nyra is closing the 2nd n 3rd floor grandstand at

[CHOWDERMAN]

belmont this year....can anyone believe this...already sent an email to chris kay to reconsider....the biggest freakin track in the usa and the only way to watch the race is past the finish line....unfuckingbelievable....can i get help flooding this guy with calls and emails....man, the disintergration of racing in ny is coming swiftly.....and he previously said he want to make the track experience better....lol....thanks.....

[Edgorman]

Decision totally due to pigeon situation.  Since they are cleaning up Aqueduct, pigeons can now roost in the closed sections of Belmont.  Don\'t underestimate Kay.  \"Birds R Us\".

[miff]

ED,

Hear you. The decision was made because Belmont is cavernous and EMPTY on most days. Neophyte NYRA CEO Kay had consultants convince him that \"shrinking\" the track would bring most of the few patrons into a centralized area creating more sound, buzz, \"crowd\" excitement.

NYRA f--king hopeless, wandering aimlessly...completely out of touch with the gamblers, hard core and casual.Kay STILL dont get that the game is PERMANENTLY \"off track\".Trying to materially increase on track attendance, except for big days or the SPA,will be a waste of time and money.

Mike

P.S.Frank D, I did not use up any of my 2014 Clueless Clown allowance!

[richiebee]

2nd floor grandstand between eighth pole and finish line perhaps the best
sightlines at any racetrack I have been to. Very little motivation for me to
attend live anymore, but I guess they will save a lot on escalator maintenance.

Kay apparently going to increase profitability by running all matches, er races
between 4 and 6 furlongs, saving expense of maintaining a large part of the
track.

Can be said that Kay might be the political appointee that has done most to
destroy thoroughbred racing in NY since Hazel Dukes.

Would love to see some of the whales \"buycott\" NYRA but that is not going to
happen.

NYRA seems to be saying OK we ruined Aqueduct, lets get to work on Belmont

[trackjohn]

Absolutely insane decision...two questions: 1) Are they closing these sections during the week or permanently?  2) What is their plan for Belmont Day?

Clearly the morons who are making these decisions have NO CLUE of what is going on...I can see their point in attempting to reduce some of the empty space... A better solution would be to simply close off the part of the Grandstand from the top of the stretch to the 1/8 pole...or close off the third floor...NOT BOTH...Comments??

John

[covelj70]

I don\'t disagree with any of the views being expressed here that these moves don\'t make alot of intuitive sense but can I ask a question...

If we all agree that NYRA management shouldn\'t be so worried about how many people come to the track or if anyone comes to the track because of ADW, etc, then why do we care what they are doing the facilities?

[CHOWDERMAN]

belmont day everything should be open....during the week, i\'m okay with it...on weekends it\'s probably the worst decision ever.....i\'ve been cooped up all winter betting simulcast...i count down the days to get to belmont...im there every sat and sun during the spring meet.  it\'s great to spread out at the place...i go down to the paddock and usually watch the races from all over...now everyone will be hoarded into one section which is insane...you always here that ny racing is the tops in the usa....just look at whats going on.....i\'m a weekend warrior 52 weekends of the year...i put enough through the windows where my opinion should count not a consultant....consultants have ruined where i work in tv news....

a few months ago i brought up the belmont stakes and why i deserve free seats based on how much i bet.....they havent even put out what they\'re charging this year...

[richiebee]

Jim you have been on a lot of backstretches. What do a top gun 30% trainer and a struggling 10%  
trainer have in common? At the end of training hours, the shedrows of both of these trainers is made a
spotless, immaculate. Its called PRIDE.
As I have said before, live attendance may not be the future of racing,but so long as NYRA is going to open
their facilities to the public, they have to make those facilities clean and customer friendly.

[covelj70]

as I said, I don\'t really agree with what they are doing with this closure so I am generally in agreement with you guys on that particular point but I have to say that I think using this as an example of how the new team is detroying New York racing without considering what they are doing to try and bring some additional excitement to Belmont Day and July 4th weekend is a bit one sided, no?

I can tell you as an owner that I care alot more about having a $1m purse race to potentially run Testa Rossi in on July 6th in the Belmont Oaks that didn\'t exist before this new group game into power than I do about whether they close the grandstand or not, and yes, I sit in that grandstand every year for the Belmont and I enjoy those seats very much (and have turned down dining room seats for those grandstand seats in question on Belmont Day.

But if the question is will I invest more in the game or less in the game relative to the changes this group has put in so far, I would say alot more on the margin

not everyone is going to agree with every change (and I don\'t agree with this one) but highlighting all the bad and none of the good isn\'t right, especially when from alot of people in the game\'s perspective (owners, trainers, jockeys, backstretch workers, etc), they are in a much better position than they were this time last year.

[richiebee]

Jim I appreciate the owner perspective but the truth is something had to be done because Belmont Day has become marginalized when Triple Crown not at stake.

I\'ll give credit to whoever responsible for drastic reduction in breakdown rate at NYRA tracks.

[covelj70]

right but Belmont Day has been marginalized when no Triple Crown was on the line for a long time but no one did anything about it for a long time before these guys came in.

then the initial reaction from many people (including media, etc) was that there wouldn\'t be any good stakes left after Belmont weekend and then they announced the July 4th weekend program.

that\'s good for everyone involved in racing, including the bettors to have races with huge fields, including international horses, due to huge purses in turf races.

I will miss the grandstands as well but we need to be fair about all of the criticism I think

I won\'t harp on this anymore.  Too much great racing to cap tomorrow

[SoCalMan2]

Maybe I was an old romantic, but I still thought that maybe Belmont could get a Breeders Cup.  I guess this cinches it that the Breeders Cup ain\'t coming back.

I just do not understand it.  Do not understand how NY lost a share of that big event.

[miff]

Jim,

No one can argue the purse increases for the owners, trainers et al. Lost at NYRA,per usual, is the gambler. Millions coming in from slot subsidies, the gambler gets a price increase to walk in the door.... Very poor business acumen at NYRA, imo.

Good luck tomorrow

Mike

[richiebee]

Jim:

I\'ll agree to call a weekend \"truce\", but next week I reserve the right to
get all over you like a flock of hipsters at the neighborhood\'s newest Banh
Mhi spot.

The SA card is outstanding tomorrow. 3 runners in one American race who have
accounted for nearly $12 million in purses, some Derby prospects, some good
sprinters in the San Marcos, some good turf milers.

At Aqueduct the early pick 5 features 3 maiden races. The odds on program
favorites in these races are a Santa Anita shipper, a Baffert first timer,
and another SA shipper. Serenity now.

All this plus the final episode of Cohle and Hart on True Detective.

Sorry for the poor production quality on previous posts today from my cell
phone. I was at Aqueduct. There was a bird on the table at lunchtime, but its
OK I was at the Popeye\'s in tne Casino food court.

[BitPlayer]

Miff -

As Andy Serling pointed out on the \"At the Races\" segment for which someone posted a link a while ago, if the Belmont purse increases work as Martin Panza hopes, it will be good for both owners and players.  The owners get larger purses and a bigger stage to run on, so they enter more horses, and we get to wager on bigger undercard fields.

Hopefully, someone at NYRA will find a solution for people (oops, guests) who prefer to watch races from a good vantage point upstairs.