Steve's Hialeah Idea.

[jay122797]

Check out the orginal MIAMI VICE (not the current impostor!)...opening credits!

[bogeydaman]

This would be like saying they should play the Superbowl in the Orange Bowl every 3 years in an effort to have the Dolphins move back to the Orange Bowl from Joe Robbie er, Pro Player er, whatever we call the stadium now.

I have been to probably 20 thoroughbred tracks Hialeah is by far the worst track I have ever been to. The most obvious word that comes to mind is toilet. Might as well petition for Tropical Park to reopen while we are at it.

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by bogeydaman

This would be like saying they should play the Superbowl in the Orange Bowl every 3 years in an effort to have the Dolphins move back to the Orange Bowl from Joe Robbie er, Pro Player er, whatever we call the stadium now.

I have been to probably 20 thoroughbred tracks Hialeah is by far the worst track I have ever been to. The most obvious word that comes to mind is toilet. Might as well petition for Tropical Park to reopen while we are at it.

What are/were you smoking, dude? That place was NICE.

[Cajungator26]

Here's a cool site with some more pics, guys...

http://icuban.com/hialeah_park.html

[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.

[Cajungator26]

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.

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

[Buffymommy]

I always thought it was a beautiful place to watch racing. I love the Flamingos. I was there in the mid to late 90s too. But I really enjoyed it when I went there.

I went once before it was closed. The pictures show its architectural splendor. Alas, the plant was never updated and it had the retro feel of a 50's- 60's feel. The horsemen loved it and felt it was a safe place to run. I heard the barns were torn down this year, so they would have to build some and or ship them all in. The location of the track is also in a very iffy neighborhood. The owner, Brunetti is also a very difficult character to deal with. While, I understand Steve's sentiment, the reality of the thing is if the BC comes back to Florida, it should go to Calder, which has a large plant, barns, etc to handle it. I'd love to see a "boutique meet" for Hialeah for the spring ,shoulder season at the end of the Florida Derby weekend, March 31st, this year. Gulfstreams last 3 weeks in April will be just going through the motions, as northern stables ship north and the calder trainers take over.

The same thing happens at Belmont park in NY after the July 4th weekend. Saratoga should be open the week after July 4th and a couple of more weeks, but only 5 days a week instead of 6. The addtional weeks and reduction of days per week would have a net effect of only a couple of total days to the Saratoga meet.