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Post by byanose13 on Jun 4, 2017 8:11:57 GMT -5
That's what Finest City did in the Beholder Stakes yesterday after 2 horses scratched out leaving 3 to run in a GRADE 1 race at SANTA ANITA!! Before the hollering and moaning starts, this is not about east and west but about how can tracks run these races is a joke. Belmont Park does it and I am sure my hometown track,Churchill, has done it as have numerous others. I don't know what the answer is but these 3 and 4 horse fields would be laughable if it wasn't so sad that you can't get more than 3 horses to run in a $400,000 dollar G1 at a major track in the spring/summer when there isn't really anything going on except the Belmont Stakes.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 4, 2017 12:18:41 GMT -5
Unfortunately Santa Anita (and Southern California) is isolated from the rest of American racing world - more than a thousand miles from any quality track. No one cares to ship all the way out there to run when there are more opportunities at other, closer tracks.
Plus when you have trainers clogging the stalls with 40-50 horses and not running them, it makes it more difficult for trainers who want to move their horses out there.
For example, Shirreffs has dozens of horses at Santa Anita, yet he's only had 29 starters since the beginning of the year. Most tracks would never let a trainer get away with that. They'd say essentially "run or get off the grounds".
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Jun 4, 2017 13:33:48 GMT -5
I agree with you nose. the answer is just cancel the F*ing race if you don't get at least 6 entrants. they should just have a backup race at all times they can switch out up to 24 hrs. before post. if you scratch for any reason other then a vet scratch after that time limit then you get a SUBSTANTIAL fine. not $1000. make it something that is going to hurt.
another problem is that we are all still living in the past as far as these purses go. we think of 400k like the old days when that was a huge payday, but the fact is that with bloated purses and these casinos it just isn't anymore. theres a million dollor race every other weekend and most of these top horses only run 4-5 times a year now. missing a 400k race isn't a big deal for G1 horses. the fact is it is the casinos and the big purses that have and are ruining racing.
on a side note, has anyone seen what is going on at Hialeah this year? another example of casino money at work.
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Nostradamus
Active Member
man man your time is sand, I am the eyes of Nostradamus all your ways are known to me.
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Post by Nostradamus on Jun 4, 2017 14:52:06 GMT -5
Wiz should have been entered in that race. After all he said he could beat Gormley to a buffet. We could even put a buffet table at the finish line. lol.
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cait
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Post by cait on Jun 4, 2017 15:24:50 GMT -5
4 days notice - right thing to do - since sal's there from magna, maybe he'll suggest a shopping mall!
Santa Anita Cancels Thursday Card Due To Lack Of Entries (Again)
Paulick
For the second time in six weeks Santa Anita Park has canceled an entire card of racing due to insufficient entries. There will be no racing at Santa Anita this Thursday, June 9.
Racing is scheduled to resume on Friday.
“After looking at entries for Thursday, we decided it was in the best interest of our customers to put on three solid race cards, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” said Joe Morris, The Stronach Group's Senior Vice-President of West Coast Operations.“The races from Thursday that attracted enough entries will be added over those three days to give horsemen some additional racing opportunities.”
Thursday racing at Santa Anita was also cancelled on April 27, and the track held races on Thursday, June 1 to make up for that cancellation.
While rare, races at Santa Anita have been cancelled for lack of entries in the past. In the spring-summer meeting of 2010-2011, the final three Wednesdays of the meeting had to be canceled due to insufficient entries.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 4, 2017 17:02:51 GMT -5
The pathetic thing is that when the Graded Stakes Committee meets in the fall they'll still keep this race a Grade 1, violating their so-called "rules".
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Jun 4, 2017 23:58:51 GMT -5
WELL IT DID DRAW 2 OF THE TOP 5 OR SO OLDER MARES IN TRAINING RIGHT NOW. THE QUALITY WAS THERE, JUST NO QUANTITY. LIKE I HAVE SAID BEFORE, RACING IS DEAD THANKS TO CASINOS AND SIMULCASTING. DOESNT MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 5, 2017 8:25:18 GMT -5
WELL IT DID DRAW 2 OF THE TOP 5 OR SO OLDER MARES IN TRAINING RIGHT NOW. THE QUALITY WAS THERE, JUST NO QUANTITY. LIKE I HAVE SAID BEFORE, RACING IS DEAD THANKS TO CASINOS AND SIMULCASTING. DOESNT MATTER WHERE YOU ARE. Back in the 1970s when John Lindsay lobbied (successfully) for the first off track betting system in the country, NYRA campaigned against it claiming that it would wind up converting their race tracks to "racing studios" with virtually no live attendance. In fact, they were quasi-successful with their criticism and written into the law was a provision for OTB to pay NYRA for any drop in attendance roughly equivalent to the admission fee. That didn't last long though. OTB didn't ruin race track attendance as much as expected, it was simulcasting and casinos, as you say. Racing is becoming a localized industry with the best tracks doing reasonably well and the marginal tracks doing poorly or disappearing. Some day soon racing will be concentrated in a few areas - primarily New York, Maryland, Kentucky, Florida, possibly Chicago if their legislators get their heads out of their butts, Louisiana/Arkansas, and Southern California again if their legislators wake up. |
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Jun 5, 2017 13:23:34 GMT -5
yeah 30 years ago my dad nailed it. he said that eventually there would be 3 or 4 tracks and the same horses running week after week. that's where it is going. there will be a track in ca., ny, florida, Kentucky, and maybe like one or two other states. no more multiple tracks in the same areas.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 5, 2017 19:26:49 GMT -5
wiz, I don't pay much attention to Florida racing anymore, but are you referring to the fact that Hialeah is running two "cards" a day for 18 days instead of 36 days?
Most of the crap going on in Florida is the fault of their legislature who basically lets the tracks do anything they want. That and the fact that Stronach has bullied everyone down there to get what he wants, the result being a horrible racetrack with a declining quality of racing at both the main track and the ridiculous "Gulfstream Park West".
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Jun 5, 2017 22:16:12 GMT -5
YEAH DOUBLE CARDS THAT ARE MOT SANCTIONED BY ANYONE. THEY ARE RUNNING MATCH RACES WITH NO WAGERING AND THE ENTRANTS ARE HAND PICKED BY THE RACING SECRETARY.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 6, 2017 5:12:31 GMT -5
That explains why I couldn't find entries or results anywhere, not that I'd bet on them anyway.
I read somewhere that they're also hooking up with the Gretna people, who tried a few years ago to run a few days of barrel races in order to qualify for a casino. Like I said, it's all the fault of the Florida legislature, they created the mess that Florida racing is in now. Florida racing has been screwed up for decades, and it's only gotten worse since Stronach took over Gulfstream Park.
And in a few weeks Tampa Bay Downs will be running two days so they can keep their card room open year-round. Ridiculous.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 6, 2017 9:38:32 GMT -5
Here's more about Hialeah's "racing", what a farce. I guess there's no betting on the races. www.horseracingfla.com/2017/06/hialeah-opens-qh-season-match-races.htmlHialeah Opens QH Season with Match Races
Jim Freer June 1, 2017
Hialeah Park opened its quarter horse race meet on Wednesday with match races and in front of a sparse audience that one spectator said was less than a dozen for the first race. According to our colleague Sheldon Glass who was at Hialeah, the program listed the names of the jockeys but not of the horses. The program did not list past performances. As shown in the photo on the home page (by Sheldon Glass), the TV monitors at the track showed names of horses. We are attempting to confirm reports that several horses ran in multiple races on Wednesday. The horses lined up in a makeshift starting gate with no doors, and the jockeys were given a verbal “go” command for races of 110 yards. Based on one day, those who expected a “sham” at the historic track in Hialeah, Fla., apparently have seen one. Later this week, we will have additional coverage of the racing and of related developments at Hialeah. From 2009 to 2016, Hialeah had traditional quarter horse racing. John Brunetti Jr., Hialeah’s president, last week told us that the track is making the change to cut its costs of racing. What Hialeah is doing in racing complies with the minimum requirements of state laws and regulations for it to keep its casino and card room. Hialeah is conducting it meet under a purse agreement with the South Florida Quarter Horse Association. Several of that group’s founders also are part of the horsemen’s group at Gretna Racing in the Panhandle town of Gretna, Fla. Hialeah is following Gretna’s model of low-cost racing. Until this year, Hialeah’s purse agreement was with the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association. Hialeah will have racing Wednesdays through Sundays from May 31 until June 25. There will be two race cards each day, both with eight races. and first post times of 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. |
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george
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Post by george on Jun 6, 2017 9:43:16 GMT -5
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qhwizard
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aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Jun 7, 2017 0:31:18 GMT -5
yeah, all the stuff I already knew. it sickening. this is what happens when you bet tracks with bloated purses because of casino money people.
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george
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Post by george on Jun 7, 2017 9:07:40 GMT -5
No, it's not as simple as that. It's only like that in states that don't care and have ridiculous laws and regulations regarding racing and casinos.
Casinos have saved tracks in states like West Virginia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Minnesota, but those states have strong regulations with respect to what "racing" is. Florida is a joke, and has been a joke for decades even before casinos ever showed up.
Rhode Island is another state with ludicrous laws. Although it wasn't horse racing (dog racing and Jai Alai), the state legislature legalized slot machines in the one dog track and Jai Alai fronton in the state, on the premise that they were already licensed to conduct gambling. After a few years, both complained to the legislature that the costs of their races and games were too high, so the legislature changed the law. The track and fronton are gone, the casinos remain.
In a way it's a shame that the licensing requirements in New York were so strict. That delayed the construction of the Aqueduct casino for almost ten years and ultimately put NYRA on the brink of extinction. Now that the casino has been running for a few years, NYRA has made unbelievable improvements in their tracks (I don't agree with all the "modernization" at Saratoga, but that's a different story) and they're stronger than ever. I know some will criticize the quality of the racing, but that's a result of the overall horse population in the US, not the tracks and purses available. They still have the best overall racing day to day in the US.
The bottom line lots of tracks that are still around wouldn't be without their casinos.
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qhwizard
Active Member
aqueduct sucks, belmont sucks, saratoga sucks, and everything in MD. sucks. wespecially timonium!!
Posts: 765
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Post by qhwizard on Jun 8, 2017 3:02:07 GMT -5
man I'm sorry, but if a track cant survive on its own it doesn't deserve to be open. selling your soul to the devil for a quick fix now doesn't work and it never will. plain and simple, some of these tracks need to disappear regardless of what nostalgia and memories we have for them. BUT that doesn't mean all of them should, which is what is going to end up happening if they continue to take casino money to survive. they are going to take them all down with the ship.
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