CDI to Buy Colonial Downs

[usfgeology]

Originally Posted by Sheffwed

Surprised no one has mentioned CDI filed to run a few stakes races such as the Arlington Million and Beverly D at Colonial next year (if I read that recent tweet from Virginia Racing correctly)

This doesn’t move the needle for me as much as a move to compete with the weekend tier 1 tracks. The Colonial meet is good enough without those races and the classy early week racing is leagues above everything else offered any time of year in that time slot.

[Redboard]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, wife and I decided to visit Colonial last summer instead of Saratoga. We were there on a Mon, Tue, Wed. (They did cancel one day because of the heat.) It was nice. We'll be back. Everyone was very friendly. Fields were bettable.

As far as the day change, it won't bother me that much. The AirBnbs might be more expensive/less available. I doubt whether the top jocks will race there now when they can ride at the SPA. But I don't see attendance booming.

[ubercapper]

Originally Posted by Andy Asaro

Pretty sure Churchill has a plan to expand racing there and pretty sure they'll be offering some generous purses to attract horses from Florida and New York. They may even offer ship and win bonuses like California does.

This is correct because the law in Virginia ties the count of HHR machines to racing dates. I believe it is one racing date for each 100 additional machines in the state. In order to add more Rosie's locations and more machines, dates will have to increase.

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by ubercapper

This is correct because the law in Virginia ties the count of HHR machines to racing dates. I believe it is one racing date for each 100 additional machines in the state. In order to add more Rosie's locations and more machines, dates will have to increase.

They have tons of land to work with to make it very attractive to people shipping in once they have the infrastructure built around it. The have room to build as many tracks/surfaces as they want

[Sheffwed]

Originally Posted by Andy Asaro

They have tons of land to work with to make it very attractive to people shipping in once they have the infrastructure built around it. The have room to build as many tracks/surfaces as they want

this is well worth a read, the Virginia commissioners seem to have a lot on the ball, and going back to December 2021, this (weekends) is what they wanted to see happen

https://www.vrc.virginia.gov/2021age...ARC-signed.pdf

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by Sheffwed

this is well worth a read, the Virginia commissioners seem to have a lot on the ball, and going back to December 2021, this (weekends) is what they wanted to see happen

https://www.vrc.virginia.gov/2021age...ARC-signed.pdf

And I'll bet the cost of doing business is half of what it is in New York or California

[BIG49010]

I think the management of Churchill believes they can destroy Laurel, Delaware and Monmouth by running against them. If purses are maintained at the highest level, perhaps they can, but if they can't and things go south we know what happened to Arlington, Calder and Hollywood Park.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by BIG49010

I think the management of Churchill believes they can destroy Laurel, Delaware and Monmouth by running against them. If purses are maintained at the highest level, perhaps they can, but if they can't and things go south we know what happened to Arlington, Calder and Hollywood Park.

Tick tock.....

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by BIG49010

I think the management of Churchill believes they can destroy Laurel, Delaware and Monmouth by running against them. If purses are maintained at the highest level, perhaps they can, but if they can't and things go south we know what happened to Arlington, Calder and Hollywood Park.

Does CDI actually give a frick about racing as long as they have their precious slot machines?

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

Does CDI actually give a frick about racing as long as they have their precious slot machines?

i think they do care a lot about racing. they are putting out really good products the last few years in Churchill Downs. i have never seen so many 2-year-old races anywhere like they have in their fall meet with full fields. when Kentucky went to penny breakage i thought for sure they were going to charge higher signal fees, but they didn't. to me at least, it looks like they are trying to create a fan-friendly product. they get 25,000 people at Churchill on a Saturday night. they charge $10 for a pitcher of beer, and the food there is really good.

[the little guy]

I’m dying to hear how eliminating breakage would result in an increase in signal fees.

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

i think they do care a lot about racing. they are putting out really good products the last few years in Churchill Downs. i have never seen so many 2-year-old races anywhere like they have in their fall meet with full fields. when Kentucky went to penny breakage i thought for sure they were going to charge higher signal fees, but they didn't. to me at least, it looks like they are trying to create a fan-friendly product. they get 25,000 people at Churchill on a Saturday night. they charge $10 for a pitcher of beer, and the food there is really good.

You’re right, I should have said outside of Kentucky.