Met Mile, other stakes moved to Belmont Day

[Merlinsky]

Could part of it be a way of shoring up Belmont Stakes Day in the event that we don't have a Triple Crown on the line? The 2012 number was inflated because there was hype from I'll Have Another and it didn't have a chance to deflate since he pulled out relatively last minute. Normally we look at what, 45,000-55,000?

http://www.belmontstakes.com/blog/te...y-the-numbers/
Here are the ones with TCs on the line. Funny to see the disparity between the 70s and the 00s. More people saw Jazil win at Belmont Park than Spectacular Bid (not by a lot but still..). The '93 Belmont brought in 45K.

Here's the Met Mile attendance situation as of 2012: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...-met-mile-card So lemme get this straight, 9-10K for the Met Mile card? Yeah, moving it to a day with 5 to 10 times the attendance isn't the worst thing. If having it on Memorial Day meant it pulled it a lot more, maybe they'd leave it, but it's not. How much overlap is that? Surely most of the Met Mile goers go to the Belmont Stakes? People don't bet on the Met Mile card and put their hands in their pockets on Belmont day do they?

More stupid money will be floating around on Belmont Stakes Day to go on things like the Met Mile. Particularly if they get lucky and there's a Triple Crown possibility. They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't think it'd pay off financially. I'd be willing to bet (no pun intended) that it will.