Better Meet: Saratoga or Del Mar

[Appy]

According to Bloodhorse the Derby was the 2nd highest viewed (TV) sports event of the year, behind only the Super Bowl.
Saratoga posted another all sources meet handle over $700M again this year.

I'm with Tom's comment. In fact I consider the Saratoga meet one of the 3 best of the year, every year. In no particular order: BC weekend, Keeneland, and Saratoga are my faves. I also enjoy Oaklawn on a regular basis, but my success rate their is not as consistently good.
GPX virtually year round racing also makes them a fave of mine, but I ALWAYS pay attention to NYRA meets.

[RunForTheRoses]

My answer is they both sucked. Beat me up and took my lunch money like schoolyard bullies.

[Nitro]

Originally Posted by RunForTheRoses

My answer is they both sucked. Beat me up and took my lunch money like schoolyard bullies.

They didn't take your "lunch money" pal, I did (if you played Del Mar consistently)
Sorry man. Better luck next year!

[Robert Fischer]

Really enjoyed Saratoga this year.

As an east-coast 'early bird', I didn't play a lot of Del Mar, apart from a few Stakes and spot plays.

Both seemed like high quality offerings.

[Waquoit]

Originally Posted by Robert Fischer

Really enjoyed Saratoga this year.

Me too. It seemed that there were so many good races with fun finishes that I really didn't notice field size was down. I played Del Mar one afternoon when I was in a contest. It just confirmed I'm done with CA racing.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by MMM59

Which big meet did everyone enjoy more. I thought the weather held up pretty well at Saratoga and made for some great racing. Ortiz brothers and Rosario had quite a few nice wins, and Clement was on fire the first part of the meet.
Rispoli and Pratt made the Del Mar jockey race interesting, along with some nice prices. I give the nod to Saratoga.

The only dent in the armor of this 2020 Spa meet was an inordinate number of shorter fields.
Other than that, there is no comparison. Yeah, I'm biased, but think about this....For a moment, pretend you're a horse owner. Which is more prestigious...Getting your horse's Win picture taken at The Spa or at DelMar?
BTW, despite the "no fans allowed" at Saratoga. Handle was down just a couple percentage points from last year's record $705 million to 2020's $702 million.
Now, with an average daily attendance of (using 2019 figs) of 27,000 per day and multiplying that number by the average per capita wagering of $125( per attendee) That's an additional 3.3 million per day on track, times 39 race dates(one was cancelled) ..Now, factoring in the probability of cannibalization, meaning fans on track betting through the windows instead of on line, lets take a wild guess that at least half to two thirds the money bet on line by those who would ordinarily be at the track, would be transferred to on track. So, my guess is at least an additional $ 750k to one million per day added to the overall handle. Once again, I am guessing here.
In any event, It is not out of the realm of possibility that had fans been permitted to attend, the Spa meet could possibly have reached $740 million in all sources handle.

[CaptainObvious]

If your into placeless turf racing, the answer is toga.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by Nitro

Aside from the very competitive race riding between Prat and Rispoli, I thought Del Mar was the better meet from a gambling perspective. It had consistently larger fields on a race by race basis and the O.A. returns were excellent in terms of value. Their Maiden Claiming races I thought were the toughest to figure.

Average field size at DelMar 2020 was 8.4 compared to 2019's 8.0
Saratoga, which lost 38 of 174 turf races, was at 7.4 compared to 2019 at 7.9.
However, all sources handle for the DelMar 2020 meet was $448 million ( including $24.8 million on KY Derby Day) across 27 race dates. For an average of $17.8 million. Saratoga Handled $702 million across 39 race dates( $23.4 million KY Derby Day) for an average of of $18. 5 million per day.
So, from a handle perspective, the tracks were getting fairly the same amount of daily play.
BTW, I just google searched all this info.
Source credits are horseracingnation.com, pastthewire.com and equibase.com

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by thespaah

Average field size at DelMar 2020 was 8.4 compared to 2019's 8.0
Saratoga, which lost 38 of 174 turf races, was at 7.4 compared to 2019 at 7.9.
However, all sources handle for the DelMar 2020 meet was $448 million ( including $24.8 million on KY Derby Day) across 27 race dates. For an average of $17.8 million. Saratoga Handled $702 million across 39 race dates( $23.4 million KY Derby Day) for an average of of $18. 5 million per day.
So, from a handle perspective, the tracks were getting fairly the same amount of daily play.
BTW, I just google searched all this info.
Source credits are horseracingnation.com, pastthewire.com and equibase.com

Oaklawn puts both tracks to shame and their daily handle is a fraction of either track.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by ronsmac

Bigger fields? What races were you watching? Saratoga’s average field size was 7.4 per race, Del Mar's was 8.4 per race.

I'd prefer to see a breakdown of field sizes by race type.
For example, Saratoga carded 216 turf events out of a total of 405 races. 38 were rained off. As we know, turf races tend to have larger fields. Saratoga lost 17.8% of its turf races. Those fields can sometimes get cut down from as many as 12 starters to as few a 4 or 5. So , we should be careful to put the numbers into context.
DelMar has no such issues with losing turf races because, To borrow a song lyric, "It Never Rains in Southern California".....

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by ronsmac

Oaklawn puts both tracks to shame and their daily handle is a fraction of either track.

I've not been to Oaklawn....Yet...So I cannot render an opinion.
Its on my bucket list.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by thespaah

I'd prefer to see a breakdown of field sizes by race type.
For example, Saratoga carded 216 turf events out of a total of 405 races. 38 were rained off. As we know, turf races tend to have larger fields. Saratoga lost 17.8% of its turf races. Those fields can sometimes get cut down from as many as 12 starters to as few a 4 or 5. So , we should be careful to put the numbers into context.
DelMar has no such issues with losing turf races because, To borrow a song lyric, "It Never Rains in Southern California".....

It’s a given that Saratoga is going to have rain and races taken off the turf. The weather was better this year than last.

[burnsy]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

If the track was opened, they ran races, and there were no health debacles, it was a success. Both ran good meets.

IMO, now that Saratoga is in the books and things are generally much more stable in NY, NYRA should be arguing to allow some fans in the backyard and first floor of the grandstand of Belmont even if requires distancing and masks. It would be less risky than a LOT of things that are already approved in Nassau County and even in NYC.

I agree. And I said this about Saratoga too. The Simulcast was open and I went a couple of times. I just bet off of my phone . But there were machines and they just constantly cleaned them. They even had a machine that could cash tickets so there wasn’t a teller in the place. They also had sensors you put your wrist up to for temp. If you had a fever you were not getting in. It’s not fool proof but people can’t hide forever and people are gonna starve if the community as whole doesn’t figure things out. The goal should be to make it as safe as possible without shutting shit down. The two political sides have two extremes....... close everything or do nothing and walk around spreading it like nothing matters. This thing (Pandemic) makes it clear..... both sides are the problem...... the entire system of these two sides running things is a systematic problem slowly choking this country . Not just on the virus front but virtually on every front. People gotta wake up and take control of this mess.

As for the original question in the post. Is it serious? Cause I had to laugh, my coffee almost came thru my nostrils......

Why are all the best running to NY? One jockey in particular couldn’t get here fast enough and he’s kicking ass. NY more stable? You are not f’ing kidding me.