Met Mile, other stakes moved to Belmont Day

[TouchOfGrey]

I'm bummed. I've come to love Met Mile Day. A great day of racing without insane crowds.

[randallscott35]

I like it myself

[Alan07]

Better hope these races get national TV coverage.

[freddymo]

To me it seems a waste but will see if it increases overall handle.

[pyramid]

Doesn't this just make the rest of the Belmont summer meet a Saratoga prep loaded with $100k overnight stakes for features?

[Merlinsky]

Could part of it be a way of shoring up Belmont Stakes Day in the event that we don't have a Triple Crown on the line? The 2012 number was inflated because there was hype from I'll Have Another and it didn't have a chance to deflate since he pulled out relatively last minute. Normally we look at what, 45,000-55,000?

http://www.belmontstakes.com/blog/te...y-the-numbers/
Here are the ones with TCs on the line. Funny to see the disparity between the 70s and the 00s. More people saw Jazil win at Belmont Park than Spectacular Bid (not by a lot but still..). The '93 Belmont brought in 45K.

Here's the Met Mile attendance situation as of 2012: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...-met-mile-card So lemme get this straight, 9-10K for the Met Mile card? Yeah, moving it to a day with 5 to 10 times the attendance isn't the worst thing. If having it on Memorial Day meant it pulled it a lot more, maybe they'd leave it, but it's not. How much overlap is that? Surely most of the Met Mile goers go to the Belmont Stakes? People don't bet on the Met Mile card and put their hands in their pockets on Belmont day do they?

More stupid money will be floating around on Belmont Stakes Day to go on things like the Met Mile. Particularly if they get lucky and there's a Triple Crown possibility. They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't think it'd pay off financially. I'd be willing to bet (no pun intended) that it will.

[ateamstupid]

Obviously it's to increase handle and retain more interest if there's no Triple Crown on the line. It'll probably work in that regard. But tradition matters sometimes and the Met Mile on Memorial Day was one of the few remaining racing fixtures in New York. The festive Memorial Day crowd and the Met's centerpiece status made it the great event it deserved to be. Now it's just another race on a bloated undercard.

[parsixfarms]

I like the idea a lot. Rather than viewing the Met Mile as diminished by being a race on the Belmont Stakes undercard, I'd like to think that one of New York's best races is being enhanced by having it showcased on the biggest day of racing in New York.

From a financial standpoint, last year's Memorial Day handle at Belmont was only $16 million. You would have to think that the increase in handle on Belmont Stakes Day with these changes would more than offset whatever handle is lost on Memorial Day.

I only hope that what is sure to be another increase in ticket prices for Belmont Stakes Day isn't too steep.

[Cannon Shell]

Chris Kay will have a prolific day of trophy presenting