Oaklawn Park vs. Tough Economy

hailrazer · #1 02-17-2009, 05:28 PM

Article in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today gave the numbers thru the first month or so of the season against last year and in comparison to many tracks around the country, Oaklawn is holding up quite well.

They drew just over 31,000 Monday for the Southwest card, which would make Oaklawn Park the 11th largest city in Arkansas on that day. Combined with the 21,000+ on Sat. and the 11,000+ on Sunday for over 64,000 for the 3 days. Admittedly, President's day weekend is almost always the biggest weekend of the year outside of the Racing Festival of the South weekends at the end of the season.

Wagering is also up which can be attributed to the largest field sizes in the country and the fact that there is almost nothing else to do with your money here.....

Danzig · #2 02-17-2009, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hailrazer

Article in Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today gave the numbers thru the first month or so of the season against last year and in comparison to many tracks around the country, Oaklawn is holding up quite well.

They drew just over 31,000 Monday for the Southwest card, which would make Oaklawn Park the 11th largest city in Arkansas on that day. Combined with the 21,000+ on Sat. and the 11,000+ on Sunday for over 64,000 for the 3 days. Admittedly, President's day weekend is almost always the biggest weekend of the year outside of the Racing Festival of the South weekends at the end of the season.

Wagering is also up which can be attributed to the largest field sizes in the country and the fact that there is almost nothing else to do with your money here.....

almost?! lol there's nothing to do in arkansas...well, in public anyway.

gulfstream also up for january.

Travis Stone · #3 02-17-2009, 05:57 PM

Oaklawn was also wrapped-up in the TrackNet vegas stuff, so hats off.

I'm heading-up on Thursday to take in the afternoon of racing. Should be fun!

Danzig · #4 02-17-2009, 06:40 PM

i believe the article in todays paper said that their signal has been re-established in vegas. yay

SOREHOOF · #5 02-17-2009, 06:54 PM

There was good racing and good horses. The meet seems to get better every year. Did Rachel Alexandra break a sweat?

Danzig · #6 02-17-2009, 07:44 PM

saw the other day that their average field size leads the nation. and there are offers coming in for rachel a. how high will they go? but knowing how things are in dubai, i wonder how much sheikh mo will be spending in the near future.....

hailrazer · #7 02-17-2009, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Oaklawn was also wrapped-up in the TrackNet vegas stuff, so hats off.

I'm heading-up on Thursday to take in the afternoon of racing. Should be fun!

Are you going for fun or is Cella bringing you in to pitch Hot Springs as a future race-calling venue????

Danzig · #8 02-17-2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hailrazer

Are you going for fun or is Cella bringing you in to pitch Hot Springs a future race-calling venue????

now that would be nice.

hailrazer · #9 02-17-2009, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danzig

saw the other day that their average field size leads the nation. and there are offers coming in for rachel a. how high will they go? but knowing how things are in dubai, i wonder how much sheikh mo will be spending in the near future.....

I hope they keep her. Oaklawn got a boost from Curlin being bought and switched to Assmussen and then brought to Oaklawn, but I hate when a good one like Medaglia d'Oro gets sold and shipped.

rgustafson · #10 02-17-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hailrazer

Are you going for fun or is Cella bringing you in to pitch Hot Springs as a future race-calling venue????

Let's be realistic. It really is time for Terry to give up the mike and just be a goodwill ambassador for the track.

hailrazer · #11 02-17-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgustafson

Let's be realistic. It really is time for Terry to give up the mike and just be a goodwill ambassador for the track.

Yeah, I've enjoyed him over the years and I still find him an entertaining guy to talk with or hear on the radio, but he seems to get lost in the middle of a lot of races these days and can't pull it back together. I've heard he use to memorize every horse and number the night before the race and almost never used his notes during the race, but he calls bad names often now.

blackthroatedwind · #12 02-17-2009, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hailrazer

I hope they keep her. Oaklawn got a boost from Curlin being bought and switched to Assmussen and then brought to Oaklawn, but I hate when a good one like Medaglia d'Oro gets sold and shipped.

What boost did they get from Curlin making his second and third career starts at Oaklawn?

As for Medaglia D'Oro, one of two things would have happened, he would have improved for his former trainer ( highly unlikely ) the way he did for Frankel and raced, maybe, twice more at Oaklawn ( the Arkansas Derby and following year's Oaklawn Handicap ) which would have been one more start than he still made. The other possibility was he remained relatively slow and I doubt that would have been a big boost for Oaklawn when he languished in allowance company for a few years.

hailrazer · #13 02-17-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

What boost did they get from Curlin making his second and third career starts at Oaklawn?

As for Medaglia D'Oro, one of two things would have happened, he would have improved for his former trainer ( highly unlikely ) the way he did for Frankel and raced, maybe, twice more at Oaklawn ( the Arkansas Derby and following year's Oaklawn Handicap ) which would have been one more start than he still made. The other possibility was he remained relatively slow and I doubt that would have been a big boost for Oaklawn when he languished in allowance company for a few years.

Not really talking about a financial boost but more of a boost in status and the opportunity to have the top runners here as often as possible. You know, we are only little ol' Arkansas so we try to hold on tight when we get sumphin gud. We claim Smarty and Alex and Curly as our own even though they only came as stepping stones to the Triple Crown races. MDO is ours too even after he left. Round Pond, Eight Belles, Hard Spun and now Old Fashioned might as well be Arky breds. We gave Rockport Harbor back.....

Oaklawn promotes the star horses that come here. When we lose one, it stings.