You're right about the Canterbury Invaders.

You also have to watch the Praire Meadows shippers. They tend to get overlooked.

If you follow the trainers you get a sense for which ones are bringing in live horses and know where to place them.

interesting thread by what may be a sociology teacher.

Im not from the coasts, but Id have to think most racing fans are b/c the best racing takes place in NY/NJ, FL, KY(I know its not on the coast, but its in the east), and SoCal.

you shouldnt expect that most posters here are patrons of Great Lakes Downs or whatever.
that may be another interesting topic of conversation that should be discussed.
the decline of midwest racing.
or has it not declined?
what happened to racing in Nebraska?
why did Sportsmans fail in Chicago?

K Jim is right I will be there. Let me know the date and if it doesn't conflict with 2 toga trips planned I'll be there.
PS Little Chicago secret is million day isn't that crowded so that is what I'd aim for. All coming PM me and I'll do my best to set you up!

Hadn't had the chance to respond to this fun, funny, interesting topic..

1. I'd agree that the vast majority of our membership is 'white', but that doesn't necessarily translate as 'anglo'..

2. College educated question.. I'd agree as well as racing's fan base is overwhelmingly a well-schooled lot..

3. Exposed early (Grandfather), interested in 20's, serious fan in 30's as disatisfaction with team sports grew, devoted to it in 40's..

4. While I'm from the Northeast, I can say pretty definitively that DTers are spread across the country proportionately. Probably 60% from urban centers (NY-Boston, Philly-Balt-DC, Chicago, LA-SD); 40% from regional outlying areas..

5. Logical conclusion.. Racing's portrayal as strictly for an aged fan base is a total falsehood. While the game does have an 'older' fan, it has always been a sport that grew on hobbyists as they got older. Speaks to leisure time for handicapping and development of 'opinion' with maturity..

6. Began posting at PaceAdvantage and ESPN in winter of '02.. Derby Trail began as Yahoo Group on February 15, 2003 doubling in size annually from 50 to nearly 400 last year.. Launched as free-standing URL version last year after Preakness.. While the ESPN board provided the early base of membership, non-ESPN posting Y! DT members equalled that base as early sign-ons as well.. ATRAB listeners have been a big addition obviously, and a large number of people found DT via writing/story links to the site on Equidaily and Racing Dispatch; 50-60 added when this was the first internet site to confirm the passing of Lost in the Fog and we were linked from elsewhere, and similarly just this week almost 100 visitors via the Azeri foal photos craze.. Mentions of DT on Capital OTB-TV 12 (thanks to Seth Merrow, Jeanne Wood, Tom Amello and Nick Kling) has brought about another 50-60 members, and friends bringing friends here has filled out the numbers.. The fact that we have 1,250 members (1,100+ active within the last 30 days) in 9 months is amazing..

7. I believe we have a perfect balance of serious horseplayers and casual fans here.. I'd agree that those here that bet, bet more often and greater amounts than most..

8. Single, 47, never married.. Every girlfriend I've had since 1984 has enjoyed the track. Now for most of them it featured Saratoga, Preakness or Belmont Stakes visits, which provide a rather nice atmosphere (except for Old Hilltop), but even runs to blah Hippodrome Bluebonnets in Montreal for simulcast tabs was an eye-opening new experience for gal pals. The racetrack is one of the greatest date locales there is...

1. White
2. Degree in Finance
3. 3rd Grade at River Downs with my dad
4. Cincinnati
5. 34
6. ESPN
7. Currently on betting hiatus, I tend to bet the big days, usually around $1,000
8. Married 6 Years

Great way to find out about people.....

1. White (with blue and green freckles)
2. 6 years of college with ZERO degrees; this has to make me the dumbest person on this board alone.
3. Started going and wagering at Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis Arkansas in high school. Wasn't of age, but never had a problem. Didn't go to a horse track until college (Blue Ribbon Downs) and didn't fall in love with it until I made it to Oaklawn about 15 years ago.
4. Lived in Arkansas all my life. OAKLAWN BABY!!!!
5. 37 years of age and plum sexy.
6. First message board. Was surfing for horse racing info on the net and stumbled across site. Too good to stay away. Lurk pretty much everyday and trying to get a little more involved.
7. $30-$50 a race and I don't really have it to blow. When I'm losing, I'm on tilt. When I'm winning, still on tilt.....
8. Married 12+ years with a 6 year old little girl. Wife is going to the track Sat. without me. Daughter will be a better capper than me by the time she's 10!

1. yes, I am white
2. yes, I have a college degree
3. yes, the Ky derby was a big event in my house at a very young age
4. no, raised in Ohio, live in Rocky mtns now.
5. yes, am 40 years old.
6. actually yes, I almost never frequent the ESPN board, but one day when I did, the introduction to this site was there. I post 98 percent of the time at thoroughbrednet however as I can't get to this site from home...only at work and unfortunately I usually need to be working which expains my limited posting number.
7. I have never bet on the sport...other than individual miniscule side bets..never an official wager. I stink at it is why!!
8. I have been married 15 years and have 4 kids aged 3, 6, 9, and 11 which is another reason I don't bet regardless of my lack of skill!

Sounds like a plan. I'm always iffy based on work if I haven't moved back to the area already, but I'd do by best, especially on a Sunday!

I am a white female; my ethnic background is Eastern European. I am an NYU graduate; my teaching career of thirty-two years ended a few years ago when I retired.! I am a refugee from the old Thoroughbred Times forum. It was a thrill everyday, but I like the calmness here. I remember Native Dancer's Derby, but the love of my life in the 1950's was Nashua. I never placed a bet until I met my husband(of thirty two years)...a degenerate gambler! We are from the East Coast...NJ to be exact, so we have gotten to see many outstanding horses in person. Among them are Seattle Slew(our favorite), Affirmed, Alydar, Spectacular Bid, Davona Dale, John Henry, Slew O" Gold, Swale, A.P. Indy Serena's Song, Bernardini, etc.. We are both dedicated animal lovers. We breed dogs and my husband is a dog trainer. Our beloved horse Ocho died in 2005 from the infirmities of old age. He was a twenty-nine-year old Appaloosa. We really miss him. We live rural...in the boondocks, so he lived right on our property. We donate to helping horses, but we are not going to adopt again. We are just too old.

a arlington get together would be nice. if my trainers stabled here which he probaly will be i can take every1 back the barn after the races and we can have a BBQ. we had a few last year but the best one was the day of the fireworks at arlington becuz yours truly was extremely intoxicated:)

sportsmans failed becuz the onwership got way too greedy. it was thriving and they decided to go and rebuild it into a dual purpose facility with the auto track which was not bright considering the other autotrack in suburban joliet which is bout 45 min from chicago. still a sad sight to see sportsmans every single day. graffiti on the inside where the track used to be, busted windows everywhere etc etc etc=( its demise not only hurt the tbred side but also the harness tremendously. i believe chicago was once near the tops in harness but no longer. sportsmans was packed every spring for the tbreds and every summer night for the harness.


the decline of midwest racing? i heard the rundown today on the speaker on the backside after entries were taken today for opening day........absolutely pitiful

tell you what one benefit of being older is you have a change to have grand children which i do but he is only 3 months old. so i have to wait a few years before i can take him to the track with me.. can't wait.

Playa,
If you can make a lil backside bbq happen I'd most appreciative (the way I phrased this sounds really bad lol).

Hailrazor,
Don't feel bad. I've also been in school for about 6 years with nothing to show for it either. But in another years I'll finally get my 2 year degree lol.

Pmay, is that you on the right in your avatar? Are you actually K-Fed?

That's Jamiroquai...

Of "Virtual Insanity" Fame?!!! Great song.

Even a good video...http://youtube.com/watch?v=KQonPfZpRLY

As for the decline of Midwest racing, there's positives and negatives:

Negatives- Great Lakes Downs shutting it's doors. Places like Aksarben and Sportsman's Park also closing their doors since the 90s.

Positives- Prairie Meadows. Due to Casino gaming being added, that track has flourished and has had 2 additions. I hate their field sizes, but the track is doing fine.

Canterbury- The place closed for about 5 years in the early 90s, but re-opened in '95, and has steadily earned more revenue every year. Eventhough they've failed on a number off occassions to get slots added to the track (partly due to a giant Indian Res. casion 5 miles down the road from it), they did add the largest poker/casino card game room (black jack, pai gow, etc etc) which has added a lot of $$$ to the purses. On summer nights, the place is packed, with mainly a younger demographic as well.

The Chi-town tracks at least seem to be holding their own. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I guess that at least covers "Upper Midwest" tracks.

As for Great Lakes Downs. I hope it can be resuccitated like Canterbury was in the Mid 90s. Magna might be willing to sell it for pretty cheap since they closed it (I'm assuming because they couldn't get slots put in the place?). So Let's see what new (and hopefully local) ownership can do with the place...

Hhah I missed those last posts because I was busy ranting about the state of Upper Midwest racing.

Anyway,
I'm the guy on the left. The Jamiroquai guy (they're actually a group... everyone thinks it's just one guy) is on the right.

To put in it perspective of the 8 questions originally posted as the subject of the site-
I'm 25... white, been going to school on and off for years (hence my 6 years without a degree). Watched horse racing casually for most of my life, got seriously into and the betting in my teens when Canterbury re-opened in the mid 90s.

But since I'm single, and work a lot, it affords to me to go on trips to see my favorite bands and play in handicapping contests occassionally. When Jamiroquai came to the U.S. for the first time since 9/11... yes that 9/11. They were scheduled to play a show in NYC that night, and have a subsequent U.S. Tour afterwards. It all (the tour) got cancelled because of 9/11, and their plane got grounded for 2 weeks after, so they couldn't leave the country.

They hadn't come back to the U.S. since, because they didn't do a new album, and they've never been that popular here. I mean everyone knows them for "Virtual Insanity" and "Canned Heat" (the song that Napolean Dynamite does his famous Vote for Pedro dance to). But these guys are my favorite group by far. So when they came back to the U.S, I wasn't gonna miss 'em. I saw their 2 shows in NYC, and then their show a week later in Chicago.

I post on Jamiroquai fan sites... kinda like the equivalent to derbytrail for horse racing fans. So through a person I met off the site, the person got me on the guest list for an afterparty at Bed in NYC after the 2nd show. That's where I got my pic with JK (the lead singer or "Jamiroquai guy") and the rest of the band members. Thrill of a life time, and the most genuine smile I've ever had lol.

And yes... in hindsight... he does look a little K-Fed-ish" in the pic lol

Haha btw Mera,
TY for the offer over a year ago for lettin me and my friends crash at your place when we went to see JMQ in Chi-town.

The concert was pretty good. But it was tough to beat the high of seeing them in NYC the week before, meeting the band, and meeting a lot of great people froma a fan website that I had talked to for years before finally seeing them and my favorite band all at once.

The story gets kinda f'd up... it was good time and all, but the stuff that happened around it was messed. I'll tell you about it sometime. It would be like typing a novel, and I'll already typed 2 of them in my last 3 posts lol. Myabe at Arlington this summer lol?

It's easy to say a love of horse racing, but I think there is more to it than that. This could be an interesting thread for the group to comment on. Some of these you may agree with and some you surely won't.

Let me generalize about the people on this board for a moment, again these are generalizations. Here are 8 items to consider:

1. Overwhelmingly the people on this board are white, I'd put it in the 90% range. Yet when I go to the track, other than Saratoga, a good portion of the clientele are minorities. White.

2. Most of the people on this board are college educated, at least the ones of age who could be. I would put that number in the 80% range easy. That says something about the competency of the people here and their general work ethic outside of the hobby of horse racing. College Educated

3. Most of the people here were exposed to horse racing at an early age. While this seems obvious, I would say there are a lot of people that grow to like horse racing even if they weren't exposed to it early--but those people, to me, are less likely to have the kind of passion to seek out a message board on the subject. Agreed.

4. The majority of posters on here are from the coasts, especially the east and a good portion from the Chicago area. This is anecdotal, but it says something that generally speaking the south is less well represented here. Obviously, some of the best racing comes from the areas where most posters are, but demographics play into this....The retirement crowd of Arizona and Florida are not Internet savvy, and even if they are horse racing fans, they aren't seeking out a message board to post. Yeppers.

5. Which leads me to age. Steve might have more stats on this but I'd say 75% of posters are between 25 and 50. Which quite honestly makes sense, but I do think the the patronage of the track is older than this on average, especially on a lonely day in March at the big A. Agreed.

6. The majority of the posters came from the ESPN board, that much is true. But the new group is here by word of mouth, or through Steve's radio show. Advertising of some other kind could surely boost our numbers, but would it water down the content?...The many new friendships made on here were the result of only a few people. Speaking for myself, one of the nice things that Mike did was introduce me to Steve and Kevin. Saratoga has become a haven for these meetings, as I've been able to meet many others and strike up a friendship with Pais even though I only got to hang out with her for one single afternoon in Toga. Stumbled in on my own.

7. Most of the people here bet 8-10 times what a normal patron at the track will bet. I say most, especially the Selection board crowd on here. Sure there are 5$ bettors, but I'd say a good portion are betting more serious sums of money. Could be the general ability levels here and comfort with making larger wagers b/c of much more study into day to day racing. Could be we have a crowd here who are "bigger" gamblers in general. Could be we have more disposable income to be betting...don't believe it's this one by the way. I'm a cheapass

8. Most of the under 40 crowd are not married. Especially the men on here. Why is the bigger question? Maybe b/c our hobby is not conducive to meeting women, which is undoubtedly true. More likely, b/c serious gamblers do not often make good mates. I think they are less likely to want commitment and are independent types in general. Plus, handicapping, if you are serious about, is a time consuming process. Married. As my friend once said to me, "Why are you getting married? It's like breaking into jail."

Now, how far off am I? Randall

no problem makin it happen and well have a good time. wish i coulda met up with ya during the CC@cby, coulda met ya and got ya tll the free booze and food ya wanted that weekend. shame its not@cby again this year, they really take care of the people involved