Colonial's future in real doubt..

[Heels1989]

Currently, there is a housing/ (2) golf course community adjacent to the track. Otherwise not much there (yet).

Attended the 2006 VA Derby and it was brutally hot that day as well. Hope they find a way to keep the place going.

[cmorioles]

We need less tracks. May as well lose one with little history.

[SOREHOOF]

This is sad. Where is Magma when you need them? You can always sell it off in the future when you need the $$. Opps I guess they need the $$ now. No slots no interested buyers. No one gave a crap about N.Y. racing without the added allure of slots.

[Cannon Shell]

They are bluffing.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

We need less tracks. May as well lose one with little history.

I definitely disagree here. We need as many tracks as possible. That way, we're not held hostage by any of them. Can you imagine if this were 1988, and you were forced to play AQU this winter?

And we can then take advantage of stickout plays at multiple tracks, rather than trying to force plays when there are limited options.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

I definitely disagree here. We need as many tracks as possible. That way, we're not held hostage by any of them. Can you imagine if this were 1988, and you were forced to play AQU this winter?

And we can then take advantage of stickout plays at multiple tracks, rather than trying to force plays when there are limited options.

While the racing at Aqu may not be "fair", I'd bet there all year long if they would let me.

I want less tracks so we have fuller fields and more competitive races.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

While the racing at Aqu may not be "fair", I'd bet there all year long if they would let me.

I want less tracks so we have fuller fields and more competitive races.

Excuse the digression.

I've made an assumption about the way you play and pretty much modeled my present approach after it.

While I can turn a very nice ROI by watching races closely, keeping meticulous notes, etc., no matter how much I might enjoy the process, I can't get motivated to do it on a consistent basis, ESPECIALLY with mundane conditions (like a bias) or bad horses.

So, I've branched out to betting multiple tracks and multiple surfaces, and using my charts to pick out standout plays. Typically, only in these cases will I get down and dirty with the replays. I'm probably doing the same amount of work overall in terms of time but the effort is alot less, as there's alot of mindless work invovled.

There a more than enough plays (over 5 or 6 tracks) and enough variety to keep me interested. And, I not squeezing out plays but betting standouts.

I've assumed you pretty much do the same with your figures. Or, at least, it makes sense to me. In that respect, the more variety, the better.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by Heels1989

Currently, there is a housing/ (2) golf course community adjacent to the track. Otherwise not much there (yet).

Attended the 2006 VA Derby and it was brutally hot that day as well. Hope they find a way to keep the place going.

The Golf Club at Brickshire (Blue Green Management) and Royal New Kent (Tradition Clubs) are the two courses there. Brickshire is the one with the housing community attached to it. Neither course is doing that great. If memory serves me, Brickshire had between 1,400-1,600 lots for sale when they first opened....and they sold all the developer lots. Anything for sale in there now are strictly resales...and Im not real sure how those are performing (slow, I would imagine)

[philcski]

Originally Posted by GPK

The Golf Club at Brickshire (Blue Green Management) and Royal New Kent (Tradition Clubs) are the two courses there. Brickshire is the one with the housing community attached to it. Neither course is doing that great. If memory serves me, Brickshire had between 1,400-1,600 lots for sale when they first opened....and they sold all the developer lots. Anything for sale in there now are strictly resales...and Im not real sure how those are performing (slow, I would imagine)

Royal New Kent opened with a lot of fanfare. We played a college tournament there- WAYYYYYY too hard. Toughest course I've ever played, to the point where I was like "this is ridiculous". And this coming from an accomplished player, I can't imagine how un-fun and unfair it would be for an "average" player.

Colonial Downs will find a way to survive, I agree with Chuck that they are bluffing. It's doing much better than it's sister tracks in MD.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by philcski

Royal New Kent opened with a lot of fanfare. We played a college tournament there- WAYYYYYY too hard. Toughest course I've ever played, to the point where I was like "this is ridiculous". And this coming from an accomplished player, I can't imagine how un-fun and unfair it would be for an "average" player.

Colonial Downs will find a way to survive, I agree with Chuck that they are bluffing. It's doing much better than it's sister tracks in MD.

It is too good of a setup to give up. They dont race that many days, control the OTB system, have no competition in most of the state, and would be selling into the worst real estate market in years. If they could get some kind of slots/quasi slots system in place and include the OTB's with them it will be a gold mine. To just sell to unknown developers seems unlikely but leverage is always nice to have.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by philcski

Royal New Kent opened with a lot of fanfare. We played a college tournament there- WAYYYYYY too hard. Toughest course I've ever played, to the point where I was like "this is ridiculous". And this coming from an accomplished player, I can't imagine how un-fun and unfair it would be for an "average" player.

Colonial Downs will find a way to survive, I agree with Chuck that they are bluffing. It's doing much better than it's sister tracks in MD.

Not only is it hard...it is a maintanence nightmare. I have played alot of Mike Stranz's (RIP) designed courses. Most are very visually intimidating.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by GPK

Not only is it hard...it is a maintanence nightmare. I have played alot of Mike Stranz's (RIP) designed courses. Most are very visually intimidating.

I think after Caledonia, which is a GREAT course (tough but not ridiculous), he decided that a course had to be absurdly difficult to be "great". He should have taken a lesson from the top 10 in the nation list... none of those are murderously difficult.

[saratogabrit]

For me the the potential loss of Hollywood Park and 1 Bay Area track within 2 years are bad enough but this closure is possibly even worse, even without much history, because it would take away a track from a region of the country that needs more racetracks not less.

[phystech]

I, for one, would love to see Colonial sell and close. It is a beautiful track that, as we all are well aware, is in a terrible location.

They run a couple nice grass races there, but the rest of them really aren't much. I don't get very excited about cheap claimers on the turf, unless I own one that I can't figure out so I send him to Colonial in one last desperate attempt.

Their daily purses are crap. They hurt racing at Delpark, and soon will hurt MD if they start their season too early.

I say close Colonial, then close Laurel during the winter and replace those days with a summer turf meet. I mean, that's why Laurel re-did their turf course - to run turf races, right? Can't run the turf in the dead of winter.....