Jon
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Post by Jon on Jun 29, 2014 23:09:37 GMT -5
Thought we had the "unprecedented day of racing? LOL Let's hope they stock enough food, have enough trash bags, hire some traffic cops and alert the LIRR! Kay's pat quotes are getting more and more annoying. He is an idiot! The best they can do for military personnel is free admission? Pretty damned cheap. At least throw in a few drinks! Belmont Park hosts the first ever Stars & Stripes Day By Nailah Ellis Timberlake NYRA  Belmont Park will host its inaugural Stars & Stripes Day celebrating Independence Day on Saturday, July 5. The day will kick with a mystery mutuel voucher giveaway for all visiting fans, live music and activities in the backyard, and a food truck festival. The holiday weekend extravaganza will include a pair of seven-figure contests: the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby Invitational and the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks Invitational. Both the Belmont Derby and Belmont Oaks are 1 ¼-mile turf races for 3-year-olds, with the Oaks restricted to fillies. Also on the July 5 card are the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap, the Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship and the Grade 2, $200,000 Dwyer. The Suburban Handicap will be contested at the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles for the first time since 2009. "As we celebrate our nation's independence, we're excited to offer an unprecedented day of racing on Stars & Stripes Day," said Chris Kay, President and CEO of The New York Racing Association, Inc. "We also take this time to honor members of the armed forces serving at home and abroad and thank them for their service." The New York Racing Association Inc. is honoring the brave men and women who serve by extending free admission to all members of the U.S. military - active and retired - who show their Military I.D. at the admissions gate. A mystery mutuel voucher Giveaway will also take place during Stars & Stripes Day. Fans who register here by 5pm on July 3 will receive a coupon via email to redeem their voucher on July 5 at Belmont Park or Aqueduct Race Track. Vouchers are worth $5, $10, $20, $50 or $100 with four lucky fans receiving a voucher worth $1,776 in commemoration of the year in which the Declaration of Independence was signed. In addition to the voucher giveaway, the first 12,000 fans will receive a Belmont Stars & Stripes T-shirt. The Belmont Backyard will host a variety of family friendly activities such as a petting zoo, pony rides, face painters, karaoke, an inflatable rock wall and a variety of carnival booths. In addition to all of the backyard festivities, Belmont will host a Food Truck Festival with more than 20 participating trucks including: Gorilla Cheese NYC , Papaya King, Hibachi Heaven, Pizza on Wheels, Andy's Italian Ices NYC & Espresso Bar, Big D's Grub Truck, Carl's Steaks, El Paso, Hot Dawg Truck, Mr. Smith's Seafood and More 2, Mike n' Willies and Crepes Truck, Mr. Nice Guy, Mac Truck, Dub Pies and Emily's Apple Puffs. The Belmont spring/summer meet runs through July 13. Live racing is generally conducted Wednesday through Sunday. Belmont Park is located at 2150 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont N.Y. 11003. For more information, visit here. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2014 11:46:20 GMT -5
You know, all we hear is "get new fans, promote racing, yadda yadda yadda" So, they do something to promote racing on a national holiday and the bashing starts.
FYI, it is ILLEGAL in New York for an entity like Belmont Park to give away free drinks!!!!
What did NYRA under the "good ol' boy" group of directors do for the military on ANY holiday? Nothing.
Unfortunately it's just too unpalatable to accept that NYRA has turned things around in the last year and made their tracks more enjoyable to visit.
By the way, those negative things that everyone around her harped about after the Belmont Stakes turned out, for the most part, to be isolated incidents. Read some articles about what happened at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. Similar types of incidents. The only thing that DIDN'T happen at those two races were the "on track" parking issues because neither has enough parking to handle the crowds. The traffic and parking issues did happen but they weren't reported on because they happened off-site.
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Post by byanose13 on Jun 30, 2014 14:40:39 GMT -5
If you think traffic is bad @ the Derby go to a race at the KMS. I went to the Quaker State 400 and it was a nightmare getting out of that place, I can't imagine what it was like before they "fixed it".
As far as parking for the Derby, Churchill works with the KFEC,Papa John's Stadium and the local transit(TARC)to try and make getting to and from easier(although you still pay to park and ride at any of those venues)but I think it is 5 or 10 dollars round trip so that's not too bad.
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Post by Evelyn on Jun 30, 2014 22:10:38 GMT -5
Isolated? No way the LIRR was an isolated incident. Nor the traffic jams. Really George, how can stand the crap that comes out of Kay's mouth? He is completely clueless! He uses the same stock phrases over and over and over. No drinks? - then give them a voucher or some sort of giveaway. I think the military always got free admission on the 4th.
You're wrong about Pimlico's parking. They have huge lots for parking and run a shuttle service from them to the track if one doesn't want to walk. They also have a lot of ground they bought for the never happening casino.I heard they also run a shuttle service to the light rail system.
Why do you have to bash other tracks to stand up for NY? I love NY and I love NY racing. However, it's mind boggling though how any racing fan can praise this pathetic NYRA however!
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lt1
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Post by lt1 on Jul 1, 2014 10:01:03 GMT -5
Alan when will you give up defending NYRA. Isolated incidents on Belmont. Pure bs NYRA was totally unprepared. You have been to the Belmont Stakes. When do most people leave the track. Try right after the race. As for the new promotion Stars and Stripes Day can you not see the greed on NYRAS part. If you go on July3rd and register you get a mystery voucher for the 5th. In the old days those voucher were mailed out and you only had to go once to get that big $2 free betting voucher. Now you have to go 2 days.Why not give them out to paying admission on each day of the holiday weekend. Service personnel would get one also. Really looking out for the fans. Can you say rip off. As for free admission for service folks that's nice but how many of them do you ever see at a race track. Most attend MLB games on the 4th. All NYRA is giving away is ice in the winter time.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2014 10:25:57 GMT -5
Isolated? No way the LIRR was an isolated incident. Nor the traffic jams. Really George, how can stand the crap that comes out of Kay's mouth? He is completely clueless! He uses the same stock phrases over and over and over. No drinks? - then give them a voucher or some sort of giveaway. I think the military always got free admission on the 4th. You're wrong about Pimlico's parking. They have huge lots for parking and run a shuttle service from them to the track if one doesn't want to walk. They also have a lot of ground they bought for the never happening casino.I heard they also run a shuttle service to the light rail system. Why do you have to bash other tracks to stand up for NY? I love NY and I love NY racing. However, it's mind boggling though how any racing fan can praise this pathetic NYRA however! I wasn't bashing other tracks - I was pointing out that anytime you have 100,000 people showing up at an event (not only horse races) you have logistical problems. Many of the "horrors" were either isolated incidents or gross exaggeratins. The "running out of food" stuff WAS isolated and limited to hot dog and refreshment stands. One of the original articles cited claimed that the concrete and steel railroad station was "rickety" (even though NYRA doesn't own the train station) - total crap. The stories about 20,000 people stranded at the train station was a gross exaggeration - I doubt that 20,000 people in total took the LIRR to Belmont. And Belmont Park has dozens of shuttle buses to and from the parking lots, too. It's funny, 100,000 people went to Belmont Park and most arrived within an hour of each other and there were no reported problems getting in. Yet the same 100,000 people who left sporadically over a few hours after the Belmont Stakes (the last race went off almost two hours after the Belmont) had problems leaving? How is that possible? Could it possibly be disgruntled losers and some a bit inebriated? Sure, it wasn't an ideal situation, but I've been to about 20 Belmont Stakes, with the highest attendance about 80,000. It was never easy getting out of the neighborhood. My sister lived in Elmont (left about 3 months ago) and my brother lives in Franklin Square one block off Hempstead Turnpike. For years, before the huge decline in attendance, their neighborhoods were clogged on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. They planned their summer weekends around the Belmont Park traffic. Aside from racetracks - I know you guys pooh poohed the Super Bowl, but the same problems that were reported at Belmont Park also occurred at the Super Bowl - fans stranded for hours because of too few trains and buses, reserved parking tickets sold for parking spaces that didn't exist, etc. At the Kentucky Derby, they sold tickets to buffets at around $60 or $70 each and they ran out of food!! What? That damned Chris Kay! But, if people have a grudge against this NYRA board, they'll find things to gripe about. Remember, some of you were bitching about the job they were doing just days after they were appointed, even before they did anything. Shall we get into the several scandals and criminal cases against the "racing people" NYRA boards over the years? Finally, as much as you guys complain, can you come up with tracks that are run more smoothly with the quality of racing at Belmont or Saratoga, or even Aqueduct for that matter? Of course, one has to actually go TO a track to see how they're run first hand. |
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lt1
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Post by lt1 on Jul 1, 2014 19:01:09 GMT -5
Alan I know 3 groups of people who all took 3hrs to get out of the track. That sir is not bs but fact. For the record 3 years ago when there were only 60000 it took me 1hr and 45 min to get out. And people didn't leave in drips and drabs. The majority left right after the Belmont like they do every year. I gave a nine step plan in another thread about the Belmont. A crowd of 100000 is not the biggest problem to handle with proper planning. Your answer to the complaints about NYRA are pure nonsense and typical of those in charge who refuse to admit failure and accept the responsibility for it. It's always someone else who is at fault.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 8:40:21 GMT -5
I'm not going to argue this any more - you guys act like the Belmont Stakes Day is the only day of the year in New York like the Kentucky Derby and Preakness are for Kentucky and Maryland.
Piss and moan as much as you want here, you're not going to change anything about NYRA, and it will continue to attract about 20% of every wagering dollar in the US every year.
When I was younger, I was told by teachers and later bosses at my job - if you don't like something you have to do something to change it. No one here is going to change anything about NYRA, and they'll continue to be what they are - overall the most successful racing operation (yes, remember, RACING!) in the country.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2014 14:35:34 GMT -5
Alan I know 3 groups of people who all took 3hrs to get out of the track. That sir is not bs but fact. For the record 3 years ago when there were only 60000 it took me 1hr and 45 min to get out. And people didn't leave in drips and drabs. The majority left right after the Belmont like they do every year. I gave a nine step plan in another thread about the Belmont. A crowd of 100000 is not the biggest problem to handle with proper planning. Your answer to the complaints about NYRA are pure nonsense and typical of those in charge who refuse to admit failure and accept the responsibility for it. It's always someone else who is at fault. So, let's do some simple math. Back three years ago (BEFORE this ogre-ish NYRA board), they had 60,000 people and it took you an hour and 45 minutes (105 minutes) to get out. Just extrapolating that time to the crowd this year, 100,000, then it would take 2 hours 55 minutes for 100,000 people to get out of the parking lots. Hmmm, not too far from the published reports of three hours! For the record, that's 100,000/60,000 X 105 (2014 crowd divided by the 2011 crowd and then multiplied by 105 minutes) Is this debate now over? |
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