Hong Kong Handle Up

[menifee]

From the article, 2016-2017 total handle was 42 percent higher than the 37,614 races in the United States. In Hong Kong, they had an 88 day season.

Absolutely incredible. Let's see: Worldwide commingled pools, full fields, coherent drug policy, incredible pool size and no super trainers/vets. Interestingly, they don't have that much superstar talent in terms of horses yet they are able to draw that much handle. They don't need slots to sustain their product.

If I hear one more regulator tell me this is a dying sport, I wil pull my hair out.

http://www.drf.com/news/hong-kong-se...andle-increase

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by menifee

From the article, 2016-2017 total handle was 42 percent higher than the 37,614 races in the United States. In Hong Kong, they had an 88 day season.

Absolutely incredible. Let's see: Worldwide commingled pools, full fields, coherent drug policy, incredible pool size and no super trainers/vets. Interestingly, they don't have that much superstar talent in terms of horses yet they are able to draw that much handle. They don't need slots to sustain their product.

If I hear one more regulator tell me this is a dying sport, I wil pull my hair out.

http://www.drf.com/news/hong-kong-se...andle-increase

this sport is anything but dying, its thriving.

when Stronach gets their hands on all the tracks it will also be thriving in North America. trust me they know full well the potential of this game and they also know that contraction will never work and expansion is desperately needed here. i think thats why they want to build a new track just outside of Boston.

[acorn54]

i think when people on this board say horseracing is dying, they are talking about horseracing in the "UNITED STATES", of course if there are large competitive fields like they have in hong kong horseracing will prosper.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

this sport is anything but dying, its thriving.

when Stronach gets their hands on all the tracks it will also be thriving in North America. trust me they know full well the potential of this game and they also know that contraction will never work and expansion is desperately needed here. i think thats why they want to build a new track just outside of Boston.

Does this mean that we can look forward to a plethora of 4-horse fields in the future?

[acorn54]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

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Does this mean that we can look forward to a plethora of 4-horse fields in the future?

thaskalos your mean, and too smart for this forum.

[menifee]

Stronach is not the answer to racing in the United States. Stronach is a casino company. The owners of the tracks should be nonprofits dedicated to A. The horse. B. The bettor/patron. C. The owners.

Kee operates on that model and it works. For profit casino companies operating tracks is not good for the sport, because quite simply it is far easier and far more profitable in the short term to run a slot machine than a racetrack. Management stops trying to make the racing business work. The slot subsidy was and is a long term detriment to the sport.

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

[/COLOR]

Does this mean that we can look forward to a plethora of 4-horse fields in the future?

fact of the matter is that Stronach used to be a big breeder with Adena Springs and that operation has been cut back. if there is a need for more horses i am sure they will step up their operations along with others in that business.

the high end of horses are in a major bull market now, yet you can't give away the horses that are average or below.

people that have done well at the game buy more horses because they can depreciate up to 50% of the horse as a yearling. if the horse retains and exceeds their value they will have to recapture the depreciation.

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by menifee

Stronach is not the answer to racing in the United States. Stronach is a casino company. The owners of the tracks should be nonprofits dedicated to A. The horse. B. The bettor/patron. C. The owners.

Kee operates on that model and it works. For profit casino companies operating tracks is not good for the sport, because quite simply it is far easier and far more profitable in the short term to run a slot machine than a racetrack. Management stops trying to make the racing business work. The slot subsidy was and is a long term detriment to the sport.

true today, but slot machines don't always crank. there are ups and downs in that business as well. with horses people simply love them and will support a game they trust more than slot machines.

horse racing is in an identity crisis right now. when someone figures out how to fix it the game will take off again and probably be a lot stronger than slot machines.

[AltonKelsey]

They need to figure out a way to combine the idiocy of the lottery and picking winners.

Not sure how they would do that , and get some of that really dumb money into the pools.

Since they refuse to lower the takeout to 10% or less, what else can be done to make the game appealing to non-degenerates.

[Nitro]

Apparently, the success that the HK Jockey Club has been having for the last 25 or more years isn’t impressing anyone in the racing communities here in the States. They just continue to let it decline and decay year after year. I’m not very optimistic about any dramatic changes to improve things either.

BTW These are the Take-out rates for HK racing:
Win / Place / Quinella / Quinella Place / Double – 17.5%

Tierce (Triple) / Trio (Top 3 any order) / Quartet (Super) / First 4 (Any Order) / Six Up (Pk-6) – 25%

So my feeling is that idea of lowering the local take-out is not the only answer to improving the game in the States.

I'm not sure I'd even be playing this game if the races in HK weren't available. For the last 4 years its been such a refreshing change.

[PaceAdvantage]

I love how you talk about HK racing without talking about all the circumstances that exist in HK that CAN'T EXIST in the USA that contribute GREATLY to the discrepancies you see.

It's akin to looking at a 7'2" basketball player and a 5'2" basketball player and wondering why the little guy can't dunk as easily as the big guy...after all, they're playing with the same ball and hoop, right?

[menifee]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

I love how you talk about HK racing without talking about all the circumstances that exist in HK that CAN'T EXIST in the USA that contribute GREATLY to the discrepancies you see.

It's akin to looking at a 7'2" basketball player and a 5'2" basketball player and wondering why the little guy can't dunk as easily as the big guy...after all, they're playing with the same ball and hoop, right?

Ok - what are those circumstances?

[lamboguy]

Originally Posted by menifee

Ok - what are those circumstances?

i am going to give you the big difference, Hong Kong has more rules and regulations and run by The Hong Kong Jockey Club. over here states regulate and make the rules for racing and do a very poor job of it. otherwise NYRA would be doing about double the handle that Hong Kong does.

[Nitro]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

I love how you talk about HK racing without talking about all the circumstances that exist in HK that CAN'T EXIST in the USA that contribute GREATLY to the discrepancies you see.

It's akin to looking at a 7'2" basketball player and a 5'2" basketball player and wondering why the little guy can't dunk as easily as the big guy...after all, they're playing with the same ball and hoop, right?

Excuses, Excuses. The reality is that it’s the same game just different players. The greed and indifference demonstrated by the local racing communities affects every aspect of the game including the general morale of its main supporting constituent: The Players. (The PA forum has certainly expressed that truth on more than one occasion!!!).

It’s unfortunate that so many local players don’t recognize that the REAL difference in playing HK versus the local tracks. It has nothing to do with “circumstances”.
It has everything to do with 2 little attributes of the product they offer called Transparency and Veracity. Combined these qualities offer their patrons something that’s called integrity. Obviously, as the opening post indicates, this has a HUGE impact and justification for why the HK program is so successful to a WORLDWIDE audience and patronage.

And BTW, I’ll talk and support HK racing until something better comes along here in the States.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by Nitro

It has nothing to do with “circumstances”.
It has everything to do with 2 little attributes of the product they offer called Transparency and Veracity. Combined these qualities offer their patrons something that’s called integrity. Obviously, as the opening post indicates, this has a HUGE impact and justification for why the HK program is so successful to a WORLDWIDE audience and patronage.

Bullshit.

BTW, what percentage of their handle is from countries other than HK?