Atlantic City closing 1/16; New suitor appears for RC

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by jnunan4759

I think it got to a point they realized things are only going to get worse there. The meet never made money on it's own. The horsemen liked it because the turf course is still, surprisingly nice. They are never going to get anymore casino money because they are all closing up. The OTB there was awful. They did have a deal to sell it a few years ago, not sure what happened.

I did see Manila run there, and a few other nice ones.

If one were to read the article at PHILLY.COM (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/ne...ting_down.html), one would think that Atlantic City was running a year-round meeting.

ACRC's regular six-race per day, six-dates per meeting schedule of recent years saw a very full entry box as horses from the mid-Atlantic were looking for turf spots or the chance to start their seasons. Ten and twelve horse fields were the norm - and there was never a shortage of riders. While Kentucky Downs has done a great job marketing their turf offering, ACRC's cards were great turf wagering opportunities.

Combining ACRC with the Monmouth situation shows sloppy research on the facts.

As for casino subsidy money, ACRC received virtually nothing (less than $1M over the term). Maureen Bugdon, former President of ACRC, often discussed with me the fact that they always used their own simulcast operation to fund the six-day meeting. In fact, given that the 2014 meeting was shortened due to the weather, the expectation was that extra funding was available to host races for 2015.