NYRA: Saratoga Race Course’s Summer Season Will Likely Occur Without Fans

[Redboard]

Originally Posted by Tom

How much to use the restrooms?
And do you cover up every other urinal?
I think that would anger many more fans than it would placate.

They would have to place a "monitor person" in front of each restroom, with six-foot markers for the lines, and only allow one patron at a time. There are plenty of restrooms. They could open them all, even on the upper floors.

[king kong]

Mask for entrance and 3 foot distance. Enter at your own risk!

[Racetrack Playa]

ML
Spatoga 2020 meet. 332-1

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by Racetrack Playa

ML
Spatoga 2020 meet. 332-1

Yup, all these other tracks are opening up this month...some have even been racing throughout the lockdowns...but Saratoga, scheduled to open 2+ months from now, has zero shot...

LOL

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Yup, all these other tracks are opening up this month...some have even been racing throughout the lockdowns...but Saratoga, scheduled to open 2+ months from now, has zero shot...

LOL

How much do you think I can bet on his ML?

[Racetrack Playa]

Originally Posted by the little guy

How much do you think I can bet on his ML?

I'd bet it all if I were you.

YouTube

[Al Gobbi]

Is it economically viable to run a race meet at Saratoga behind closed doors?

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Al Gobbi

Is it economically viable to run a race meet at Saratoga behind closed doors?

NYRA thinks it is more viable than holding the same meet at Belmont, at least if we are going to take their public statements at face value.

Several of us suspect NYRA is wrong about this, so make of it what you will.

[alhattab]

Originally Posted by Redboard

The restaurants inside the track should be subject to the same rules as those in the town. As of now, none in the town are open for in dining, only takeout, but that will most likely change by the summer. To allow the track’s restaurants to do “take out,” and have a server carry an order to a picnic table, is an interesting idea, but would it be worth their while? For one, the crowd will be severely limited. I can’t see them allowing more than 1000 people. Two, most people sitting at the picnic tables prefer to bring in their own food and drink. Three, adding a server in the chain is another pathway to infection. Most catch the disease from someone on the front lines that deal with the general public — supermarket clerks, subway workers, health care workers, etc.

If your proposing opening up the grandstand/clubhouse to fans to watch the races, that’s not going to happen. No outdoor spectator sport is talking about playing in front of fans this summer. I’m talking about people sitting at picnic tables in front of a TV monitor(see attachment). Yes, that $1000 would be expensive but NYRA would have to severely limit the crowd, it wouldn’t be worth their while to charge regular general admission. The risk would far outweigh the reward for them. They may as well stay down at Belmont.

Sure, some of the long-term fans would be upset and you would alienate some, but I think many love Saratoga that they would understand that the track just can’t open it up to hordes of people. The governor/county health department wouldn’t allow it.

I say open it up for 10,000/day. Can easily do that and maintain reasonable precautions. Open the entire building. I've been there on some very quiet days- e.g., Monday after the Travers- when there were say 15,000 people there and the place feels empty. Bring in the Johnny on the Spots to minimize restroom traffic. For food, if by then can't open up for table service then set it up like restaurants are today- order, someone brings stuff out to a table w/your name on a box and you pick it up for those who don't feel like bringing in food and drink. For the apron, sell tickets specific for that and limit to some safe number- say 500. Put another 500+ in the restaurants (restaurant capacity is nearly 4,000). Put another 500-1,000 in the Grandstand. Everyone else in the backyard. Small groups in the luxury venues.

Ultimately won't be up to NYRA- Commandant Cuomo will dictate terms and yes that gives cover for NYRA for those that are angry about the limitations- but the more I think about it the more it seems like a layup to have 10,000 in that facility.

[dilanesp]

There is literally no way anyone is opening events for 10,000 people this summer.

I am not sure people realize how much space 10,000 prople, 6 feet apart, take up.

[PaceAdvantage]

LOL

You get points for tenacity and stubbornness.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

LOL

You get points for tenacity and stubbornness.

Do YOU know how much space 10,000 people six feet apart need?

[Fred Mertz]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Do YOU know how much space 10,000 people six feet apart need?

Wives and husbands can't sit together?

I went to church on Sunday and they let us inside. It is a small congregation of less than 20 including preacher and family of 5.

Married ones sat together, the rest of us kept our distance. It was nice.

You have to trust adults to act like adults. Like I told a friend, they could open everything tomorrow, but people will do what they think best. Meaning there won't be 100 percent participation because folks will act in a manner that their minds and instincts tell them. Dang, I'm dying for a beer in the tavern and I'll continue to keep my distance for a good while.

[alhattab]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

There is literally no way anyone is opening events for 10,000 people this summer.

I am not sure people realize how much space 10,000 prople, 6 feet apart, take up.

You're probably right. Not necessarily for good reasons, but you're probably right (see pics from Central Park May 2 weekend- they "opened up" Central Park for people not sure why the Spa w/10,000 people would be much different)

I did wonder about your question. I do think it's more like groups of say 4 being 6 feet apart. I'm no engineer, but I think in a 72 sq ft- a 12 by 6- box you would fit 24 people- 6 groups of 4. To fit 10,000 stationary people, you would need 417 such boxes, or about 30,000 sq. ft.

I don't know how big the backyard is, but according to the NYRA site the building floor space is 385,000 sq feet. Let's assume, for arguments sake, the backyard is 1/3 that or about 125,000 sq ft (The backyard seems bigger than the grandstand footprint, but the grandstand has 2-3 stories) and the space people can actually fit in the building is 1/2 the building size, or about 190,000 sq ft. Add in say 50,000 sq ft for the apron. Plenty of space. Now you have to allot for choke points, queuing at admissions, taking a piss, etc., but even if you go with 1/10th of the required size for a stationary group you'd have plenty of space. Throw in a mask requirement for moving around you have even more.

Is this realistic? Probably not, if for no other reason than opening an attraction brings in out of towners, etc (there was a term of art the Commandant Cuomo used for this but I forget what it was). But it is doable.

Let's see how many people in Central Park this weekend got sick or got others sick. Would be pretty nice to know...

[dilanesp]

Plus bear in mind a lot of space isn't usable, and many folks will be in groups of 2 or 1.