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Originally Posted by bogeydaman
Not smoking anything. Lived in So Fla for 25 years. Been going to the tracks (including Hialeah when it was open) for 20. Here is my short list:
* Surrounding area is, lets just say, unappealing (I work about 6 miles from Hialeah in a "higher end" community). Many of my cuban friends would not go no near the joint.
*Road access getting in / out of the track is horrible (though there was never anyone there which made it easier).
* Have to be bilingual to communicate with any teller, order a hot dog, etc.
* The quality of racing was horrible (all the northern horses would already have moved north and the local 2 year old season was not in full swing yet). Thus how many 5K claiming races can you run in a day? It is pretty sad when the early Calder meet is an upgrade to Hialeah.
* No Air Conditioning - Worst body odor per capita than any place I have ever attended outside of a September Dolphins Sellout
*Restroom / Cleanliness of facility - UGHHHH.
*30% takeout (yes this is true before it closed).
*1/2 the races were 5-6 horse fields with 8 races on a typical weekday.
*Biggest crowd of the meet - KC and the Sunshine Band live in concert.
*$2 parking, $5 entry fee to gate - This may mean little to many who pay to enter other tracks, but you are competing with Gulfstream and Calder who had a better quality product and would allow you in for less, free, or give you free stuff for entry.
*Management came 1st, customer last > see many comments above.
Need I go further????
My comments relate to the late early 90's and beyond. You want to go back to the 70's I am sure you can find many of these negative's go away. To me the old Gulfstream had the Hialeah positives without many of the negatives I have listed above.
Just one humble opinion.
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And thank you for stating it. I was referring to how the facility LOOKED. I went there only a handful of times in the 90's, but to me, it was a beautiful facility. And no offense, but you have to be bilingual pretty much anywhere in South FL. LOL