Will Arlington have a meet?

[Kash$]

No contract as of yet..Last year the meet was brutal..The end of Arlington?
John Henry vs The Bart days are long gone...

[EMD4ME]

Originally Posted by Kash$

No contract as of yet..Last year the meet was brutal..The end of Arlington?
John Henry vs The Bart days are long gone...

I don't want to see any track close......Regardless of how much they deserve to close.

[DeltaLover]

Nothing wrong with race tracks closing down. I am convinced that less racing is good for the game from any angle you see it, except for the horsemen, who most of them they will need to find something else to do for a living than trying to steal the betting dollar..

[clocker7]

Originally Posted by DeltaLover

Nothing wrong with race tracks closing down. I am convinced that less racing is good for the game from any angle you see it, except for the horsemen, who most of them they will need to find something else to do for a living than trying to steal the betting dollar..

That's about the most laughable post that I've ever seen on the interweb. It's akin to saying that sports would be better off ridding themselves of everyone but the Yankees and the Patriots so that attention could be coalesced for the betterment of the survivors. And for the sick pleasure of sticking it to the small market owners for one's own perverted reasons.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by DeltaLover

Nothing wrong with race tracks closing down. I am convinced that less racing is good for the game from any angle you see it, except for the horsemen, who most of them they will need to find something else to do for a living than trying to steal the betting dollar..

Yeah, maybe we can get it down to one track and two horses and have a match race between them once a week.

I'd be willing to agree that contraction would be good for the game except it HAS been contracting for the past decade and the quality of the betting product is worse than ever. Fewer tracks means less interest means every fewer horses being bred, means smaller fields until we contract down to nothing.

[Stoleitbreezing]

Originally Posted by Kash$

No contract as of yet..Last year the meet was brutal..The end of Arlington?
John Henry vs The Bart days are long gone...

Where are you reading this from?

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by Kash$

No contract as of yet..Last year the meet was brutal..The end of Arlington?
John Henry vs The Bart days are long gone...

According to this............http://www.arlingtonpark.com/calendar/grid/2016-5
Opening day is May 6th

[Striker]

Only $16 a head get in on Derby Day and Mothers Day this year, up $1 from last year. Also the surcharge on winning wagers at the track is also a nice touch of class. Not sure if any other race track imposes surcharges on winning wagers on track like they do here in Illinois, but that was worked in the last contract agreement by all the parties involved in horse racing in Illinois. Lawsuit has been filed by the horsemen.

http://www.drf.com/news/illinois-hor...inst-arlington

[cj]

Originally Posted by castaway01

Yeah, maybe we can get it down to one track and two horses and have a match race between them once a week.

I'd be willing to agree that contraction would be good for the game except it HAS been contracting for the past decade and the quality of the betting product is worse than ever. Fewer tracks means less interest means every fewer horses being bred, means smaller fields until we contract down to nothing.

There have been some tracks close, but actual contraction? Colonial closed but the dates just shifted to Maryland. Same with Beulah and Hollywood. Tracks close but days move around.

I think many tracks need to cut dates big time and more specialty meets, but who knows if that will even work. Slots welfare is distorting the free market.

[chenoa]

"Slots" only useful purpose is/was when you went to Vegas it was a place you could drop off the girlfriend/wife for an afternoon while you could go to the sportsbook and handicap in peace and quiet.....therefore, you wouldn't have to hear the questions she would be asking "what is a furlong", etc.....

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Originally Posted by cj

There have been some tracks close, but actual contraction? Colonial closed but the dates just shifted to Maryland. Same with Beulah and Hollywood. Tracks close but days move around.

I think many tracks need to cut dates big time and more specialty meets, but who knows if that will even work. Slots welfare is distorting the free market.

You're right about contraction. Moving days after a track closure isn't going to help, nor will small tracks closing make a difference. The small tracks just don't handle enough money to make a difference if they closed. I've said it before and as unpopular as the idea is, it is the medium size venues that need to cut back on days or close completely. That is unlikely because the system where every state is an island encourages them to compete with each other. No other professional sport has franchises that are in competition with each other for the fan dollar.

It is also the case that the state by state system has created ingrained breeding programs. Unless other states would be willing to run races for state-breds not their own, and they would be willing to share money for other state breeding funds, it's hard to imagine a racing state giving up it's track.

The model racing has needs to be changed. Arguably the professional sports markets are saturated at around 30 teams. They also have off seasons. They have revenue sharing. Some of them run farm systems. I think 30 tracks would be a good number. A hiatus between the Breeder's Cup and New Year's might work. I think that would almost surely lead to fuller fields, big handle, and perhaps a renewed interest in the sport.

[Grits]

Originally Posted by chenoa

"Slots" only useful purpose is/was when you went to Vegas it was a place you could drop off the girlfriend/wife for an afternoon while you could go to the sportsbook and handicap in peace and quiet.....therefore, you wouldn't have to hear the questions she would be asking "what is a furlong", etc.....

This is also true of Saratoga. One of our (PA's) coolest fellas, Joe P. brings his girlfriend every year there is a gathering of the PA crew in the festival tent. (Joe's sharp, and mind you, the man's in his 80s.) Anyway, she comes to Saratoga with him. Joe drops her off at Saratoga Harness in the morning sometime after 11 am. Not for harness, but for the casino.

We all hang out, at the track, all day long. Joe cashes plenty of tickets. After the last race, we've been known to go to .... where else??? Saratoga Harness, off to bet the trotters and bet OTB! .... Joe's girl doesn't see Joe until 11 pm or later. She's been in the casino playing the slots for 12 hours. She does this all weekend. Joe's a smooth dude. He figured all this out a long time ago, and he's got one happy girl.

[delayjf]

Same with Beulah and Hollywood. Tracks close but days move around.

Speaking of which, I was wondering why SA didn't pick up Hollywood Park's days up thru the Kentucky Derby. I believe that's the biggest racing day of the year. Perhaps the simulcast crowd is just as big as the live racing crowd on derby day. Just wondering.

[Tom]

SA comes back the week of the Derby, I think, May 4th?

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by cj

There have been some tracks close, but actual contraction? Colonial closed but the dates just shifted to Maryland. Same with Beulah and Hollywood. Tracks close but days move around.

I think many tracks need to cut dates big time and more specialty meets, but who knows if that will even work. Slots welfare is distorting the free market.

We're getting to the point of reckoning in Southern California. Los Al isn't going to keep doing this forever, and Santa Anita and Del Mar don't want Los Al's dates. Which means we are eventually heading for non-year round racing, which is good.