win pools

[lamboguy]

i was involved today in the last race at Gulfstream and saw the win pool in an 8 horse field on turf was $100,000. move up about 1600 miles north in the bitter cold to the Big A and the very last race also had 8 contestants and produced a $170,000 win pool in the dead of winter. the exacta and trifecta pools were small in size as well at gulfstream.

now go to Calder. they also had 8 in the field, their win pool was only $38,000. add Gulfstream and Calder together, you still don't match the northern handle. i remember being at Calder 20 years ago on this date and saw the win pool over $160,000 without simulcast wagering.

this is saying a few things, first of all NYRA is doing a better job running things than the fellow's down in Southern Florida. the second part is that not only is racing in trouble in S. Florida, but the slot machines must be over saturated in that area as well.

[therussmeister]

Calder's pools 20 years ago weren't big despite no simulcasting, they were big because of no simulcasting. With the advent of simulcasting a lot of Florida money went north. That happened at small and medium sized tracks all over the country.

[Al Gobbi]

Gulfstream has killed whatever specialty their winter meet had by racing year round.

Also with Santa Anita on TVG now, along with them airing Aqueduct, Tampa among other track (including Oaklawn when they open) I wonder if some people are just passing up GP entirely?

[Redboard]

A few thoughts… Back then, I believe, the Gulfstream winter meet didn't begin until January. December is not the peak time down there for snowbirds. Also, Aqueduct's purses have been pumped up with racino money- connections still follow the money. Their total purse today was $100k more than Gulfstream's, even though they carded only nine races to Gulfstream's ten. Finally, the weather today in NY was not what you'd call, bitter cold - highs in the 50's.

[davew]

Hasn't the New York and Southern California always been the best?

best horses, highest purses, largest handles, ....

or did Gulfstream do better than Aqueduct in February and March?

[speed]

[QUOTE=lamboguy]i
now go to Calder. they also had 8 in the field, their win pool was only $38,000. add Gulfstream and Calder together, you still don't match the northern handle. i remember being at Calder 20 years ago on this date and saw the win pool over $160,000 without simulcast wagering.QUOTE]

Twenty years ago Caider handled about a million a day on weekdays and about a million and a half on weekends. This was total handle for every wager. Possibly this was before you got those sharp looking glasses you now wear and you misread $16,000 for $160,000. Figured i would chime in before TLG fired away.

[Mineshaft]

I would think the bettors of NY City and they are a lot of them tend to bet Aqueduct more than Gulfstream since its there local track. Just my opinion.

[MJC922]

Calder has received some bad press which may have driven away a lot of big players. The pools aren't very large so unfortunately that makes them kind of volatile, the bigger money tends to stay away from that situation. I have followed Calder closely for about three months and have found it to be very formful at present. I checked my stats there this morning, from the 1st of October 112 win bets 38% wins +33% ROI. There are quirks to it, generally anything that looks obviously loose on the lead at Calder tend to get pounded hard, odds can be cut in half on these types very late in the wagering. So unlike NY there's top-heavy play on early speed at Calder, IMO e.g. Strapping Groom at Calder would've paid $4.40 instead of $5.40 in the Gravesend. The jockey colony at Calder is quite good IMO too which helps, John Delgado especially seems to be one heck of a rider. They have been off the turf a lot too, and these get moved to a typically fast track, so that may not be a bad thing for handicapping.

So for me lately Calder is where I find the most playable races. AQU I keep an eye on too, some good ones there from time to time. HAW I can't make any sense out of though. The surface seems odd, half-frozen with an inch of powder on it that produces a big kick-back. It's a jarring surface I think to some horses this time of year and makes the racing seem very inconsistent.

[Pensacola Pete]

I don't play many races at Calder. It's home to the "3 on 2" game, except that it isn't basketball. It seems like in every race, there are three horses at about 2-1 odds, and good luck figuring out which one will win.