NYRA to Study Belmont, Aqueduct Development

[Benny]

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...ent?source=rss

[tanner12oz]

writing seems to be on the all for Aqueduct...its sad but consolidation is necessary and with the huge amounts of real estate tracks take up the $$$$ is hard to resist..

consolidation is going to be a necessity going forward but the remaining product, customer service, facilities, fan experience, takeout etc etc MUST IMPROVE to survive. take that lump sum and reinvest it back into the product and keep it out of the government cronies who will skim 95% from the top before adding the remaining 5% to the kitty

[freddymo]

Legendary trainer John Nerud laid out a brilliant plan years ago. Shame it still has not happened. Need a polytrack installed on Belmonts training track to help horseman deal with winter training as well.

[tanner12oz]

Nyra bonus and raise to CEO.


http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...kay?source=rss

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by Benny

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...ent?source=rss

Let's say that consolidation does take place - and that as many have suggested, Belmont takes the entire downstate season over Aqueduct which is then sold.

Think about it - ten months of racing at Belmont. The facility and location will get more and more tired resulting in even further deterioration of the downstate game. No more "opening" of the new season - just a continuous grind over the 1.5 mile dirt track that is unlike anything else in the United States - fun for two months in the Spring and Fall - but not for a steady diet of racing. Think of the mindless grind at Woodbine, Penn National, or Parx where nothing is special - no notion of a "boutique meeting".

But it gets worse - if you think you are going to continue to see two turf courses at Belmont, you would be wrong. How long before the Inner Turf gets torn out to support some type of winter surface to support $8,000 claimers in the dead of December?

You want progressive leadership - here are some ideas :

[1] Once and for all, recognize that the current 12 month season has run its course. Discontinue racing from mid-December through mid-February. The NYC/OTB excuse is now gone - change the business to go back to a nine month season.

[2] Discontinue racing in September after the Saratoga meeting - focus on a boutique Belmont meeting for October through mid-December. This would force bigger fields in the final week at Saratoga after the Travers and create better racing at Belmont. Now, does it make sense to give up September weather? No. Maybe only racing on weekends in September for example.

[3] Allow NYRA, if desired, to invest/buy something south of New York and operate a meet at a racetrack out of state. Can you imagine NYRA running a Colonial Downs meeting ... or something in Maryland in general? What about if NYRA were to buy Monmouth?

At the heart of things, you have to actually introduce a season again - eliminate racing for several winter months and perhaps more.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by ScottJ

Let's say that consolidation does take place - and that as many have suggested, Belmont takes the entire downstate season over Aqueduct which is then sold.

Think about it - ten months of racing at Belmont. The facility and location will get more and more tired resulting in even further deterioration of the downstate game. No more "opening" of the new season - just a continuous grind over the 1.5 mile dirt track that is unlike anything else in the United States - fun for two months in the Spring and Fall - but not for a steady diet of racing. Think of the mindless grind at Woodbine, Penn National, or Parx where nothing is special - no notion of a "boutique meeting".

But it gets worse - if you think you are going to continue to see two turf courses at Belmont, you would be wrong. How long before the Inner Turf gets torn out to support some type of winter surface to support $8,000 claimers in the dead of December?

You want progressive leadership - here are some ideas :

[1] Once and for all, recognize that the current 12 month season has run its course. Discontinue racing from mid-December through mid-February. The NYC/OTB excuse is now gone - change the business to go back to a nine month season.

[2] Discontinue racing in September after the Saratoga meeting - focus on a boutique Belmont meeting for October through mid-December. This would force bigger fields in the final week at Saratoga after the Travers and create better racing at Belmont. Now, does it make sense to give up September weather? No. Maybe only racing on weekends in September for example.

[3] Allow NYRA, if desired, to invest/buy something south of New York and operate a meet at a racetrack out of state. Can you imagine NYRA running a Colonial Downs meeting ... or something in Maryland in general? What about if NYRA were to buy Monmouth?

At the heart of things, you have to actually introduce a season again - eliminate racing for several winter months and perhaps more.

To borrow a Byk word..Interesting. IF NYRA ran MP it could be a huge windfall for BOTH states..Never going to happen.

Offing Sept is an issue stock would migrate south sooner then later UNLESS you rolled in sept purse money into Oct.

Originally Posted by ScottJ

Let's say that consolidation does take place - and that as many have suggested, Belmont takes the entire downstate season over Aqueduct which is then sold.

Think about it - ten months of racing at Belmont. The facility and location will get more and more tired resulting in even further deterioration of the downstate game. No more "opening" of the new season - just a continuous grind over the 1.5 mile dirt track that is unlike anything else in the United States - fun for two months in the Spring and Fall - but not for a steady diet of racing. Think of the mindless grind at Woodbine, Penn National, or Parx where nothing is special - no notion of a "boutique meeting".

But it gets worse - if you think you are going to continue to see two turf courses at Belmont, you would be wrong. How long before the Inner Turf gets torn out to support some type of winter surface to support $8,000 claimers in the dead of December?

You want progressive leadership - here are some ideas :

[1] Once and for all, recognize that the current 12 month season has run its course. Discontinue racing from mid-December through mid-February. The NYC/OTB excuse is now gone - change the business to go back to a nine month season.

[2] Discontinue racing in September after the Saratoga meeting - focus on a boutique Belmont meeting for October through mid-December. This would force bigger fields in the final week at Saratoga after the Travers and create better racing at Belmont. Now, does it make sense to give up September weather? No. Maybe only racing on weekends in September for example.

[3] Allow NYRA, if desired, to invest/buy something south of New York and operate a meet at a racetrack out of state. Can you imagine NYRA running a Colonial Downs meeting ... or something in Maryland in general? What about if NYRA were to buy Monmouth?

At the heart of things, you have to actually introduce a season again - eliminate racing for several winter months and perhaps more.

You like consolidating in NY but not in Cali?

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

You like consolidating in NY but not in Cali?

Consolidation embeds two different concepts. The first is pure racetrack consolidation (decreasing the number of ovals). The second is race date consolidation (fewer number of races being carded).

Decreasing the number of race tracks in California in particular is dangerous. Without a viable top level circuit within 400 miles of the Los Angeles area, the industry could be quickly marginalized without a season or circuit. Consider the Cal Expo/Sacramento outpost for harness racing in Northern California as an extreme example of what could happen to the thoroughbreds in the South. This is why I felt that launching a full service training and racing environment at Los Alamitos after the closing of Hollywood Park was critical. Without Fairplex in the game, you now have a LRC, SA, and DMR circuit where all three are independently owned and must agree to play nice with one another (avoiding a Florida situation) in order to remain viable.

Decreasing race dates has already been done to some extent in California; boutique meetings (Del Mar in Summer and Los Alamitos as a two-three week season) has already been set. Whether Santa Anita can carry as many dates going forward will certainly be a solid point of scrutiny for the CHRB.

In New York, by contrast, the business landscape is very different. Draw a 250 mile ring around Ozone Park, New York and you will cross through Pennsylvania (2), New Jersey (3), Delaware (1), and Maryland (2). Since isolation is not as much as issue, consolidation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic is against a very different set of parameters. Here, a regional approach to the question of consolidation is needed - not just a statewise view. This is why a NYRA investment outside New York would be the first major step forward in handling the regional discussion. Effectively, the move from a state-based regulatory environment to one of regional cooperation is needed here with race dates properly allocated equitably. For example, why concern ourselves with the reallocation of Aqueduct dates to Belmont when a better solution might be to have a cooperative interest in racing at Parx or Pimlico/Laurel during those colder months?

To come back to your simple question with a complex answer :

[a] date consolidation is New York is absolutely required during the winter months,

[b] race track consolidation is needed if NYRA no longer wants to invest in maintaining the Aqueduct facility,

[c] in California, race track consolidation is not needed and might be harmful in the southern tier, and

[d] date consolidation is likely also needed and can be driven within the state itself by the CHRB.