Mountaineer Cutting Purses

[Bruiser1]

Just posted as a story on the front page of Pace Advantage.

Bad news for a track which has provided good size fields on average.

What are the ramifications (other than the obvious financial hurt to owners, trainers and jockeys) likely to be from this purse reduction?


http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...eer?source=rss

[The_Knight_Sky]

On Aug. 7 Mountaineer paid more than $1.5 million
on its all-stakes West Virginia Derby (gr. II) program.

____________________

Who here feels that was the right thing to do?

Slots are a temporary crutch
and it is evident here courtesy of MTR Gaming.

[lamboguy]

instead of closing, sulfolk has chose to cut their purses as well.


i grew up in boston, and it is a literal disgrace what has happened to racing there. that place always was packed with people until this century. i have a buddy there that is a trainer that is good sized and his clients will not allow him to run for small purses, so he will be gone and others to follow. this is what is happening to racing these days, and don't think for one moment that bigger tracks will be imune to it either. its the same problem all over, no business.

[JBmadera]

Originally Posted by The_Knight_Sky

On Aug. 7 Mountaineer paid more than $1.5 million
on its all-stakes West Virginia Derby (gr. II) program.

____________________

Who here feels that was the right thing to do?

Slots are a temporary crutch
and it is evident here courtesy of MTR Gaming.

I agree. Any business model which is dependent upon revenue streams completely outside of their control is a big mistake.

As my trading buddies say "hope is not a strategy", and as long as racing hopes for outside factors to save them they're sunk.

jb

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by JBmadera

I agree. Any business model which is dependent upon revenue streams completely outside of their control is a big mistake.

As my trading buddies say "hope is not a strategy", and as long as racing hopes for outside factors to save them they're sunk.

jb

ain't that the case.

i may be koo-koo, but people really love the beauty of horseracing, and being able to convert them into horseplayers and owners should not be that tought. i know its hard the way the game is today, but some adjustments would do wonders

[The_Knight_Sky]

This just in from The Saratogian:

Legislation extends hours of operation for New York racinos

But the state is also taking away 1 percent of each track’s revenue,
which will cost Saratoga Gaming & Raceway nearly $1.5 million per year.

Tracks will supposedly make up for lost income with more hours,
but raceway officials aren’t convinced.

“It will definitely affect the bottom line,” spokesperson Rita Cox said.
“We do not anticipate that the added hours will make up that difference.”

___________________________


Now who here feels that an Aqueduct racino (or any other racino)
is immune to this type of governance?

[Relwob Owner]

Originally Posted by JBmadera

I agree. Any business model which is dependent upon revenue streams completely outside of their control is a big mistake.

As my trading buddies say "hope is not a strategy", and as long as racing hopes for outside factors to save them they're sunk.

jb

Good point....plus, it takes all of the incentive away for the tracks to improve, as they think the slot money will always be there.....it wont

[Edward DeVere]

Hasn't there been some evidence lately that slots with racing make more money than slots without racing? I know I saw a recent article or two about this.

[The_Knight_Sky]

Originally Posted by Edward DeVere

Hasn't there been some evidence lately that slots with racing make more money than slots without racing? I know I saw a recent article or two about this.

Reviews have been pro-racino or anti-racino.
It depends on who hired the person to do the research. The researchers have plenty of opportunities to produce a spin in what is a complex marriage between horse racing and casino gaming.

I think Dr. Richard Thalheimer's writings are most interesting:
http://ggbmagazine.com/issue/vol-9-n...ion-of-racinos

So, while the introduction and growth of racino gaming has been a mixed blessing to the race horse industry, it has been a boon to the casino business. It has had the intended effect of increasing purses with resulting increases in spending, employment and preservation of green space by the industry in state and local economies. Further, the presence of live and import simulcast races at racetracks has been found to increase slot machine wagering significantly.

On the other hand, on-track parimutuel wagering has declined in the presence of slot machines and table games. In the long run, both racing industry entities and racino operators must find ways to increase wagering and resulting revenues from the parimutuel product for racing to survive. Potential growth areas such as supplying an attractive live race product to internet wagering venues hold promise for racing's future, depending on the share of revenue going back to the industry.

[BMustang]

Sorry to say that I'm not surprised that Mountaineer Park is cutting their purses.

I love Mountaineer and used to make an annual trip there UNTIL last year when the Grand Hotel coffee shop no longer opens until 11am so you can't get a decent sit-down breakfast and have to order room-service or eat in the hog-trough buffet, which I absolutely refulse to do.
They also no longer open the deli, located immediately behind the racebook until 5pm, so horseplayers can't get lunch.
It is a sad state of affairs there, and what was once a great venue is now a cut-rate (everything except the room rates which continue to escalate) operation.

They've even removed the fish aquarium in the lobby, because the fish were too expensive to feed.

The sportsbook concession stand at the track only opens on weekends and in the evenings and the casino at the track only opens on weekends.

My suggestion all along was to maintain the customer service at the hotel and track and cut the inflated purses, to a more reasonable size reflective of the caliber of competiton.

All of my letters, suggestion forms, etc,. have fallen on deaf ears and some suits who sit in offices pouring over the bottom live have made Mountaineer an undesireable place to visit.

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

instead of closing, sulfolk has chose to cut their purses as well.


i grew up in boston, and it is a literal disgrace what has happened to racing there. that place always was packed with people until this century. i have a buddy there that is a trainer that is good sized and his clients will not allow him to run for small purses, so he will be gone and others to follow. this is what is happening to racing these days, and don't think for one moment that bigger tracks will be imune to it either. its the same problem all over, no business.

Having grown up my first 30 years there myself, I can't believe Suffolk is still open given what the state has done NOT to support them and the horsemen. I'm on the fence as far as slots and casinos and such, but Suffolk really has weathered a lot of trouble this past decade and made good decisions to stay in business.

My old man won't bring his horses back up there, and he's someone who loves to see them run in person.

Lots of connections to Suffolk and the Rock too for that matter. Ah well.

[The_Knight_Sky]

Originally Posted by BMustang

They've even removed the fish aquarium in the lobby,
because the fish were too expensive to feed.

Would Ted Arneault have done that?

I understand that this is an entirely new management team
compared to the one that took MTR Gaming to new heights.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by BMustang

Sorry to say that I'm not surprised that Mountaineer Park is cutting their purses.

I love Mountaineer and used to make an annual trip there UNTIL last year when the Grand Hotel coffee shop no longer opens until 11am so you can't get a decent sit-down breakfast and have to order room-service or eat in the hog-trough buffet, which I absolutely refulse to do.
They also no longer open the deli, located immediately behind the racebook until 5pm, so horseplayers can't get lunch.
It is a sad state of affairs there, and what was once a great venue is now a cut-rate (everything except the room rates which continue to escalate) operation.

They've even removed the fish aquarium in the lobby, because the fish were too expensive to feed.

The sportsbook concession stand at the track only opens on weekends and in the evenings and the casino at the track only opens on weekends.

My suggestion all along was to maintain the customer service at the hotel and track and cut the inflated purses, to a more reasonable size reflective of the caliber of competiton.

All of my letters, suggestion forms, etc,. have fallen on deaf ears and some suits who sit in offices pouring over the bottom live have made Mountaineer an undesireable place to visit.

Looks to me like the mgmnt at Mountaineer is attempting to scuttle the business, shut it down and write off the loss. Why else would ownership do these things..
Can you say "Chinese lightining"?

[thespaah]

This , the story about Suffolk cutting it's purses, Turfway making cuts and others are playing right into the contraction theory I have been offering.