The Meadowlands is a fun track to go to! I wouldn't select it as a place for the BC but I can think of a lot of other tracks that are more dumpy.

Are all of you questioning whether Saratoga Springs is colder than Chicago or Toronto taking into account that Saratoga is not winterized whatsoever?

NT

Really? I am not a winter lover either but I wouldnt let a few degrees here and there dictate where I live. If it was warm weather I was after, the NYC/NJ area would not be where I would go. I know in the harshest months, the NYC area is slightly more mild than here, but the weather there still sucks from about Nov through April.

As somebody who has done just about every winter of their life here, its really not that bad. And this from somebody who doesnt ski or snowmobile. OTBS are warm places to be in the middle of winter. Dumps, but warm!

Thats the issue. Thank you. Not the actual outside temperature.

Breeders Cup at Saratoga would be great for the game.

Where would Sheik Mo stay...at the Super 8 down the road a bit?

Who bought the Mcnairs farm ?

never been to the Fairgrounds, but would that be a workable spot?

It's pretty small.

I agree the cold issue is a bs, nonsense excuse, as you just said they held it in Chicago on a day that was like 35-40 degrees, they held in Toronto for crying out loud.

The other lame excuse you hear from time to time is lodging. That's a laugh as well, the lodging between Albany and Lake George is more than enough.

Another lame one is the size, that one cracks me up, you can fit Monmouth and Lone Star inside Saratoga(separtely of course)

The bottom line is Saratoga and Belmont share the same "guts" and it is a huge undertaking transporting all the stuff back and forth. They don't want to go through the hassel just for a couple of days when Belmont has everthing all set up and is large enough.

Too bad the place deserves and it would be like when Fenway held the All Star Game, the nostaliga, the history, it would be insane

Couldn't be much colder than Churchill in '06.:zz:

The diffrence is that Saratoga is not enclosed. Much of Belmont is truly indoors. Apart from a few offices, Saratoga is wide open.

Also, they cannot run 8 or 8.5f races on dirt and field sizes are restricted on the inner turf. I don't think they can run 12f on dirt.

Also the water system is not winterized, meaning they drain the pipes before the ground freezes heavily. In late Oct. it's not uncommon for the ground to have frozen over.

And finally, since there is a good chance that the picnic area would be useless because of the weather. Without the backyard, the place holds about 10k people. There are usually about 5-7k "VIP Guests" at the BC. Where do you put them all? Woe be unto the guy who assigns the VP of Sales of a presenting sponsor with his seats in Sec. U, Row 16. Every seat facing the track would become VIP seating and the everyday fans would be left out anyhow. Tracks like Belmont and CD and SA have lots of levels and tons of premier seating. Even with railside pavillions and luxury boxes there is just not alot of room trackside. Bleachers are great but they won't be placed in front of boxes. They'd be up the track, out in the cold.

I agree that it's not about outside temperature so much as lack of winterized facility and actual indoor space. I go to AQU in winter and it's toasty inside because you are...well...inside. Woodbine and (I guess) Arlington are prepared to host fans in cooler weather, Saratoga is not. The entire front and back of the building are open to the elements.

If they moved the distaff and Classic to Fairplex so that it could be run on dirt, would RA come to that and face Zenyatta?

RA would smoke Zenyatta on dirt - especially at Fairplex.

I like the idea! Run the BC turf races at Santa Anita. Run the stupid new races no one cares about like the Marathon, dirt mile, and filly sprint on the synthetic at SA...

And run the Classic, Sprint, Distaff, Juvie, and Juvie Fillies at Fairplex.

umm..not quite

It should be held permanently at Churchill. It needs to be at a neutral site.

Belmont is fine, but I want to see more than one BC dirt race run around two full turns.

Dude it was freezing in Chicago, was it colder?

How is it a neutral site for the midwest horses based there?