Belmont eyes night racing
 

Used to love night racing at rockingham and Atlantic City

They were down 6% so that have to look at doing something. Purses are through the roof so that cant be the answer.

I vote for finding more dirt horses.

Down 6% from some very heady numbers after a rain soaked meet. We lost an entire Saturday, which cost us over $10 million.

The problem with great numbers is that they are tough to repeat.

I am sure the rain doesnt help, though it seems like the reason for every down meet in NY but I have watched every race the past month and I found the dirt racing almost unplayable. Short fields and very heavy favorites.

If you like turf racing the last month has been grand.

I love it. Not to mention it brings in more handle from the very lucrative West Coast/Las Vegas markets- I've learned living out here it's tough to get involved when first post is 10:00 AM.

Why not? Assuming the harness guys would be none to thrilled but will see.

Picky much? On a day to day basis NYRA has the best racing in America and its not even close.

Personally as someone who works M-F 9-5, I'd love the opportunity to play NY at night. Those Friday nights at Hollywood used to be great (and many of those cards sucked). I think a Friday night at Belmont would do very well.

Loved the Friday nights at Hollywood.

[quote=MaTH716;1095067]Personally as someone who works M-F 9-5, I'd love the opportunity to play NY at night. Those Friday nights at Hollywood used to be great (and many of those cards sucked). I think a Friday night at Belmont would do very well.[/QUOTE


might help land a BC at Belmont,though it might be a tad cold

From a horse player standpoint I dont think the dirt racing this summer there has been the best in America. That was my statement, dont take it out of context.

They gotta try something new to get people to Belmont Park ;) NYRA's "bread & butter" starts this Friday :D here's a quote from their fearless leader;

“There is a very different audience at Saratoga than at Belmont,” he said “People come as families for three, four, five days to Saratoga. Our research has shown that 60 percent of the people who come to Saratoga live outside the nine-county capital region. So they will come for several days as a family for a vacation. Their intention is to have an enjoyable day at the track, like people have an enjoyable day at a theme park.”

Agreed Matt. Even grew to appreciate those 8-7 claimers in the finale.

Woulda been plus % if the late pick 5 was in effect for ALL. All meet , Just sayin...

Love belmont but its a dinosaur

I'd love to go, but it's a long drive from Tampa.

The handle decrease was $32.4 million and was largely impacted by off-the-turf races and very rainy weather.

Just to play the numbers game with you, if you divide that handle decrease by 53 programs (not counting the cancelled date), you have a daily shortfall of $611,000.

Now, take a look at the Daily Racing Form charts for the last couple of weeks to see the late handle on the Pick-4 and NYRABets Pick-5. Only on weekend dates do you approach that handle in the daily pools. The late Pick-5 is not a solution for this one on a daily basis.

Just sayin'.

In the late 70s, Saratoga had about 8,000 people per day during the week and represented a huge drop in the NYRA business. Calls were loud and often to end the 28-day meeting charade and focus on the "core business" in the downstate market.

Roll forward 40 years. People are looking to reach out and touch those memories. Saratoga has gone from "relic of the past" to "treasured history", the meeting goes for 40 days, and represents the core of NYRA's business.

What happened? There are a million "inchstones" that created Saratoga of today. We are exactly at that same point with Belmont. I would not be so quick to throw-in the towel on Belmont. Instead, I would absolutely step through the history of the last 40 years and think about how the next decade would shape Belmont.

I cannot tell you how many Facebook posts from friends and families at Belmont I have seen since the Stars and Stripes festival (the unofficial "end" of the meeting). Long Island has an unspoken and sometimes forgotten love affair with Belmont, bu we have lost sight of it. Too many school events, too many sports teams, too many other demands on time ... but the love is still there.

I wish that I worked at NYRA to be honest as this is a problem that can really be solved. Maybe not this week, next month, or next year, but with "inchstones".

I stand corrected. I thought it would have been more because of the great value the bet produces.