Posts from August 2009
Everyone Wants to be Appreciated
NYRA announced a generous fan appreciation / boost attendance on a slow day giveaway called Thousand Dollar Thursday. On Thousand Dollar Thursdays there will be 15 $1,000 betting vouchers up for grabs to anyone who shows up to say “thank you” for making Saratoga such a smashing success.
“Thousand Dollar Thursday is our way of extending our appreciation to the finest horseracing fans in the world,” said NYRA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Hal Handel. “Saratoga’s fans have helped to make this year a phenomenal success, despite a challenging economy, and we would like to take this opportunity to reward them with $15,000 worth of wagering on us.”
Beginning at 11 a.m. on the final Thursday of the meet, tickets will be distributed at the admissions booths of Saratoga Race Course and will be available to the public; track admission is not required.
While this makes a great press release and is certainly is an excellent gesture, it just seems to miss the mark on appreciating the folks who actually made the meet a success.
Sure, NYRA is going to make 15% off live handle compared to only 5% (if that) on simulcast/ADW, but that backyard is full of picnickers who might not wager much & bring their own food, yet they can win a $1k voucher & those of us who play remotely can’t? One of the things that makes Saratoga great AND an attraction are the giant payouts and EVERYONE who wagers contributes to that not just anyone who shows up.
Midway through the meet on the on-track handle was up a whopping 12.3% compared to the all sources handle “only” up 4.8% (how many tracks would kill for a 4.8% increase?). As of last week the numbers were still up with on-track being up 3.2% to all sources up 1% but according to a press release sent out today but not yet posted at on their site, the numbers are finally down a little after a horribly rainy week.
Attendance and handle turned fractionally down for the first time during the 2009 Saratoga Race Course meet after two inches of rain Friday night and Saturday lowered attendance on Shadwell Travers Day and forced seven of the weekend’s 11 carded turf races off the turf. Attendance is down 1.6 percent, on-track handle down 1.6 percent, and all-sources handle down 2.8 percent from 2008 totals through Week Five.
While the on-track handle has contributed more to the success of the meet, it’s not like all sources wasn’t up too. Why not make a couple of vouchers available to folks who wager with NYRA Rewards remotely?
I would even argue that the way to make sure people who contributed to the success reap the benefit is to make it only available to NYRA Rewards wagerers regardless of where they’re wagering from. Sure this makes the whole thing more complicated but it keeps John & Jane Layabout who came out once for a hat (and left promptly) from turning up Thursday without even paying admission and getting a big fat voucher. I don’t have a NYRA Rewards account but I might be inclined to open one for a shot at winning a $1k voucher every now and again.
And now for the bigger question, how many of those vouchers are gonna be used on $1000 to win tickets on Rachel come Saturday?
Posted by dana on Aug 31 2009
Filed Under: Workouts, Jason Moran, 2009, Rachel Alexandra, YouTube, NYRA, Wagering, Saratoga, Marketing, Racing
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Comebacks and Other Notables
Summer Bird enjoying a celebratory post Travers carrot from owner Dr. Jayaraman (Sarah K. Andrew)
In addition to the already mentioned inter-generational two-peat, Travers Day 2009 was also a day of come backs and other notables.
Wow. Vineyard Haven might come down but Godolphin is cashing all those supposed clunkers in today!
Indeed, Godolphin owned Sara Louise, Vineyard Haven and Music Note all had fabulous comebacks, but they weren’t alone. Bob Baffert finally got a win on the card with 2yo Bulldogger in the 8th.
It’s also notable that Ian Wilkes got his first Grade 1 win with Capt Candyman Can in the Kings Bishop and Javier Castellano took both turf races, both of which were first time rides for him. Castellano (19) and Johnny V (20) had 3 wins a piece while Prado (19) had 2.
For the most part the meet leaders didn’t fair so well. Dominguez (36), the current leader, only had one win and current #2 Garcia (30) didn’t have any wins, however they’re both still safely ahead of the rest of the gang with Leparoux being the next closest with 23 wins. Linda Rice (14) also didn’t have any wins on the day but Pletcher’s (14) 2 wins bring him neck and neck with the queen. They both have plenty of chances to over take the other today with her 7 entries to his 6, is any wonder they’re the meet leaders?
There’s a reason why I wait until the parade to make my final picks on the first race of a pick 4 or pick 6, and Salve Germania in the Ballston Spa is the perfect example of that reason. I put that crazy, only previously so-so German invader in all of my P4 tickets and she won at 24-1. She was my parade play of the year! Music Note was the only thing that kept me from cashing what would have been the biggest ticket I had ever cashed, and I only have myself to blame to cheaping out and not including her when I had a chance to make a score a like that. On the bright side I had a nice win bet on der crazy invader and the cold exacta as I put her over Rutherienne, My Princess Jess and Captain’s Lover, too bad I didn’t think to key her in a tri as well!
another glimpse of what’s to come for #BC09 re: so-so euros wiping up the turf with our runners
And lastly, a big shout out to Andy Serling on this notable call:
Maybe I’m crazy but I will try to at least get Hold Me Back in the number. I feel like the race could collapse late.
Posted by dana on Aug 30 2009
Filed Under: Sarah K. Andrew, Alan Garcia, Pick 6, Wrap Up, Rutherienne, Travers, Twitter, 2009, Pick 4, Turf, Todd Pletcher, Saratoga, That's Why They Call it Gambling, Ramon Dominguez, Edgar Prado, Come Back, Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...And Just Five Years Later
Congrats to the connections of both Birdstone and Summer Bird on an excellent inter-generational two-peat!
2004 Belmont:
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2004 Travers:
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2009 Belmont:
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2009 Travers:
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Note that The Cliff’s Edge that also ran in 2004 Travers is the sire of Our Edge from the 2009 Travers.
Posted by dana on Aug 29 2009
Filed Under: Racing History, YouTube, 2009, Summer Bird, Travers, 3yo, NYRA, Saratoga, Breeding, Belmont, Race Replay, Belmont Stakes, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...As I Was Saying
Me:
JJ is probably playing a little poker to see if he can get NYRA to sweeten the pot
The Internet:
Mine That Bird had this to say:
And if you’re looking for something else to read about, try Randy Moss’s new blog at DRF!
Posted by dana on Aug 24 2009
Filed Under: Bud Morton, Geldings, 2009, Twitter, Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra, Internet, Sportsmanship, NYRA, Wooo!, 3yo, :), Randy Moss, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...In Fact, He Raises a Good Point
One of the points used to prove that Jess Jackson is not a sportsman is that he stated that he wished the Woodward purse was a bit higher.
Is he being a persnickety rich guy or pointing out a genuine inequity in a purse structure that favors breeding your talented 3yos versus campaigning them at 4? He’s probably being a persnickety rich guy (not that I care, see points 1-3), but this also raises an interesting point.
Who among us has not bemoaned the retirement of a talented 3yo colt bound for the shed? Who among us doesn’t want to see our “stars” (because 3yo colts are the only ones marketed to a mainstream audience) race longer?
Let’s face it, there’s no financial incentive for owners to return their talented 3yo to the track and the purse difference between the $1M Travers or $1M Pennsylvania Derby vs the $500k Woodward couldn’t be a better example.
Our friend Frank at That’s Amore Stables elaborated brilliantly last year:
Consider this: on the same weekend that Big Brown contested the $2 million Kentucky Derby, the richest race at Churchill for four year-olds was the $500,000 Turf Classic.
At Pimlico, older males ran in the $250,000 Pimlico Special while Big Brown was cleaning up in the $1 million Preakness.
And in New York, while Big Brown tries to secure the Triple Crown in the $1 million Belmont, older males will tussle on the turf in the $400,000 Manhattan.
In other words, while Big Brown was running for $4 million in purses, your older horse — call him Old Grey — topped out at $1,150,000. Old Grey was running for less than 30 percent of the purses available to Big Brown.
While JJ is probably playing a little poker to see if he can get NYRA to sweeten the pot, he inadvertently highlights systemic measures in place to support the “bred to be a stallion” phenomena. Now there’s something to complain about!
Posted by dana on Aug 23 2009
Filed Under: 4yo, Industry, Big Brown, 2009, Sportsmanship, 3yo, Breeding, Let Horses Race, Retirement, NYRA, Racing
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