NYRA to propose expanding Saratoga racing season

[Hambletonian]

This is a good idea if you are looking to increase simulcast $$, I am guessing Saratoga has a higher daily offtrack handle then Belmont.

On the other hand, daily on track crowds will decrease. Back when I was a pup the 24 day meet was something else, and the crowd was energized the whole meet.

And a review of old DRFs will clearly show the daily cards were composed of far better animals on average then what they parade out now. No maiden claimers, no conditioned claimers, you needed a fine animal to win a MSW.

No more. The racino money has negated the reason to ship to the Spa. That was one of the most challenging aspects to handicapping in the day, the profusion of shippers from many different circuits--all sent there with purpose.

They have a great situation in SoCal. No racino money all the way to New Mexico from border to border. I'll tell you, if they had racinos in Arizona and Washington, there would be no NoCal racing and SoCal racing would even be less interesting than it is today.

[sour grapes]

Originally Posted by Hambletonian

This is a good idea if you are looking to increase simulcast $$, I am guessing Saratoga has a higher daily offtrack handle then Belmont.

On the other hand, daily on track crowds will decrease. Back when I was a pup the 24 day meet was something else, and the crowd was energized the whole meet.

And a review of old DRFs will clearly show the daily cards were composed of far better animals on average then what they parade out now. No maiden claimers, no conditioned claimers, you needed a fine animal to win a MSW.

No more. The racino money has negated the reason to ship to the Spa. That was one of the most challenging aspects to handicapping in the day, the profusion of shippers from many different circuits--all sent there with purpose.

They have a great situation in SoCal. No racino money all the way to New Mexico from border to border. I'll tell you, if they had racinos in Arizona and Washington, there would be no NoCal racing and SoCal racing would even be less interesting than it is today.

whats so great about southern cal racing,its the same crappy 5-6 horse fields.
I agree that saratoga is watered down but on weekends their is no better racing.
they should go back to the 4 week meet in my opinion where 25k open claimers were the lowest level to compete.

[SaratogaSteve]

Originally Posted by Tom

You forget, most of the people who put on the show are staying there as an expense, and if you add several more days of expense and no more days of races, it will be hitting them.

My preference is back to 28 days, a stake every day.
Make it special again.

There was absolutely nothing special about running 28 days in a row. Please.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

The local businesses will love it? Am I right?

I'm sure the businesses will love it. The people will have a mixed response. I know my mom hates all the traffic and lack of space at the restaurants. There may be some pushback.

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by Hambletonian

This is a good idea if you are looking to increase simulcast $$, I am guessing Saratoga has a higher daily offtrack handle then Belmont.

On the other hand, daily on track crowds will decrease. Back when I was a pup the 24 day meet was something else, and the crowd was energized the whole meet.

And a review of old DRFs will clearly show the daily cards were composed of far better animals on average then what they parade out now. No maiden claimers, no conditioned claimers, you needed a fine animal to win a MSW.

No more. The racino money has negated the reason to ship to the Spa. That was one of the most challenging aspects to handicapping in the day, the profusion of shippers from many different circuits--all sent there with purpose.

They have a great situation in SoCal. No racino money all the way to New Mexico from border to border. I'll tell you, if they had racinos in Arizona and Washington, there would be no NoCal racing and SoCal racing would even be less interesting than it is today.

I remember the calendar was expressed in terms of the big race on Saturday. It was either Whitney week, Alabama week, Travers week or Hopeful week. (Until 1973 there was no Sunday racing). Every Saturday was as crowded as Travers Saturday is now. During the week a crowd of 30,000 wasn't unusual.

All in all I'm ok with the 6 week meet. Gives me a lot of flexibility in terms of going to the track.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by SaratogaSteve

There was absolutely nothing special about running 28 days in a row. Please.

They didn't run 28 in a row.
The ran 6 days a week.
The meet was special,.
Now it is Aqu North.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by Tom

They didn't run 28 in a row.
The ran 6 days a week.
The meet was special,.
Now it is Aqu North.

I like you Tom, but you're insane.

[Tom]

I grow on you.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by Tom

They didn't run 28 in a row.
The ran 6 days a week.
The meet was special,.
Now it is Aqu North.

Except for that one year when they ran 27 days in 4 weeks because of cancellations at aqueduct during the winter. That had to be tough for bettors and employees alike.

[SaratogaSteve]

Originally Posted by Tom

They didn't run 28 in a row.
The ran 6 days a week.
The meet was special,.
Now it is Aqu North.

There was one season they ran 4 weeks straight. I was repeating what you said.

I agree w/ Andy. On the insane part.

[Tom]

I don't remember that year, but I meant like it used to be - a short, quality meet.

Andy can say, that, he is a friend.
You can MA.

[devilsbag]

I didn't bother to dust off any old NYRA media guides, but this article seems to sum up the attendance and handle figures at Saratoga in the 70s and 80s:

https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/a...tion-saratoga/

Some of you kids may not remember this, but there was a long time where Saratoga was far from the hotspot it is today, and that included the era with the four week schedule with the easily identified Saturday features.

The recent tweaking and extension of the schedule has coincided with Saratoga becoming a success story in an industry that has few. Further, if you aren't adding additional racing dates, it's hard to see this move as squeezing the lemon dry.

The constant complaint is short fields, so stretching the meet out and maintaining the number of racing days seems like a very reasonable way to help combat this issue. The extension of racing days at Saratoga has always rested on the fact that Belmont in July starts to lose its luster, so why not try something to counteract both that and the horse shortage?

For Saratoga visitors, they can plan their stay accordingly and have more opportunities to make the trip there. For employees and downstate horsemen, I can understand the concern about added expense. However, twilight racing at Belmont in July costs them money too. Hopefully added handle will help the bottom line for all.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by devilsbag

I didn't bother to dust off any old NYRA media guides, but this article seems to sum up the attendance and handle figures at Saratoga in the 70s and 80s:

https://www.thoroughbredracing.com/a...tion-saratoga/

Some of you kids may not remember this, but there was a long time where Saratoga was far from the hotspot it is today, and that included the era with the four week schedule with the easily identified Saturday features.

The recent tweaking and extension of the schedule has coincided with Saratoga becoming a success story in an industry that has few. Further, if you aren't adding additional racing dates, it's hard to see this move as squeezing the lemon dry.

The constant complaint is short fields, so stretching the meet out and maintaining the number of racing days seems like a very reasonable way to help combat this issue. The extension of racing days at Saratoga has always rested on the fact that Belmont in July starts to lose its luster, so why not try something to counteract both that and the horse shortage?

For Saratoga visitors, they can plan their stay accordingly and have more opportunities to make the trip there. For employees and downstate horsemen, I can understand the concern about added expense. However, twilight racing at Belmont in July costs them money too. Hopefully added handle will help the bottom line for all.

In Davidowitz's first book he said the trees outnumbered the patrons in the early 70's. I didn't know if that meant there were a lot of trees or not that many bettors?

[biggestal99]

Originally Posted by devilsbag

Some of you kids may not remember this, but there was a long time where Saratoga was far from the hotspot it is today, and that included the era with the four week schedule with the easily identified Saturday features.

I am so old that I remember the open paddock, I was great. could just walk up to the star horses of the time and get up close and personal.



It was incredible. small attendance too.


Allan

[devilsbag]

I asked Leroy Jolley to take a picture of me in the paddock while waiting for one of his horses to get saddled. He said no, so I asked someone else, and they took this photo. I still wear the hat, but the suit has seen better days.




Here's a picture of the paddock today, a much different experience and less fan friendly. As I was handicapping this day, a woman kept trying to strike up a conversation with me, telling me how much she liked my hat. I had to put on my headphones.