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Originally Posted by cmorioles
Unfortunately, it isn't just Gulfstream. Good horses just don't race enough anymore thanks to guys like Pletcher and Frankel. It might help if they had decent purses for a supposedly "premier" meet though.
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I understand racing is obviously not as good in many ways than it once was. However, what Gulfstream has done is different, in that they have carded many more cheap races in the past without many better races that would fill.
Here's an example that a mutual friend of ours pointed out to me last night, as he has a horse eligible for this kind of race......there is not one stakes during the entire meet for 3YO fillies on the turf. I can see the logic in this.....they had one last year ( even after eliminating the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride ) and it attracted the 2YO champion ( Dreaming of Anna ) from the prior year. So, Gulfstream substituted an $11K Starter allowance for that race and saved themselves $64K to $89K. That's the bottom line to them. But, the bottom line, at least to this horseplayer, is that I am contributing significantly less takeout dollars to them. I can guarantee I have bet, easily, $250 less dollars daily at Gulfstream this year than last year. Now, I bet through NYRA, so maybe that only costs them about $300 a month.....but you get my point.