Colonial Downs v Horsemen; Jacobs takes players hostage

[GPK]

^^^ what Wes said. I moved to Roanoke almost 8 years ago and the Vinton OTB used to be hopping. To witness its demise has indeed been sad.

[Alabama Stakes]

whatever happened to the nice full fields and early meet closers bias', and late meet speed bias'. that place used to be awesome...

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by GPK

^^^ what Wes said. I moved to Roanoke almost 8 years ago and the Vinton OTB used to be hopping. To witness its demise has indeed been sad.

You also watched this same decline at the track over the past 5 years.

[luvalab]

I live in NC which does not allow pari-mutuel wagering. Colonial is the closest track to me when I want to enjoy live racing. When their first post time was at 5pm I used to be able to get to the track around 12pm, play Belmont all afternoon. Then I would play the Colonial card in the evening and enjoy being at the track. However, in recent years they closed the track to simulcasting until 1 hr before the first post at Colonial. I guess they were trying to force people to go to an OTB (which is cheaper to run), then come to the track. I didn't feel like driving to the OTB and then to the track, so I just stopped playing those earlier Belmont races.

There are definitely some nuances to the Colonial course that can help you cash a ticket, esp. if it gets really hot during the day. And, I've never had an issue with field size at Colonial. Below are field size stats for the last 3 years at Colonial. These are just for the turf races, none of the very few dirt races they run are included:

2011 - Avg Field Size: 9.3 - Total Horses: 2177 - Total Races: 235
2012 - Avg Field Size: 8.5 - Total Horses: 2311 - Total Races: 272
2013 - Avg Field Size: 8.9 - Total Horses: 1670 - Total Races: 187

Total Races Run in all 3 years: 694
Total Fields in all 3 years with 7 or less horses: 199 (29%)
Total Fields in all 3 years with 8 or 9 Horses: 243 (35%)
Total Fields in all 3 years with 10 or more horses: 252 (36%)

[luvalab]

It doesn't sound like they have made any progress.

"I'd say we're a two on a scale of one to 100 on reaching an agreement," Petramalo said.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...ng-in-jeopardy

[GPK]

The 3 OTBs that have kept open (Richmond, Hampton and Chesapeake) will remain open. Of the ones that were temporarily closed, the only one with a small chance to reopen is Martinsville. All others to close permanently.

[luvalab]

I'm not sure they can come together. Colonial has dug its heels in pretty hard on being reimbursed for the money lost. It really doesn't sound like Colonial wants to run at all.

http://www.drf.com/news/deal-colonia...ming-down-wire

[GPK]

Originally Posted by luvalab

I'm not sure they can come together. Colonial has dug its heels in pretty hard on being reimbursed for the money lost. It really doesn't sound like Colonial wants to run at all.

http://www.drf.com/news/deal-colonia...ming-down-wire

Vinton OTB is officially no more. They went in yesterday and tore out the Amtotes, cameras, security, etc. There is now talk of closing the one in Hampton as well. Gonna start tearing down the one in Alberta this coming week.