New York Racing office was great

[lamboguy]

they hit it out of the park with the just finished -Saratoga meet. i had thought they were going to have a problem with the extra week and opening up only 10 days after Churchill closed. they had great fields right straight thru the meet, with lots of great races. the meet never went downhill either.

bigtime congratulations on a great job to all those that put out this great product this year.

[Zaf]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

they hit it out of the park with the just finished -Saratoga meet. i had thought they were going to have a problem with the extra week and opening up only 10 days after Churchill closed. they had great fields right straight thru the meet, with lots of great races. the meet never went downhill either.

bigtime congratulations on a great job to all those that put out this great product this year.

Z

[capitalman]

For the 1st time in years, I'm not burned out at the end of Saratoga. The extra day kept me fresh.

[Big Russ]

Managed to make it to Saratoga on closing weekend after a 17 year hiatus. What a terrific experience. I think my retirement gift to myself will be a season rental in a few years.

[SaratogaSteve]

I agree, there were 40k+ there on Sunday, and had a great time. I heard folks complaining about lines for the giveaways, but there was a concerted effort all around to make the experience a positive one. Well done, and not easy on Day 39.

[dilanesp]

NYRA deserves credit. They averaged over 25,000 a day, which is excellent especially considering the meet is a lot longer than it used to be.

I have never personally gotten the "charm" of Saratoga- I not only prefer Del Mar, I even prefer Belmont! I like comfort and amenities over old stuff. But many people disagree with me, and the meeting is a very bright spot in a declining sport. All the credit to NYRA.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Still on my bucket list, and I need to get there. Sure, it is more expensive than ever, and the lines are long and all that, but it was as good a meet as ever.


It was also very viewable for the wagering public thanks to Fox Sports 2 and its HD product. That was exceptional. Day in day out, the greatest coverage of horse racing I've seen in my lifetime to date. The talent they had, and the coverage was amazing. They brought Talking Horses to a whole other level with Saratoga this year, and can only hope they keep that relationship going forward.



Kudos to Saratoga for an amazing meet. Maybe their best ever.

[Zaf]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

NYRA deserves credit. They averaged over 25,000 a day, which is excellent especially considering the meet is a lot longer than it used to be.

I have never personally gotten the "charm" of Saratoga- I not only prefer Del Mar, I even prefer Belmont! I like comfort and amenities over old stuff. But many people disagree with me, and the meeting is a very bright spot in a declining sport. All the credit to NYRA.

Amenities ? I frequent Saratoga often and Belmont on occasion. Just curious how do the amenities at Belmont compare to Saratoga ?

Z

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Zaf

Amenities ? I frequent Saratoga often and Belmont on occasion. Just curious how do the amenities at Belmont compare to Saratoga ?

Z

Well for one thing I can sit in a seat above the racetrack where I can see the entire track. At Saratoga, you sit in a low slung wooden grandstand with obstructions everywhere.

The sentence was "I even prefer Belmont". Obviously I prefer Del Mar to both of them.

[Zaf]

10-4

Z

[Tom]

It was a good meet - lots of good races - more than I expected.
The 5 day week was very good - you NEED some down time.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Tom

It was a good meet - lots of good races - more than I expected.
The 5 day week was very good - you NEED some down time.

It's interesting, because NYRA has disproven some old saws about Saratoga. The original theory was the six day week allowed them to contain the meet in August, which meant fans could get one month rentals and see the entire meet.

When they first expanded into September, the last week of the season did very poorly, despite the presence of the Woodward.

But now, they have expanded it a lot, shifted to a five day week, and added lots of giveaways. And it's worked. They had over 40,000 there on the final Sunday of the meet. That's a tremendous accomplishment.

[Redboard]

They are going back to the 6-week meet next year, I believe. Does anyone know whether they will go back to the 6-day-week racing?

[RunForTheRoses]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

It's interesting, because NYRA has disproven some old saws about Saratoga. The original theory was the six day week allowed them to contain the meet in August, which meant fans could get one month rentals and see the entire meet.

When they first expanded into September, the last week of the season did very poorly, despite the presence of the Woodward.

But now, they have expanded it a lot, shifted to a five day week, and added lots of giveaways. And it's worked. They had over 40,000 there on the final Sunday of the meet. That's a tremendous accomplishment.

FTR they never expanded into September, has always ended Labor Day. They did expand into July but not September.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by RunForTheRoses

FTR they never expanded into September, has always ended Labor Day. They did expand into July but not September.

You are quite wrong. The meeting used to conclude at the end of August. By way of example, here's Steve Crist's story on the 1988 Hopeful Stakes, run on August 28, 1988:

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/28/s...s-hopeful.html

They moved the Woodward to Saratoga in 2006, to run Labor Day weekend, thereby expanding the season into September.