Philadelphia Park gate people are the worst any where

[griz]

That is all

[Doc]

You'll get no argument from me.

[njcurveball]

Anyone know the pay scale for these workers at different tracks?

[Millpond68]

In the early 80's my wife shipped a horse from Penn National to run at Philadelphia Park. Her trainer though he found a real good spot for the horse since he was a PA. bred and the purse was excellent. We brought a group of friends and relatives to the will call gate, probably about 10 people. They refused anyone except me wife and I admittance. Fortunately a track official Arnold Iliescu knew us from Penn National and told them let us all in. This really upset them and they moaned and groaned as we passed thru. I just hope they didn't bet the horse because he won.

[ryesteve]

Originally Posted by Millpond68

We brought a group of friends and relatives to the will call gate, probably about 10 people. They refused anyone except me wife and I admittance.

I think maybe they were talking about a different "gate crew"

[Fastracehorse]

I thought admission and payed parking was a thing of the past.

fffastt

[fishofewing]

It is...free to enter and free parking. The starting gate crew has messed up numerous times and I believe 2 years ago, they open the gate before all the horses were in and it was stakes race.

[Marshall Bennett]

May have a lot to do with the quality of horses being loaded as well . Seems like as the quality of racing increases , most everything else follows . Having watched a lot of racing on Mondays and Tuesdays , I find other tracks have simular problems .

Originally Posted by fishofewing

It is...free to enter and free parking. The starting gate crew has messed up numerous times and I believe 2 years ago, they open the gate before all the horses were in and it was stakes race.

That was on the undercard of a Pennsylvania Derby, one of the other stakes races. Of course Philly is not the only track it's ever happened at, but I was there so I remember that one.

I find it funny how the chartcaller likes to throw in comments at Philly such as, "Another slow gate load caused a 4-minute delay in the start of the race."

[trying2win]

GRIZ:

Have you complained to the management at Philly Park about this perceived problem? If not, why not? If you want to see an improvement, it's more productive to complain to the people who can actually do something about it. Nothing will ever get changed at Philly Park, by just complaining at the PACE ADVANTAGE site.

~"Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure."

--Don Wilder

[cmoore]

Originally Posted by ryesteve

I think maybe they were talking about a different "gate crew"

LOL!!!!!

[Marshall Bennett]

Yeah , that one is a classic .

[northerndancer]

I have had many bad experiences with the Philly Park gate crew they would be fighting for the tops on my list along with the Charles Town gate crew.

On the flip side Fort Erie and Woodbine gate crews are the best in the business. The crews from Ontario are extremely professional and know the personalities of every horse in the race. I can not say enough good things about both of those crews...... damn I said something nice about Woodbine.... well they deserve it.

[Yorker]

Originally Posted by fishofewing

It is...free to enter and free parking. The starting gate crew has messed up numerous times and I believe 2 years ago, they open the gate before all the horses were in and it was stakes race.

That happened on PA Derby Day 2005 in the Pennsylvania Oaks:
"Paraneck Stable's Amazing Buy was a wire-to-wire winner of the $100,000 Pennsylvania Oaks, a race that will be remembered for the bizarre happenings at the start. As the field of six was loading into the gate, five horses had taken their positions, waiting only on the 7-5 second choice, the outside horse, Private Gift. Suddenly the gate opened, sending five runners on their way with Private Gift left standing behind the gate. Expected to be a major pace factor, the Unbridled filly was quickly unsaddled and taken from the track, but that left Amazing Buy with a clear uncontested early lead. Under Philadelphia Park's leading jockey Harry Vega, the High Yield filly took full advantage, hit the half in a comfortable 46.4 and then held the favored Hide and Chic safe through the final furlong to win by a length and a half. Trained by Jennifer Pedersen, the winner went off at 7-2 returned a win mutuel of $9.40. Declared a non-starter after the race, all wagers on Private Gift were refunded."

It was the starters fault, not the gate crew. I can't remember his name, but he was well into his 70's. Another problem happened at the gate the following week when only 1/2 of the gates opened. Turned out the old man wasn't strong enough to hold the button completely down. They replaced him that week.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by Fastracehorse@DRF

I thought admission and payed parking was a thing of the past.

fffastt

I paid 10 bucks to park at Churchill last Sunday and 3 bucks admission