For those keeping score:

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

The crowd looked pretty good although probably not as good as the biggest Breeders Cups at Santa Anita. I think they did a disservice by not opening up the infield, even to let in the plebs so they could experience one of the biggest days of the American horse racing calendar. My guess is they rather have the security and staffing accommodate the richer attendees that show up on that day.

When you block off half the apron and all of the infield, plus several areas inside, a smaller crowd can look bigger than it is.

[horsefan2019]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

When you block off half the apron and all of the infield, plus several areas inside, a smaller crowd can look bigger than it is.

I dunno I saw pictures of the south parking lot and it was filled up. Mind you it was smaller than the biggest Breeders Cup from years past at Santa Anita when they didn't price out the average handicapper. But for a Breeders Cup in the post-covid era it was not a bad crowd.

[ClockersCorner]

So the accusation is that the Breeders Cup is lying about the number of tickets they sold?
Do they do this every year or just selectively?

[rastajenk]

I thought that all of the drone shots, or whatever provided the aerial views, showed plenty of empty seats pretending to be racing fans.

I don't know how that relates to "official" attendance...

but it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things. There are too many races and too many days and the product is pretty well diluted.

[bisket]

My uncle who taught me to handicap always said, "If you like to go to the track, Preakness ain't the day to go to the track". I went to one, my dad put me on his shoulders to see Affirmed beat Alydar. That cured me of wanting to go to the Preakness. I attended the cup at Santa Anita in 2013 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a seat in the grandstand I used for one race. The walking ring was my hangout the entire time. I walked through the grandstand to watch the races. That track beats every dump I've been to on the east coast. I hope NYRA does a good job with Belmont, and I can't wait to go to the new Pimlico. Maybe we can dream here in MD of hosting a Breeders Cup one day...

[Andy Asaro]

I don't know if Santa Anita will be around in a few years but it's the best place all things considered including surrounding accommodations and weather. California doesn't have a triple crown race so it seems to me that making it permanent would be fine.

Not running the sprint down the hill was a travesty and then you have some of the other nutty crap with California.

[the little guy]

Honestly, other than joking about obviously phony attendance figures ( see the Preakness for this ), who cares. It's meaningless. Santa Anita is a great place. There's nothing like arriving there for either the first time or the first time in a while.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

I dunno I saw pictures of the south parking lot and it was filled up. Mind you it was smaller than the biggest Breeders Cup from years past at Santa Anita when they didn't price out the average handicapper. But for a Breeders Cup in the post-covid era it was not a bad crowd.

The north parking lot was not used at all, and the east was for VIP's and 1/3 full.

Also, a big chunk of the south lot was for ubers.

If you don't use half your facility it is easy to make the crowd look big.

[$w1fT]

Aside from the insane parking price and the day being entirely too long, (but that's a racing problem - no one wants to attend a 7 hr event anymore) Santa Anita is a beautiful place and a great place to host a Breeder's Cup.

I would like to see a variety. It should not be just at SA, Dmr, and Kee. Need to see at least Belmont and Churchill added to the rotation.

And no, it's not too cold in early November for it in NY.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by $w1fT

Aside from the insane parking price and the day being entirely too long, (but that's a racing problem - no one wants to attend a 7 hr event anymore) Santa Anita is a beautiful place and a great place to host a Breeder's Cup.

I would like to see a variety. It should not be just at SA, Dmr, and Kee. Need to see at least Belmont and Churchill added to the rotation.

And no, it's not too cold in early November for it in NY.

TBC, Santa Anita is the best place to hold the BC, due to weather and the potential market, at least until it goes out of business (which is likely to eventually happen). And I'm not at all opposed to the BC trying to get as much money out of wealthy types who attend it as possible.

But there's a difference between that and ACTIVELY trying to make it impossible for ordinary folks to attend at all. That's the perniciousness of all these "attendance caps" in horse racing. In practice, it means "we don't want ordinary people attending, and hopefully that will drive up the price we can charge rich people".

Racetracks were never socially egalitarian (there was always a turf club with rich folks in it!), but they WERE generally open to all. They always found a place for ordinary people who wanted to attend the races. The Breeders' Cup should want its event accessible to ordinary people as well as to the wealthy types, and in the past it has been. They have moved in a very dark direction along with some of the sport's other "big events".

[bisket]

I think with the number of foals declining every year there are entirely to many graded races and everyday races. Santa Anita will be fine and profitable if they stop trying to be open all year. I think they would be smart to maybe go dark for a few weeks or months after the Big Cap. Del Mar expand its meet a week or two. Santa Anita open a few months in the fall, and maybe go dark a few weeks before The Malibu. They would go a lot further with their purses. The main reason we had racing year around was the states taxing the mutual pools. Winter racing should be a priority in milder climates while states up north go dark during that time. Spring, summer and fall are the priority in New York Kentucky and the Mid Atlantic. I just think we need to start thinking differently. It’s a big thing that states don’t rely on racing for tax revenue because they’re getting it from sports betting.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by bisket

I think with the number of foals declining every year there are entirely to many graded races and everyday races. Santa Anita will be fine and profitable if they stop trying to be open all year. I think they would be smart to maybe go dark for a few weeks or months after the Big Cap. Del Mar expand its meet a week or two. Santa Anita open a few months in the fall, and maybe go dark a few weeks before The Malibu. They would go a lot further with their purses. The main reason we had racing year around was the states taxing the mutual pools. Winter racing should be a priority in milder climates while states up north go dark during that time. Spring, summer and fall are the priority in New York Kentucky and the Mid Atlantic. I just think we need to start thinking differently. It’s a big thing that states don’t rely on racing for tax revenue because they’re getting it from sports betting.

So that's right and the problem is the horsemen.

The reality is that there aren't enough horses in California for 2 circuits and haven't been for awhile. Indeed, really, there perhaps never were. The Hollywood Park fall meeting never really met any definition of "successful" any time dating back to its creation.

But the horsemen both HATE the costs involved in having to move between Southern California and the Bay Area and LOVE 5 horse fields that can pad their win percentages. So when Hollywood Park closed and we should have moved to one circuit, the horsemen basically demanded the Los Al meetings (which they then did not really support-- Los Al is full of short fields).

California faces a lot of problems even with one circuit-- we have high labor costs and we can't attract a lot of shippers because we are so far away from everyone else. But the only way California racing can ever survive long term is if one and only one track is running at any one time. And one of the things that will do is make racing a bit more special at whatever track is hosting it, which will increase on-track attendance somewhat.

[horsefan2019]

Originally Posted by $w1fT

Aside from the insane parking price and the day being entirely too long, (but that's a racing problem - no one wants to attend a 7 hr event anymore) Santa Anita is a beautiful place and a great place to host a Breeder's Cup.

I would like to see a variety. It should not be just at SA, Dmr, and Kee. Need to see at least Belmont and Churchill added to the rotation.

And no, it's not too cold in early November for it in NY.

This is why they added Del Mar to the rotation. My guess is they would rather spend their 2 days in place like sunny Socal. The last couple of BC's at Keeneland were cold, damp and windy.

[Mr_Ed]

Well, earthquake activity over the past year may shake up this venue.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Mr_Ed

Well, earthquake activity over the past year may shake up this venue.

We'll just bring Vic in to call the races if that happens.