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#1
12-15-2008, 10:42 AM
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Ft. Erie Racetrack shutting down
That's what I'm hearing... could be official this afternoon. I'm told workers will get the word from management at 2pm.
__________________
Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems. -Homer Simpson 
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#2
12-15-2008, 11:25 AM
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Quote:
__________________
please use generalizations and non-truths when arguing your side, thank you
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#3
12-15-2008, 11:29 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems. -Homer Simpson
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#4
12-15-2008, 04:16 PM
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__________________
Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems. -Homer Simpson
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#5
12-15-2008, 04:18 PM
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My uncle took me there when I was in Buffalo visiting relatives...Guess I must have been 10 or 11 years old and that was my first experience at a Thoroughbred track. Bummer.
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#6
12-16-2008, 10:34 PM
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fort erie
this is a complete and utter shame. nordic gaming, the owners, walked away with every penny during the good times and never put a cent back into the plant. the horsemen had to pay to get the restrooms rebuilt on the backside.
this was during the heyday of the slots at the Fort before there was a casino every 15 minutes....niagara falls both sides of the border, buffalo raceway, angola, salamanca,mohawk,woodbine etc.... these people have always only been in it for the cash they could grab as shown by the idiot management that has been in place since they took over. this was the first track that stronach attempted to buy but the OJC gave it away instead of selling it to someone who could give them some competetion, so they gave it away for $10 or some insane sum. okay stronach hasn't exactly proved out but lets leave that alone these idiots/carpetbaggers have taken down 10% of the profits from a casino and put it in their pocket. the only real capital improvement was the new surface they had to build or be shut down. there are a million people who live on the american side of the river who after the OJC left were never part of the marketing strategy except for a few ads run around the Prince of Wales day, which were in all likelihood really directed to the Canadian audience that watches the Buffalo stations. they have never marketed themselves to american players, to take advantage of canadian laws.....there are no signers in Ontario. You cash the ticket and walk away, you don't pay the extra nyotb take and the extra wrotb takeout on winnings which adds up to over 6% plus breakage on a winning wager. i was an owner and horseman from 1999 to 2004 almost exclusively at Fort Erie and it was the absolute best time of my life. But the ownership of the racetrack even then went out of its way to grap every penny w/o investing a penny of there own. so now as things got tougher with the increased slots competition, just imagine how they are now. i have been convinced this was going to happen for a long time and perhaps it will be for the best. It's long past time either the Ontario governent steps in or after Nordic refuses to run the the ORC pulls there license after being forced to shut the casino down as the slots are only allowed for a functioning racetrack. perhaps the OJC will step back in as they know there has to be a second racetrack in the province ie finger lakes to nyra but to an even greater extent as there aren't 15 tracks in an 8 hour drive from toronto
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#7
12-17-2008, 05:58 AM
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I think the Canadian Gov't will step in here.
__________________
Alcohol, the cause and solution to all of life's problems. -Homer Simpson
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#8
12-17-2008, 09:57 AM
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It's certainly a track with a lot of great history behind it.
Northern Dancer lost a race there as a 2-year-old, Canadian Triple Crown and Breeders Cup Distaff winner Dance Smartly lost a race there as a 2-year-old, and I believe I lost the very first bet I ever made on a horse race there..also as a 2-year-old. I was there when Dance Smartly won the Prince of Wales - and way more importantly I scored on Time To Go Go in a maiden claiming race at like 12/1 earlier on during that years meet.
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#9
12-17-2008, 10:03 AM
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Quote:
__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans
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#10
12-17-2008, 11:45 AM
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Are they interested in selling?
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#11
12-18-2008, 11:56 PM
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Quote:
It wasn't until about four years ago that I took one of my California kids back east with my wife and had him check "Niagara Falls" off his list. He hadn't had it on his list with his lifelong California perspective, but I told him it needed to be there. Digression, I'm a very strong yet pragmatic environmentalist. In other words I have no trouble with companies harvesting 10 and 15 year old planting of pines to get pulp for paper....and stuff like that. In years past, I always admired the Canadians for protecting and prohibiting development on their side of The Falls. But of course, that changed. I thought I would be angry seeing the Canadian side of the bank fully developed for the first time....and at first I was. But, as luck would have it, nearly every motel or hotel was booked the evening we were coming through. It was a weekend, so I gambled the Marriott might have a room since in days of yore Marriott's didn't ordinarily readily attract family weekend travelers. The Marriott had one room left. A suite upgrade. I said "book it," on the phone, and we arrived about 30 minutes later. Our room ended up being on one of the top stories, essentially looking down at the Horseshoe Falls rim, and across at the American Falls. It was spectacular. One of the best $200 I've ever spent. We could hear the Falls roar with all the windows closed. And we slept with the drapes open all night so we could see The Falls if we happened to wake up in the night. I'm not easily impressed, but it was great.....and it didn't bother me so much that the natural area had been developed....once I had the benefit of the view. End of digression....on the drive back, we hugged the Canadian side of the Niagara River for the first time in my life. Beautiful, peaceful almost "countryside" late Sunday summer afternoon drive. I didn't realize we were going to be near Fort Erie Racetrack until we happened upon it. It was a nice setting, and I regret that I've never made it there for live racing. Hope I get to, someday.
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