Saratoga meet is set to open July 16th, 2020

[westernmassbob]

Originally Posted by clicknow

There were good and bad decisions. Closing the schools I thought was good. The situation at Smithfield was very bad and they should have done more in such a high density environment. I think we could go up and down the lists but and put them in columns.....good decision/bad decision.....agree that hopefully we are able to do this more *elegantly* next time around, and going forward.

A thoughtful re-opening will most likely work in most cases now.

In some cases people aren't going to attends things like movie theatres, casinos, and large indoor events. I would certainly feel comfortable going to my outdoor local farmers market (booths are not close together) and stuff like that. Probably not the gym yet. I guess everyone will pick and choose what is comfortable risk for their personal situation.

No way to cover all the "symptom-less spreaders" out there, never was and never will be. High density situations as we learned iwth mardi gras, smithfields, etc. needed better plans in place.....shoulder-to-shoulder doesn't work well

I have a friend who works for MGM Springfield Mass and word has it they plan on opening middle of May unless the state blocks it. They seem to have a very strategic plan with many restrictions the first month of opening. They will limit the amount of patrons in the casino and only have about 1/3 of the slots open with a safe distance between each machine. They are also going to make it mandatory to wear a mask. Those will be provided upon entering. They also will not be open 24 hours the first month. There are several other things in place most have to do with cleaning and sanitizing but I think the state and city will be acceptable of the new norm for a while.

[NY BRED]

i Posted this thread in an attempt to lighten up the members of this form, never anticipating these rants.

Regardless, I'm hoping the Saratoga and NY Bred sales will be held. The Saratoga sale is a fantastic venue which I've attended for over thirty years. In effect, authorized owners and agents can bid via the telephone, an the sale,like all other sales during the year can be viewed on the net/Youtube.

[Appy]

Anything politicized will draw rants. That's probably as it should be. Especially when folks are cooped up and getting cranky.
Same is true with horse being stalled up for long periods. Horses are naturally creatures of freedom and space. This is why I believe there should be required layoffs to pasture after no more than 60 days. Better yet would be out a few days at a whack every couple weeks.

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Don't conflate "shutdown" with social distancing. Restaurants will very very likely be open in late July. Hair salons should be operating with restrictions. Etc. There won't be a shutdown.

But there will not be events with thousands of people gathered in one place.

I think the plan with restaurants is to reduce the number of people allowed in by enough to meet the social distancing standards (whatever that will be). You won't catch me eating out with those standards until the new caseload is almost zero.

I guess hair salons can do something similar and also require the stylist and customer to wear a mask. The stylist will have to work around the mask.

[king kong]

3 M's for Toga mask,Money &Motel

[Redbullsnation]

We hope...


Need a bit of racing at the SPAAAAAAAAAA in order to relieve the pain that this virus has given us

[lamboguy]

we need something, i don't know what scares you more, the corona or the riders standing up on their horses at fonner Park.

[wisconsin]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

we need something, i don't know what scares you more, the corona or the riders standing up on their horses at fonner Park.

Been critical for a couple of weeks now, NONE of my money goes there.

[dilanesp]

Disney's likely not reopening its parks until 2021. That's an indicator on Saratoga it seems to me.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Disney's likely not reopening its parks until 2021. That's an indicator on Saratoga it seems to me.

When did Disneyland start hosting horse races? Merry-Go-Rounds don't count.

[cj]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Disney's likely not reopening its parks until 2021. That's an indicator on Saratoga it seems to me.

Come on man, there are plenty places to discuss covid19 in off topic. Disney and Saratoga have nothing to do with each other in any way. Lets keep it at least somewhat racing related.

[the little guy]

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.co...and-heres-why/

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by the little guy

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.co...and-heres-why/

If the state is forbidding spectators in July and August (as they should), it would absolutely be an unacceptable risk to human life to hold the meet at Saratoga. The absolute worst thing in a pandemic is to take a whole bunch of people who have been marinating in the place with the worst mortality statistics in the entire country and ship them up to a rural resort town.

I'm not convinced of Panza's economic argument anyway- the notion that bettors- who are STARVED for action-- are looking for "brand name tracks" to bet on is, shall we say, a little light on the proof. Boatloads of money is being unloaded on Fonner Park and Will Rogers Downs right now. At any rate, it's possible to brand the meet as "Saratoga at Belmont" / "Saratoga at Aqueduct" or even "Saratoga" if NYRA wanted to; NYRA owns the trademarks, after all.

I already thought the industry is clueless and tone-deaf, but this story really convinces me to an even greater extent. There are 11,817 dead people in New York City already. And NYRA thinks it can convince Andrew Cuomo to risk sending a bunch of people upstate who don't need to be there over a BRANDING issue?

EDIT: One other, more speculative point. If I worked for Andrew Cuomo, I would bring Panza in and cross examine him based on the statements in this article.

He says the Belmont turf courses can't take 5 months of wear. Which might be true normally. BUT... what if there are NO spectators? If there are NO spectators he's got 2 turf courses that are 1 3/8 miles and 1 1/4 miles around. A ton of races these days are turf sprints. He can finish sprint races on the backstretch if he wants, because there's nobody in the grandstand who will be there to watch them. He can also finish races at the end of the stretch. In other words, he has a LOT of available turf course configurations at his disposal if he was asked by his bosses to run at Belmont for 5 months straight, including configurations that would not ordinarily be available to him.

I think he is stacking the deck to make Saratoga the only plausible alternative. Which is usually an indicator of someone not being fully honest about things.

[the little guy]

It's tough being wrong ( apparently ).

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by the little guy

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.co...and-heres-why/

If we take spectator-less racing as a given condition of conducting the Saratoga meet, is it really going to be more profitable to race physically at Saratoga as opposed to running a "Saratoga at Belmont Park" meet?

The article made mention of the Saratoga "brand" being an important consideration. From my own point-of-view, being out-of-state, if I favor Saratoga over Belmont Park or Aqueduct it's simply because of the difference in the quality of racing (less claiming, more 2yos, more stakes) as opposed to the actual location. The cards/fields would roughly be the same per Martin Panza. And with spectator-less racing, essentially everyone will be a remote player.

I understand the concern about maintaining purse levels, but is it really the brand-name that drives purses (as opposed to an ideal situation with live attendance)? Would simply labeling a satellite meet with the brand-name ("Saratoga at Belmont Park") be enough for fans forced to watch and wager from home?

I don't have command of the numbers but it seems like there is extra attention (and wagering) being given to Fonner Park and Will Rogers Downs, but if that phenomenon extends to a compromised Saratoga meet, it might be a mitigating circumstance with respect to the anticipated loss of handle.