Major tuning of BEL & SAR stakes/purses

Originally Posted by citycat

And the bad side of all of this is that Turfway Park announced they are cutting purses by 25%

They could get approval for instant racing. Management needs to be fired.

[Danzig]

altho i feel ky needs to help their racing industry out quite a bit, there are still examples of tracks who aren't in the best area as far as competition who are surviving or even thriving. i think everyone agrees that there are too many tracks-would losing turfway if that should happen actually be a bad thing?
i can't help but wonder if other entities in that state are actually hoping for nothing to happen in the near future in order to weed out some other tracks, and then put muscle behind changing things in order to help them maintain or improve their own holdings. we all know that tracks don't always put the sport first-they are worrid only about themselves. can you imagine the state of the nfl if the teams were 32 individuals only concerned with themselves?

Yes it would be a bad thing for a multitude of reasons and I cannot believe you don't see that.

Kentucky, New York, Florida, and California are the premier states for horse racing. Any thoroughbred track that would close in these states is a serious attack on the industry as a whole.

The sport won't survive if West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, etc. turn into the premier states.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

Yes it would be a bad thing for a multitude of reasons and I cannot believe you don't see that.

Kentucky, New York, Florida, and California are the premier states for horse racing. Any thoroughbred track that would close in these states is a serious attack on the industry as a whole.

The sport won't survive if West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, etc. turn into the premier states.

we all know things change. i'd hate to see ky turn its back on one of its greatest industries, but i don't know that turfway going out of business would necessarily be a bad thing. it's been on a slow decline for years.
should there be a better business environment? of course. should turfway and others sit and wait for things to change? of course not. you have to deal with what is, not what you want. obviously other tracks are making it-turfway isn't it. but they're in the same climate as the ones who are making it-it's not all someone else's fault.

Originally Posted by Danzig

we all know things change. i'd hate to see ky turn its back on one of its greatest industries, but i don't know that turfway going out of business would necessarily be a bad thing. it's been on a slow decline for years.
should there be a better business environment? of course. should turfway and others sit and wait for things to change? of course not. you have to deal with what is, not what you want. obviously other tracks are making it-turfway isn't it. but they're in the same climate as the ones who are making it-it's not all someone else's fault.

Nothing will take Turfway's place. You're assuming Churchill or Keeneland wants the winter dates and I just don't see them having any interest whatsoever in running a winter meet at their respected tracks.

So yes it would be a loss. Turfway is surrounded by casinos and there is no way they can compete without offering, at the very least, slots.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

Nothing will take Turfway's place. You're assuming Churchill or Keeneland wants the winter dates and I just don't see them having any interest whatsoever in running a winter meet at their respected tracks.

So yes it would be a loss. Turfway is surrounded by casinos and there is no way they can compete without offering, at the very least, slots.

hmmm. yeah, i can see that issue with dates. i'd have to think someone would benefit.
i just hate to see pols sitting on their hands like they are. turfway has a legit gripe, but they can't just sit and wait and hope for the best.

[Cannon Shell]

I don't thimk that instant racing will generate enough income to justify the investment that would need to be made. KY downs is a different story because they are in a market with no competition and had a facility that was easily and cheaply converted.

Without a year round or semi-year round circuit the racing in KY overall will continue to erode. People seem to forget that with the less racing that everyone is so hot to try out there still needs to be a place to train the horses and a place for them to run. It isnt like you can put them in a freezer and thaw them out when the racing starts back up again. And the cheaper horses that race in the winter are the ones that least can afford to not race for any length of time. IF Turfway were to close it isnt like the world would end but it would make CD and Kee into complete commuter tracks as trainers would ship out as soon as those meets ended and would be more selective with what horses they sent. In other word as NYRA raises the min claiming price more cheap horses would wind up at KY tracks which isnt going to produce better quality racing.