How's your local track doing?

Question

Just read that Colonial Downs , the only horse racing track in Virginia, is up for sale, along with nine state OTB parlors. The decision was made because of poor attendance and subsequent financial losses . Another one bites the dust! I enjoy an occasional day at the track, or OTB, and find this quite upsetting .

How's your local track holding up?

Answer 1

gulfstream park is doing great. what i like best about it is that before the great horses become champions, they run at gulfstream. such as curlin. and barbaro.

Answer 2

I'm in the UK, there are a number of courses within a 30 mile zone from me, namely Pontefract, Wetherby, Ripon, Catterick and York. On the days I have attended the courses have always been packed out even when the weather has been less than kind. I like to think that the one main factor to draw a crowd has to be the quality of entrants in a race, I have watched American racing from the likes of Philly, races with a long odds on shot leading from beginning to end, how can a punter be expected to travel any sort of distance to watch a race like that without a realistic chance of at least getting the 'Gas' money or entrance fees back?

Don,t get me wrong Im not knocking American racing because I know that there are some excellent meetings over there, but for me it has to be quality over quantity.

Answer 3

in so. cal we have Santa Anita, Hollywood, Delmar, and

fairplex, and for night racing we have los alamitos...

if Santa Anita can fix their main track problems, all should

go well!!!!

Answer 4

I live near Hot Springs home of Oaklawn Park I would say it does well on Derby week but the rest of the time its slow and they just passed slots here but the religious people  have it tied up in court. Of course they run the same old stock from Louisiana and  Texas    That's it from here

Answer 5

Well, we have three close ( all harness).

Hazel Park, Windsor Raceway, and Northville Downs.

They are all doing well. I love going on Friday nights because they have dollar night. $2 beer, $1 hot dogs, popcorn, soda, wagering, and programs.

We are also going to be getting a Thoroughbred track that should open in July. I am so excited. Michigan is making it's comeback!! Pinnacle Race Course.

Answer 6

Harness track at York in the UK needs closing down because it is so rubbish.  5 races per meeting with £200 prize money.  Prize money only going down to 3rd place.  The track is to hard for the horse legs AND it is riddled with ringworm.  Prefer the grass tracks personally.  Also the Thoroghbred racetrack at Musselburgh in Scotland that holds one 2 day harness meeting a year is riddled with ringworm.  Our horse caught ringworm from there.  Just got rid of it and took him to York and it flared up again but even worse.  I think it is disgusting the way that nothing is ever cleaned at the tracks.

Answer 7

Harness race track Tioga Downs, near Bingamton, NY, has threaten to close if the New York state legislature doesn't allow the track to keep more of the profits from the slots.

The racino has incredible attendance and it would be a shame for the place to close.

Answer 8

Not so hot.  I live near Cleveland Ohio so we have both Thistledown and Northfield Park.  Attendance is just awful there.  We went to Thistledown for the Ohio Derby in June... it's the only graded stakes race in Ohio... it brought one Kentucky Derby horse and a group of graded stakes horses... they only come once a year and there was hardly anyone there to see the race.  They've tried repeatedly to get slot machines but the idiots in Ohio think they're too moral to allow gambling to exist in their state.  I'm pretty sure both Thistledown and Northfield are for sale too.  It's pretty depressing.

Answer 9

The local track here in the Tampa metro market is doing well because since George Steinbrenner (Yankees owner lives in Tampa) sold out, he was too pre-occupied with the Yankees, the new owners upgraded a natural opportunity.   The thoroughbreds head south in the winter, this alone presents an opportunity, during cold weather months.  The track was updated Vegas like, so you could bet and watch almost any simultaneous racing going on around the country.  They just added poker, and have turned the situation which was deteriorating from inattention, to acceptable attendance in season, a higher purse amount (though still not matching Hialeah, Calder, + forgot the other Miami track) and a better quality of horses coming here Nov. thru May.  Casino gambling is a possibility, but Indian interests continue to block efforts from any other parties to create casino gambling in Florida.  Lucky thing for Nevada, and Atlantic City, if casino gambling legalized in Florida, there are so many additional attractions here, Disneyland, beautiful beaches for winter use, that they would surely put a big dent in Nevada, and Atlantic City's dominance.  All efforts, again luckily for those of you in Vegas, and A.C. have been blocked, but horse racing remains vibrant, without a off track betting alternative, live attendance numbers, are doing well and will continue to do well, providing the looming "NASTY" word remains out of all economic situations, i.e. "recession", which will surely end tracks that are doing marginal business now unless supported by casino, or off track betting.

Answer 10

I'm from Lexington, Ky. so we have several within 100 miles . Keeneland, Church Hill Downs, Turfway, Riverdowns (CIncy, oh) Red Mile (harness racing)... Keeneland only has spring (April) and fall (October ) runs, so those are always great runs Of course at Church Hill that's home of the Kentucky Derby and a beautiful race track. Turfway which is in Northern KY and RIverdowns (another beautiful track on the Ohio river also do well. So I guess in the heart of horseland we do ok. I also live about 10 miles from the Kentucky Horse Park which is home to the Rolex an Equestrian Gaming event and in 2010 it's the home of Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games which is huge..So I guess you could say we live and breath race tracks  and horsing events in our neck of the woods . All horse lovers should definitely take the time to visit Lexington, KY it's worth the trip for any horse lover.

Answer 11

we just got a cosino at my track lol.