At Kentucky Downs, it's the product
Sept 5, 2014 22:22:51 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Sept 5, 2014 22:22:51 GMT -5
Full fields, lower takeouts - need to check it out. Anyone been there?
At Kentucky Downs, it's the product
By Bill Finley
ESPN
Imagine the perfect racetrack for the modern era. It would have full fields, huge purses, low takeouts and the type of short meet that makes every racing day special for the fans, bettors and horsemen. When it comes to the product that is horse racing, it would be as good as it gets.
That's exactly what they're doing at Kentucky Downs, and it's why this unique racetrack is one of the great success stories in the sport.
The opening-day card this Saturday at Kentucky Downs will feature 10 races, a combined $1,097,000 in purses and, before scratches, the average field size numbers 12.8 horses per race. It will be unquestionably the best betting card in the sport this Saturday, as will, no doubt, the other four days of the meet.
The Kentucky Downs model is the brainchild of a management team that understands what does and does not work in horse racing these days and is committed to delivering the type of racing that horseplayers are demanding. And it's working. Last year, overall handle was up nearly 70 percent.
"I believe it is more and more difficult these days to get the attention of any type of sports fan, especially a horseplayer, because there are so many alternatives out there, from casino gaming to all the forms of entertainment to all the different forms of sports," said Kentucky Downs President and Co-owner Corey Johnsen. "It is helpful to offer the sport on a very high quality level with a low takeout to cut through the clutter and get their attention. I've been seeing this happen the last ten or 20 years. Our goal is to get not only that horseplayer who enjoys the full fields, quality horses and jockeys and a low takeout, but also play on a high level where a sports fan who may be a fringe racing fan enjoys it as well."
Kentucky Downs has always enjoyed the luxuries that come with being a niche track. It was built on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, with the hope that it could become an off-track betting facility catering to the Nashville market. In order to have a simulcasting license it was required to run a short meet and opened in 1990 as the Dueling Grounds and ran steeplechase races only. It switched to flat racing in 1992 and eventually changed its named to Kentucky Downs. The track struggled over most of the ensuing years and only turned a corner when it was allowed to put in Instant Racing machines. The machines proved to be a big success and allowed Kentucky Downs to drastically increase its purses.
With more money available it could have expanded its meet, but Johnsen and his team realized that would only mean a watered down product. Instead, they wanted to make racing at their out-of-the-way racetrack something special.
"Here's what we're trying to do: we want to provide an economic driver for the Kentucky horse industry and on a national basis we want to be a catalyst for change," he said. "And, of course we want to return a fair return for our partners. What I've found is if you can do those first two, the third one takes care of itself because you're running a good sound business that has a sensible long-term approach to the issues facing racing."
Normally, horsemen's groups cringe whenever someone in racetrack management talks about cutting racing dates or short meets but Kentucky horsemen seem to know a good thing when they see it. Kentucky Downs is not part of the main Kentucky circuit, but an ancillary track that runs the same time as Churchill Downs does. That means horsemen get the best of both, a more traditional racetrack in Churchill that has a significantly long meet with decent purses and the added opportunity of running for huge pots five days a year at Kentucky Downs.
Yet, Churchill faces the same problem that basically every conventional track faces -- finding enough horses to create a decent racing product. With its short meet, which is turf racing only, and its purses that's never going to be a problem for Kentucky Downs.
"We would actually like to run a few more days because we understand that the Kentucky racing and breeding industries need racing opportunities," Johnsen said. "But for us at some point it becomes counterproductive. We have to look at the foal crop and we have to adjust as an industry and adjust our racing days to match that foal crop. The fact we've had our heads in the sand these last five years has hurt our product across the board. If we send the message that more is not always better in today's environment then that's good for the industry."
Horse racing's problems aren't that hard to figure out. Too often, racetracks give the customer lousy racing; and it is over-priced because of the excessive takeout levels involved with the sport. Whether its horse racing, widgets or any other consumer product you're not going to ever be successful unless you have a good product and sell it at a reasonable price.
Kentucky Downs figured that out, which is why Saturday's card there is spectacular and why more and more horseplayers are choosing Kentucky Downs.
The takeout on exactas at Kentucky Downs is 18.25 percent, the lowest in the sport. The
At Kentucky Downs, it's the product
By Bill Finley
ESPN
Imagine the perfect racetrack for the modern era. It would have full fields, huge purses, low takeouts and the type of short meet that makes every racing day special for the fans, bettors and horsemen. When it comes to the product that is horse racing, it would be as good as it gets.
That's exactly what they're doing at Kentucky Downs, and it's why this unique racetrack is one of the great success stories in the sport.
The opening-day card this Saturday at Kentucky Downs will feature 10 races, a combined $1,097,000 in purses and, before scratches, the average field size numbers 12.8 horses per race. It will be unquestionably the best betting card in the sport this Saturday, as will, no doubt, the other four days of the meet.
The Kentucky Downs model is the brainchild of a management team that understands what does and does not work in horse racing these days and is committed to delivering the type of racing that horseplayers are demanding. And it's working. Last year, overall handle was up nearly 70 percent.
"I believe it is more and more difficult these days to get the attention of any type of sports fan, especially a horseplayer, because there are so many alternatives out there, from casino gaming to all the forms of entertainment to all the different forms of sports," said Kentucky Downs President and Co-owner Corey Johnsen. "It is helpful to offer the sport on a very high quality level with a low takeout to cut through the clutter and get their attention. I've been seeing this happen the last ten or 20 years. Our goal is to get not only that horseplayer who enjoys the full fields, quality horses and jockeys and a low takeout, but also play on a high level where a sports fan who may be a fringe racing fan enjoys it as well."
Kentucky Downs has always enjoyed the luxuries that come with being a niche track. It was built on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, with the hope that it could become an off-track betting facility catering to the Nashville market. In order to have a simulcasting license it was required to run a short meet and opened in 1990 as the Dueling Grounds and ran steeplechase races only. It switched to flat racing in 1992 and eventually changed its named to Kentucky Downs. The track struggled over most of the ensuing years and only turned a corner when it was allowed to put in Instant Racing machines. The machines proved to be a big success and allowed Kentucky Downs to drastically increase its purses.
With more money available it could have expanded its meet, but Johnsen and his team realized that would only mean a watered down product. Instead, they wanted to make racing at their out-of-the-way racetrack something special.
"Here's what we're trying to do: we want to provide an economic driver for the Kentucky horse industry and on a national basis we want to be a catalyst for change," he said. "And, of course we want to return a fair return for our partners. What I've found is if you can do those first two, the third one takes care of itself because you're running a good sound business that has a sensible long-term approach to the issues facing racing."
Normally, horsemen's groups cringe whenever someone in racetrack management talks about cutting racing dates or short meets but Kentucky horsemen seem to know a good thing when they see it. Kentucky Downs is not part of the main Kentucky circuit, but an ancillary track that runs the same time as Churchill Downs does. That means horsemen get the best of both, a more traditional racetrack in Churchill that has a significantly long meet with decent purses and the added opportunity of running for huge pots five days a year at Kentucky Downs.
Yet, Churchill faces the same problem that basically every conventional track faces -- finding enough horses to create a decent racing product. With its short meet, which is turf racing only, and its purses that's never going to be a problem for Kentucky Downs.
"We would actually like to run a few more days because we understand that the Kentucky racing and breeding industries need racing opportunities," Johnsen said. "But for us at some point it becomes counterproductive. We have to look at the foal crop and we have to adjust as an industry and adjust our racing days to match that foal crop. The fact we've had our heads in the sand these last five years has hurt our product across the board. If we send the message that more is not always better in today's environment then that's good for the industry."
Horse racing's problems aren't that hard to figure out. Too often, racetracks give the customer lousy racing; and it is over-priced because of the excessive takeout levels involved with the sport. Whether its horse racing, widgets or any other consumer product you're not going to ever be successful unless you have a good product and sell it at a reasonable price.
Kentucky Downs figured that out, which is why Saturday's card there is spectacular and why more and more horseplayers are choosing Kentucky Downs.
The takeout on exactas at Kentucky Downs is 18.25 percent, the lowest in the sport. The