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Originally Posted by NTamm1215
Trinity Meadows is finished as a racing facility. The building has been sitting there rotting for over ten years now and the Texas Racing Commission has denied racing dates to that track multiple times. The "minor league" races that you refer to are always going to be a staple in Texas because of the caliber of racing. We're always going to have 5k claimers, 10k maiden claimers, a slew of Texas-bred races, and many minor stakes races.
Lone Star was very well run at its inception. A great deal of money was accumulated while having the Simulcast Pavilion open prior to the track's grand opening. When the track finally did open the purses were three times larger than that of Retama or Sam Houston. In 1997 Lone Star's maiden special weight average purse was just a tick lower than Oaklawn. In the ten years since the purses at Louisiana Downs have risen and a large amount of horses have been lost to that meet since it was expanded.
The racetracks in Texas either need to drastically slash all of their dates and try to run better mini-meets or continue toiling in mediocrity and red numbers. Take a jaunt up to WinStar or out to Shreveport and take a look at the license plates of all the cars in the parking lot. Billions of dollars from Texans are lost yearly to Oklahoma and Louisiana. Take a look next time, then try to tell me if Lone Star had slot machines the place wouldn't thrive.NT
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We live about 70 miles N. from Louisiana Downs and this past year, made a couple of trips to the track. I hadn't been in years and thought since one of the days we went was for the Super Derby, the place would be packed. I could remember from years past how crowded it could be on a day like the Super Derby. You're right about the license plates, but although the parking lot was nearly full, I discovered quickly the casino was drawing a huge number of patrons. I was surprised to find we could move about freely to the betting windows, concession stands, etc. This day is the biggest day of racing at LaD and I have to say the estimates of how many people were there for the races no where compared to how it was years ago. We also went for LA Champions Day and I was also surprised at the light turnout. The casino, though, appeared to be operating at the max.