All the way from Las Vegas - Racing in Trouble

[fiznow]

As a bettor I have to say that the big tracks are not always the best to make money. Often it's easier to find longshots at smaller tracks.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by chenoa

Alberta is in the same boat. Northlands has said its pulling the pin on horse racing after 2016. The new racino down south is laughable. All the serious horseplayers are gone and they are left with the newbies and $2 WPS players, but as long as suckers are plugging their slots, that's all that really matters isn't it??

For that, I am grateful for internet/simulcasting.

Went to visit "Century Downs" last fall.
We were very disappointed.

Had to navigate our way through 1000 slot machines to try and find a place to watch the races. Went through the doors to head out onto the apron to watch a race, and had to go all the way around the building to get back in, because the doors were locked from the outside.

Ended up watching the races from the restaurant (the food was really quite good) through tiny little windows where we could see approximately 4 seconds of each race live, we became very dependent on the infield big screen.

After buying our program they decided to announce that there are free programs and $2 betting vouchers available on the second floor "viewing gallery." Why would they charge us for programs when they are giving them away for free upstairs? Why wouldn't the lady that sold us the program tell us that we could get them for free upstairs AND a $2 betting voucher?

The approximately 4 tables that were up in the 2nd floor viewing gallery filled right up, so there was no chance of getting a spot there to watch, even though it wasn't that much better of a view than in the restaurant.

And I bet the Daily Double, and they never even posted the payout or announced it.

Felt like I spent the day at a Slots Parlor, and there just happened to be some racing "out back" that day. Took entirely way too much effort to try and watch and bet the races.

Not likely to ever go back. If that's the future of horse racing, then perhaps we're just just better off with no racing at all.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by RXB

Macguy, I started going to Hastings in the mid-80's when it was named Exhibition Park and at that time it was four days a week of racing, in fact five days in the summer as long as they could fill a Monday evening card. Averaged almost nine horses per race in those years.

Simulcasting is a double-edged sword for smaller tracks. Boosted revenue in the short and medium term but killed any buzz for live racing. And you're right, Hastings really can't cut the live racing down any farther. It's already at a bare minimum on two days per week. BC racing is at the edge of the cliff.

BC racing indeed, we talk about Hastings Park, but it's easy to forget about the interior "B" circuit.

It wasn't that many years ago that there was still a very vibrant B circuit rotating between Kamloops, Vernon, Princeton, and Osoyoos.

The entire circuit is pretty much a piece of history now.
I think Desert Park in Osoyoos ran one day last year and is trying to make a bit of a comeback, but it doesn't sound like it will be anything more than a few days a year.

Glad I made the drive when I did, I got to see the horses race in Kamloops and Princeton on a number of occasions, but never got to see the tracks in Vernon or Osoyoos.

I also missed out on watching the horses run on Vancouver Island at Sandown Park. I remember one beautiful summer day thinking I should make the drive out to the island to watch the racing, but I got lazy and didn't want to bother sitting in a ferry line-up, my thought process at the time was "there's always next year."

[ultracapper]

Washington state should give some idea as to how contraction would play out. When Longacres was open, there were two other tracks in the state that ran "major" meets (major, for the local racing landscape anyhow), Yakima and Spokane. These three tracks were enough to support a rather vibrant fair circuit, and a minor league that stretched into mid-state Oregon and into Montana (Maherasred broke his maiden in Montana before winning the Gottstein Futurity and running in the Breeders Cup Juvenile).

Now we have Emerald Downs, a wiped out Portland Meadows, and damn near nothing else. It has taken Emerald Downs 20 years to reach the POTENTIAL of respectability, and even the strides it has made is no guarantee it will survive for an extended period. The breeding in the state has been on bed-ridden life support for 20 years. It actually amazes me that any racing can be held when taking the live foal numbers of the past decade into account.

Though Emerald Downs has no casino or card room, it is strictly a race track, there is a casino within spitting distance that happens to also have all ten of it's fingers in the ED pie. Casinos are no friends of the race tracks. The casinos are Greg Allman. They have the name recognition and everybody knows who they're going to see.The race tracks are Dickie Betts. If you know who he is you love him. But if you don't, his name means nothing. They're both good, but they don't play nice together.

What ultimately happens to Emerald Downs may be the predictive model of what contraction would do nationwide if corrective action isn't taken in exposing racing to the general masses, and the status quo is maintained. Either patience and determination win out, or certain death due to an inability to drum up committed fan interest. 20%/80%? Yep, make the line 4/1 patience and determination, 1/4, odds on, death. We need an upset.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

Washington state should give some idea as to how contraction would play out. When Longacres was open, there were two other tracks in the state that ran "major" meets (major, for the local racing landscape anyhow), Yakima and Spokane. These three tracks were enough to support a rather vibrant fair circuit, and a minor league that stretched into mid-state Oregon and into Montana (Maherasred broke his maiden in Montana before winning the Gottstein Futurity and running in the Breeders Cup Juvenile).

Now we have Emerald Downs, a wiped out Portland Meadows, and damn near nothing else. It has taken Emerald Downs 20 years to reach the POTENTIAL of respectability, and even the strides it has made is no guarantee it will survive for an extended period. The breeding in the state has been on bed-ridden life support for 20 years. It actually amazes me that any racing can be held when taking the live foal numbers of the past decade into account.

Though Emerald Downs has no casino or card room, it is strictly a race track, there is a casino within spitting distance that happens to also have all ten of it's fingers in the ED pie. Casinos are no friends of the race tracks. The casinos are Greg Allman. They have the name recognition and everybody knows who they're going to see.The race tracks are Dickie Betts. If you know who he is you love him. But if you don't, his name means nothing. They're both good, but they don't play nice together.

What ultimately happens to Emerald Downs may be the predictive model of what contraction would do nationwide if corrective action isn't taken in exposing racing to the general masses, and the status quo is maintained. Either patience and determination win out, or certain death due to an inability to drum up committed fan interest. 20%/80%? Yep, make the line 4/1 patience and determination, 1/4, odds on, death. We need an upset.

Washington State and British Columbia, side by side, and thoroughbred horse racing in the two places is truly on identical paths. Unfortunately not for the better.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

Washington state should give some idea as to how contraction would play out. When Longacres was open, there were two other tracks in the state that ran "major" meets (major, for the local racing landscape anyhow), Yakima and Spokane. These three tracks were enough to support a rather vibrant fair circuit, and a minor league that stretched into mid-state Oregon and into Montana (Maherasred broke his maiden in Montana before winning the Gottstein Futurity and running in the Breeders Cup Juvenile).

Now we have Emerald Downs, a wiped out Portland Meadows, and damn near nothing else. It has taken Emerald Downs 20 years to reach the POTENTIAL of respectability, and even the strides it has made is no guarantee it will survive for an extended period. The breeding in the state has been on bed-ridden life support for 20 years. It actually amazes me that any racing can be held when taking the live foal numbers of the past decade into account.

Though Emerald Downs has no casino or card room, it is strictly a race track, there is a casino within spitting distance that happens to also have all ten of it's fingers in the ED pie. Casinos are no friends of the race tracks. The casinos are Greg Allman. They have the name recognition and everybody knows who they're going to see.The race tracks are Dickie Betts. If you know who he is you love him. But if you don't, his name means nothing. They're both good, but they don't play nice together.

What ultimately happens to Emerald Downs may be the predictive model of what contraction would do nationwide if corrective action isn't taken in exposing racing to the general masses, and the status quo is maintained. Either patience and determination win out, or certain death due to an inability to drum up committed fan interest. 20%/80%? Yep, make the line 4/1 patience and determination, 1/4, odds on, death. We need an upset.

What I want to know is, who is Duane Allman in this situation?

[barn32]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

When Longacres was open, there were two other tracks in the state that ran "major" meets (major, for the local racing landscape anyhow), Yakima and Spokane. These three tracks were enough to support a rather vibrant fair circuit, and a minor league that stretched into mid-state Oregon and into Montana (Maherasred broke his maiden in Montana before winning the Gottstein Futurity and running in the Breeders Cup Juvenile).

And don't forget that Gary Stevens was the top jockey at Les Bois Park (Boise Idaho) before he moved his tack to Longacres.

[ultracapper]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

What I want to know is, who is Duane Allman in this situation?

Hollywood Park
Longacres
Bay Meadows
Colonial Downs
Suffolk Downs

and on and on

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

Hollywood Park
Longacres
Bay Meadows
Colonial Downs
Suffolk Downs

and on and on

Suffolk's coming back with a little bit of live racing this year.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...v4I/story.html

[MonmouthParkJoe]

Love Spokane, wish they still had racing about ten years ago. Used to be there for six months a year doing an audit. Loved the downtown area.