Belmont eyes night racing

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Hickory Hill Hoff

They gotta try something new to get people to Belmont Park NYRA's "bread & butter" starts this Friday here's a quote from their fearless leader;

“There is a very different audience at Saratoga than at Belmont,” he said “People come as families for three, four, five days to Saratoga. Our research has shown that 60 percent of the people who come to Saratoga live outside the nine-county capital region. So they will come for several days as a family for a vacation. Their intention is to have an enjoyable day at the track, like people have an enjoyable day at a theme park.”

Love belmont but its a dinosaur

[ElPrado]

I'd love to go, but it's a long drive from Tampa.

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Love belmont but its a dinosaur

In the late 70s, Saratoga had about 8,000 people per day during the week and represented a huge drop in the NYRA business. Calls were loud and often to end the 28-day meeting charade and focus on the "core business" in the downstate market.

Roll forward 40 years. People are looking to reach out and touch those memories. Saratoga has gone from "relic of the past" to "treasured history", the meeting goes for 40 days, and represents the core of NYRA's business.

What happened? There are a million "inchstones" that created Saratoga of today. We are exactly at that same point with Belmont. I would not be so quick to throw-in the towel on Belmont. Instead, I would absolutely step through the history of the last 40 years and think about how the next decade would shape Belmont.

I cannot tell you how many Facebook posts from friends and families at Belmont I have seen since the Stars and Stripes festival (the unofficial "end" of the meeting). Long Island has an unspoken and sometimes forgotten love affair with Belmont, bu we have lost sight of it. Too many school events, too many sports teams, too many other demands on time ... but the love is still there.

I wish that I worked at NYRA to be honest as this is a problem that can really be solved. Maybe not this week, next month, or next year, but with "inchstones".