What FL track is better?
 

I've heard some mixed reviews on Gulfstream and some positive things on Tampa Bay. If you compared FL tracks, what track would you say is best to visit during February or March considering the following:

- ease of getting around
- expense
- location for nightlife, restaurants etc.
- ambience, crowd, safety etc.

My vote is Tampa Bay downs,all the way!

I've been to both... the racing at Gulfstream is obviously better, but Tampa is a really cool spot. The grandstand is open air with a beautiful track and a fun, small-track feel. I sat in the boxes on Lexington day two years ago with 75 degree weather, a breeze and big fields with great racing.

Another vote here for Tampa. There's no contest when comparing the on-track experience. Gulfstream is easily the most fan-unfriendly track I've been to. No sight lines, overpriced concessions, grumpy employees and angry mutuel clerks. You can hardly find a place at GP to actually see the races live, so you're better off to enjoy a nice day at TBD and watch simulcasts of the GP races, which is what you'd be doing at GP anyway.

Once you have spent a day at Tampa Bay Downs in the BigsMC luxury box suite, right on the finish line, there is nothing quite comparable in all of racing...much less in the State of Florida:tro: :tro:

$1 beers @ Gulfstream and they have Franks and grey goose.

ease of getting around & expense = Tampa Bay

nightlife, resteraunts - GP

quality of racing - GP

ambience, crowd, safety - equal.. besides FL Derby day where it is way too crowded in the small space.

They are both good tracks in their own way. Old Gulfstream would have dominated this discussion though.

:tro: :tro:

:o

I like Tampa but you can not compare a big league track like Gulfstream to Tampa. Gulfstream is much much better. You can go to the morning workouts at Gulfstream and the racing involves the best horses in the world. There is a casino there for additional fun and you can walk to the beach.

A typical day at Gulfstream could be watching the morning works, hitting the beach for a few hours, live racing where you can occasionally see grade 1 winners in a Wednesday allowance race, then you can either play cards or slots at the casino and have a few drinks, or take a nap before going out in South Beach. Gulfstream is the big leagues while Tampa is the minor leagues. I love Tampa and I also enjoy minor league baseball, but I go to the track to see great horses and Gulfstream will have 50-100 possible derby horses run during the meet. I would say only Saratoga and Del Mar are better than Gulfstream. Belmont has better racing but it is actually quite a dreary place most of the time.

And your sandwich at Gulfstream will only cost you the low,low price of TWENTY DOLLARS!

Gulfstream food is no more expensive than Saratoga, Del Mar, Belmont, or Churchill.

Like I said Gulfstream is the big leagues with top talent and just like a MLB or NFL Stadium the food is more expensive.

If you want cheap food go to WalMart right down the street from Gulfstream and bring it yourself.

Personally I don't mind paying more money for food. The people selling it have a right to make a living and nobody forces you to buy the food. If you can't afford it than don't buy it. Movie theatres charge a fortune too. If you don't like it bring your own candy. I buy it because I can afford it and I think movie theatres have a right to make money.

Tampa is a great track but it is like going to minor league baseball. It is great but most people really want to see the big league talent and enjoy first class entertainment.

But this is all opinion and for whatever reason people like to attack Stronach but he understands the days of racetracks surviving just as racetracks is over unless you want horseman to run for 10,000 purses all winter.

Yeah but 10-1 pays the same minor or major.

I am biased toward Tampa because its home. If your coming in March you can check out the Phillies spring training in Clearwater. It is a really fun place to catch a ballgame. The roads will be busy either place since its the peak of snowbird season.

Pretty good place 2 miles from TBD

www.jackwilliestikibar.com

And I didn't even mention the shear pleasure derived from the all important Double Header. That crusade in itself makes Tampa stand head and shoulders above Gulfstream!!

She didn't mention the racing product being one of her criteria. I am quite sure she is well aware of the differences in the quality of the horseflesh.

Ok, but based on her criteria Gulfstream is still much better.

Gulfstream is much easier to get around. You can actually walk there from hotels. Tampa Downs in not even in Tampa and there is nothing right there except a driving range.

Gulfstream is actually cheaper if you factor in hotels. It is much cheaper to stay in Hallandale Beach than in Tampa. Tampa is very expensive in the winter.

Nightlife is all Gulfstream. It has it's own nightlife with a casino or you have South Beach.

Ambience is all Gulfstream too. Tampa is a nice small track feel but Gulfstream has a nice outdoor bar and a nice simulcast area if you get a seat, and you have big time racing where you get top horses racing against other top horses and the crowd is great especially on big days. The seating is so limited that it makes it feel like there is always a big crowd there.

I like Tampa but this is really sort of a silly argument. It isn't quite comparing Saratoga to Finger Lakes but it is not that far from it.

Thats pretty funny...made me laugh just the thought of that comparison. I like Gulfstream a lot and dont really pay much attention to Tampa. One thing I hate about Tampa is the track announcer's voice. Its very painful to listen to. Gulfstream is a lot easier to follow because many of the same horses who run up here in NY run down there.

Question for those who follow Tampa racing...Where do the horses that run at Tampa go when Tampa is closed?

As far as the original question, never been to either so I am no help.

Gulfstream cost like 2 billion and Tampa looks like it cost $200, but that doesnt mean Gulfstream is a better place to wach racing. Gulfstream was built to please slots players, not horseplayers.

And why go to South Beach when you can go to Pure Platinum in Ft Lauderdale?

What are people talking about in regards to not being able to see the racing at Gulfstream? I've been on Donn weekend the past two years and have had no problems at all. The entire rail is open all the way down the parking lot to watch the races. In between races there are seats surrounding the paddock that you can sit in so you don't have to stand all day.

I see them everywhere, but primarily Calder, Suffolk, Pinnacle, Presque Isle, Thistle, Finger Lakes. The better ones go to Monmouth and Arlington.

As for Grunder's voice, I would disagree. He's an institution.

I'm biased in that I love Tampa and my only experience outside of Tampa was GP on FL Derby day. While I may go back, I certainly won't on a big day.

I was wondering when someone was going to mention the strip clubs!:D

No, I mean the best horses from the NY and KY circuit. Barbaro, Curlin, English Channel (in an allowance race), Big Brown, Quality Road, Empire Maker, Invasor, etc.

Gulfstream gets the big league horses and the purses are pretty solid for winter racing when most trainers are not really firing on all cylinders but are regrouping for the spring, summer and fall.

come in dec and go to Calder the best of the 3

Thanks, this is extremely helpful. Biggs was right about the quality of the racing product comment. If Tampa was superior in all other aspects and therefore providing an all around better vacation, I would go there and just book during the TBD or it's prep to catch at least a few good horses.

OK, and for those who don't do strip clubs...what beach or beach area is the best?

south beach is where all the fun is , you will run into stars like paris hilton , kim kardashian and our own Indomitable Drugs

Clearwater beach is a fun place as well if you go to TBD

there is a nude beach where the median age is 60, about 4 miles south.

North Haulover Beach.

Sighty, if you make the trip to Tampa...call me, we will split a room;) :{>:

Dreaming again?

I smell a double header....

Why not do both? That is what I am hoping to do this winter...

Just allow me the pleasure to dream, k?:p

I do too bro...I do too:tro: :tro:

Because some of us have real jobs:mad:

Wow, horse talk and free porn courtesy of gpk.

Gotta be good for something around theses parts:D

And I don't?

It is called vacation time....

I've been all along the rail at Gulfstream and the only part of the race you can see on the backside from the rail is the top of the jockey helmets due to the elevation of the track. The only races you can watch from the paddock seats are on television. I remember when the new facility opened, some turf writer wrote that Gulfstream was basically simulcasting to itself. That sums it up pretty well. There are very, very few locations at Gulfstream from which you can watch an entire race live and actually see the runners. Possibly the worst design in all of racing, certainly of any I have racetracks I have visited.

As far as an actual beach? St Pete/Clearwater or up north in Daytona or Cocoa Beach are my favorites. St Pete is right near Tampa. No waves because its the Gulf but its a great beach. Cocoa is my favorite cause you can drink on the beach and not get arrested. Jumping waves while wasted is one of the better things to do in life.

Night life.. no question South FL has some of the best nightlife in the world. If you can imagine it, you can do it..