Farewell to The Ohio Derby

[2MinsToPost]

River Downs is the best Ohio has to offer, and that is little at this point. They are still trying to push slots on the voters, and now with Penn National involved and there getting some support in the Capitol, who knows.

River Downs is a nice diamond in the rough, and I think in great part the reason why is its location. See Thistle and Beulah. River is far removed (not that far but far enough) from "the element".

[otisotisotis]

Originally Posted by 2MinsToPost

River Downs is the best Ohio has to offer, and that is little at this point. They are still trying to push slots on the voters, and now with Penn National involved and there getting some support in the Capitol, who knows.

River Downs is a nice diamond in the rough, and I think in great part the reason why is its location. See Thistle and Beulah. River is far removed (not that far but far enough) from "the element".

Location is beautiful, quality is ugly. But you would be amazed at the weekend crowds they get, with people actually tailgating on the front row of the parking lot that has a front row view of the top of the stretch. I will always clamor they should put up lights and go to night racing.

[2MinsToPost]

Originally Posted by otisotisotis

Location is beautiful, quality is ugly. But you would be amazed at the weekend crowds they get, with people actually tailgating on the front row of the parking lot that has a front row view of the top of the stretch. I will always clamor they should put up lights and go to night racing.

Yeah I was there Saturday and the blacktop was packed front to back. Great idea you have, night racing. Only thing that I could see as a problem would be next door, Riverbend. They do host a lot of concerts, and they almost all are in the evening.

I really do cherish that track for its ambience.

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by 2MinsToPost

River Downs is the best Ohio has to offer, and that is little at this point. They are still trying to push slots on the voters, and now with Penn National involved and there getting some support in the Capitol, who knows.

River Downs is a nice diamond in the rough, and I think in great part the reason why is its location. See Thistle and Beulah. River is far removed (not that far but far enough) from "the element".

Bismuth?? or just simple carbon?? which one is designated as "the" element? I've never known.

oh wait...my bad...

http://www.theelementsite.com/

these guys terrorizing beulah and thistle?

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I've been to many Ohio Derby's and many Prince Of Wales stakes at Fort Erie.

Shame to see them both go.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I've been to many Ohio Derby's and many Prince Of Wales stakes at Fort Erie.

Shame to see them both go.

Prince Of Wales/Ft Erie may not go... as per the Buffalo News. The Ft Erie website seems to have live racing dates listed and the Prince of Wales Stakes as July 12th. Went there many times as well, back in the day it was much better racing than Finger Lakes- now not so much.

[tjfla]

Ya really not a big loss. Was like the 3rd string 3yr old every year

[Kasept]

This has nothing to do with the quality of the Ohio Derby... They're suspending it for the year and using the money to support the purses for the horsemen on the grounds. It's the right thing to do instead of giving that money to out of towners that come in one day for the graded stake, take the money and leave.

They can re-evaluate next year and bring it back if things are better without losing the grading.

[Ogygian]

Originally Posted by Kasept

This has nothing to do with the quality of the Ohio Derby... They're suspending it for the year and using the money to support the purses for the horsemen on the grounds. It's the right thing to do instead of giving that money to out of towners that come in one day for the graded stake, take the money and leave.

They can re-evaluate next year and bring it back if things are better without losing the grading.

That is good to hear...I have a question though...wouldn't it be better to cut a few days off the meet, maybe have bigger fields, then use that purse money from the days the track isn't running to run the Ohio Derby. How often do they actually cancel a stakes race, then bring it back?

[Suffolk Shippers]

Originally Posted by Ogygian

That is good to hear...I have a question though...wouldn't it be better to cut a few days off the meet, maybe have bigger fields, then use that purse money from the days the track isn't running to run the Ohio Derby. How often do they actually cancel a stakes race, then bring it back?

I think the best parallel for you to look at is the Pimlico Special or the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs. Both PIM and SUF have cancelled these signature races intermittently through out the last ten years and brought them back when they felt they could.

In the 2000's, SUF has run the Mass Cap in 2000-2002, off in 2003, back in 2004, off in 2005 and 2006, and back for 2007 and 2008. Of course, you lose the races graded status after it's been off for awhile. I believe the Mass Cap is back at GIII this year. So, it's more common than you think.

The last few editions of the Mass Cap have been enjoyable, it's always nice to see better quality flesh run on the grounds. However, like Steve said, it's essentially just a money grab for out of towners. The local strings really can't compete with them...for example, last year Zito won two of the big races on Mass Cap day (at least), and some other non-Suffolk trainers shipped in to grab the money, like Anthony Dutrow and others.

Eliminating these money grab races at lower level tracks once in awhile preserves the money in the modest purses the local strings run for, and it's done more as an appreciation to the local horseman in leaner times. The tracks know they would be nothing without the local strings that patronize year to year. It's better to keep those folks happy and afloat and use the $500,000 worth of purses from an Ohio Derby, Mass Cap, Pim Special, etc to buoy the local purses instead from time to time.