Extend the Meet !!!!

[Niall]

Hope that all you posters are settling back into what passes for normalcy as another Saratoga meet is quickly fading in the rearview mirror ... I can say with great certainty that my liver is genuinely appreciative!! I stopped by the que a few times to say hello to Jerry and hopefully meet a few of you but the timing was always wrong ... Anyway, I just read an article written by Ehalt (?) and he poses extending the Saratoga meet back to July 4th. I have reached out to him and asked if he was the scribe who wrote about silencing the 17 minute bell. I was hoping some of you might want to weigh in on the topic. This was my 29th year spending time at the Spa, the last 13 full time. While my sample is small and probably skewed, those that I have polled have expressed that it (the meet) is now too much ... Too many races on too many days ... Curious to know some other opinions. As an aside I had the worst meet ever. Couldnt box the exacta in a match race ... I apologize for continually sinking the ROTW, although it should be noted I passed on the Super Derby and well you know the outcome of that... If anyone has an opinion on the Woodbine Mile let me know and I will play around it enhancing your prospects greatly ...

[FrankD.]

Niall,

The July 4th to Labor Day scenario has been discussed for the past few years and may become a reality.

However:
There is the dilemma with the year round working union people of NYRA if in fact any are left? Housing for the extended period of time, the part time Spa only help many of whom who are school teachers giving up their entire summer to work the track. The year round union people from what I understand have to work a certain number of days to maintain their seniority and that number cannot be attained without working at the Spa.

There is no way that racing 6 days a week could happen for that time frame. Running 4 days through July and 5 for August is one possibility that has been mentioned; a lot has to do with what happens at Churchill Downs and its uncertain future?

The bottom line is the disfunctional state government now has the reigns and King Andrew hates racing and has an axe to grind with the NYRA blue bloods from his Daddy\'s days on the throne. God help us!!!!!!!!!

Two certainties will come to fruition IMHO:
1) In the short term sooner rather than later the Aqueduct slot money will find its way into the state coffers rather than into purse money and capital improvements.
2) The Aqueduct property will become a full fledged casino and convention center.

Good luck,

Frank D.

[Themig]

NYRA brass should ask some of the pple that help run the place for 40 days. Vendors, bartenders, Chowder folks, kitchen help, trainers, security, grooms and so on. Ask them after day 30 if they are ready to extend the meet. I did this year, and most(not all) said they would not be happy. Biggest reason as simple as being away from home(loved ones).
I was there 35 days this season. More ugly days this year than most and I felt like I went 10 rounds with Ali by closing day.

Maybe they can open the gates at 9 am, and run 15 races a day to get the money they need.

[banditbeau]

I am sure what you say is true, if you are there for the entire season.  But if you are offered these races from Saratoga or from Belmont instead, I think we mostly choose Saratoga.  We don\'t have to go every day, even though the workers of every type do.  And, from NYRA\'s view they have to see the things that are the envy of the world of horse racing - more than 20,000 fans a day, ON TRACK, made up of every possible type of demographic from young, old, male, female, big bettors to a flock of $2 bettors to the tune of almost $15 million a day.  They fight over a picnic table, they are there when the gate opens at 7am every day, and they come day after day. The longer meet allows people to come from all points of the country, and racing 6 days a week, while certainly a strain on parts of the system, is a bit like traveling 3-4 hours for a baseball game - if you are going to a team without a dome that could be subject to rainouts, you may not go. If the team has a dome - no problem, you make the trip.  For their casual fans, the Spa is a destination spot, and a 6-day a week schedule pretty much assures some day will work out weather wise for those making a short trip.

This is from the NYRA site but how can you not be enthused about your product and racing in general given some of these numbers:


\"Daily average attendance for the meet was 22,526, up 0.8 percent from 22,353 for the 39-day meet in 2011. (Racing was cancelled last year on Sunday, August 28 due to Tropical Storm Irene.) Total attendance was 901,033, up 3.4 percent from 871,772 in 2011.

Daily average on-track handle was $3,207,356, an increase of 3.3 percent from $3,105,171 in 2011. Total on-track handle was $128,294,220, up 5.9 percent from $121,101,665 last year.

Daily average on-track handle combining wagering at Saratoga with wagering downstate at the Belmont Café and the Aqueduct simulcast center was $3,765,950, up 4.7 percent from $3,596,862 last year. Total combined on-track handle was $150,637,998, an increase of 7.4 percent from $140,277,616 in 2011.

Daily average all-sources handle, which includes wagers on Saratoga races both on-track and from simulcast facilities nationwide, was $14,708,799, up 9.0 percent from $13,493,636 last year.  Total all-sources handle was $588,351,964, an increase of 11.8 percent from $526,251,819 in 2011.

There were 417 races run during this year’s 40-day meet compared to 397 over 39 days in 2011. Average betting interests per race were 8.4 (3,492 total) compared to 8.2 (3,269 total) in 2011. Turf races totaled 197 with 27 taken off the turf and moved to the main track, compared to 158 on and 41 off in 2011.\"

Isn\'t this what we want - big fields, lots of casual wagers, largest pools in the country, and in today\'s climate, who has better racing? Plus part of the mentality seems to be that every day we don\'t offer racing is just another day the fans hit the casino in Saratoga, and if they go there, will they come back full time to racing if they are a casual fan?

Many will see this from another angle, which is fine,but these seem to me to be arguments which push the envelope even farther regarding the number of days spent racing in Saratoga.  

bb