during football season thru March it was over 10 billion per month.
Draftkings stock was about 15 a share when NY and much of the Northeast became legal . It’s now about 42 dollars a share in about 2 years .
So, this crap , “people don’t have money to bet “ is just that .
They betting hand over fist, but horse racing ain’t it .
And I doubt they’ll get any “free” money from the online gambling business like they do from Casinos .

[classhandicapper]

The online casinos are a threat.

For those tracks reliant on casino money to fund their business, if the online casinos start taking market share from the brick and mortar casinos, that could mean another hit to the track operations. I don't think the tracks get a piece of the online casino betting, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

[burnsy]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

The online casinos are a threat.

For those tracks reliant on casino money to fund their business, if the online casinos start taking market share from the brick and mortar casinos, that could mean another hit to the track operations. I don't think the tracks get a piece of the online casino betting, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh, correction . I stand corrected . They are part of horse racing handle too . So, in a way they are contributing but in a better way . It’s not a hand out , they are in business with the tracks . I just signed up for DK Horse yesterday because they are matching your first 250$. But the sports betting is on a rocket . Right now . I did not make those figures up .

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by Parkview_Pirate

Well, the first idea that comes to mind is the "Big A at Finger Lakes" meet. Urban prices don't help contain costs.

I believe Keeneland's spring meet also was down in handle. Sign of the times, economic times. At least part of it. Folks have less discretionary money for entertainment. I will not be surprised to see the downward trends in handle continue for meets later this year.

Sports betting handle in March 2021: $4.6 billion
Sports betting handle in March 2024: $11 billion (this also equal horse racing's nationwide handle for the entire year of 2023)

Yeah, the "economy is bad" and no one has any money to bet....

[Tom]

Maybe we now have more opportunities to gamble than horse racing.
Maybe racing is no longer the Sport of Kings, just the Gamble of Grandpas.

[racenomics]

Originally Posted by Parkview_Pirate

Well, the first idea that comes to mind is the "Big A at Finger Lakes" meet. Urban prices don't help contain costs.

Well I’m sure the fact the Finger lakes runs the the entire traditional Belmont spring and fall meet confirms your thesis. I’m sure everyone will enjoy the wonderful turf course that finger lakes has, and I’m sure the 1,200 stalls will fit all the horses. I’m also sure the brand of finger lakes will carry NYRA to new highs.
lol

[Tom]

We already have "The Big A" at Finger Lakes!