Goodbye 2009
Perhaps you were my favorite racing year so far (2006 - 2009)…. on to 2010!
Posted by dana on Dec 31 2009
Filed Under: 2009, Jason Moran, Farewell, Racing
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A Word on Mismanagement
Stardom Bound returning from an 8 month layoff in a G1 on a new surface, nice! (Jason Moran)
Ok, four… Pyro and Stardom Bound.
Thanks for the memories, I still love ya!
Pyro - 2008 Risen Star:
Pyro - 2008 Louisana Derby:
Pyro - 2009 Forego:
Stardom Bound - 2008 Del Mar Debutante:
Stardom Bound - 2008 Oak Leaf:
Stardom Bound - 2008 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies:
Stardom Bound - 2009 Las Virgines:
Stardom Bound - 2009 Santa Anita Oaks:
Posted by dana on Nov 28 2009
Filed Under: 2009, Stardom Bound, Risen Star, Del Mar, Jason Moran, Fairgrounds, Race Replay, YouTube, Santa Anita, Pyro, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...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
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Belmont Attendance / Handle Follow-up
Rachel beginning to pull away (Jason Moran)
Robert at They’re in the Gate already posted about this but in my previous post on the matter, Rachel Raises Attendance AND Handle, I stated that I would follow-up with a comparison of this Saturday, so what the heck!
Saturday June 27th, 2009:
Belmont Park Attendance: 13,352
On Track Mutuel Pool: $1,357,534
ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,657,212
ISW Mutuel Pool: $8,361,822
Saturday July 4th, 2009:
Belmont Park Attendance: 7,667
On Track Mutuel Pool: $1,378,296
ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,969,277
ISW Mutuel Pool: $9,564,986
Attendance down: 5,685 / 42%
On Track Handle up: $20,762 / 1.5%
ITW up: $312,065 / 12%
ISW up: $1,203,164 / 14%
Robert already pointed a couple of things, such as last Saturday had not only 1 stakes race vs. 3 on this Saturday’s card, but 3 that were a lot more wide open from a gambling perceptive than the Mother Goose. This Saturday also had an additional race.
One interesting uptick was that the bump in the Intra-State wagering. I’m wondering if this had anything to do with Sweetnorthernsaint at Finger Lakes? While I couldn’t scare up attendance figures, according to the charts from DRF, handle from last Saturday was $596,897 while handle from this Saturday was $623,518, an increase of 4.5%. Probably not a direct cause but perhaps a contributing cause.
Now that I feel somewhat committed to the quest to find a true apples to apples comparison, I’m going to do this (hopefully only) one more time. The next three Saturday’s at Belmont are similar in conditions to Mother Goose day, one featured stakes race on the card and no national holiday. Let’s hope one (if not all) of them has spectacular weather so we can get a fair gauge of the impact of a marquee star.
Posted by dana on Jul 05 2009
Filed Under: Jason Moran, 2009, Rachel Alexandra, Handle, Industry, NYRA, Wagering, Belmont, Marketing, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Hello
Hello Broadway, up close and personal at Saratoga (Jason Moran)
I’m currently having the blogging equivalent of a turn out… minus the grazing and relaxation.
In the meantime I thought you might enjoy this stunning shot of Derby contender Hello Broadway. Speaking of the Derby, smart people noticed an interesting allowance winner today at Gulfstream.
From recent Derby seasons gone by, Atoned is set to make his turf debut this Saturday, Georgie Boy stretches out a bit, King of the Roxy comes out of retirement, Song of Navarone sets a track record, Elysium Field wins his 4yo debut in the 7th at Santa Anita, Trust N Dustan is entered in the Attijari Al Islami Trophy at Nad Al Sheba and Curlin might be busier than ever (comments not safe for work, kind of). Program note for Nad Al Sheba, there’s also a race named Al Dana Wealth Management, I’m not the sponsor.
From Derby seasons yet to come, it’s never to early to start making those lists!
One of my favorite content features from the 2007 Derby that was mysteriously missing in 2008 is back! Podcasts. Generally I’m not a podcast person, but I love race replays as podcasts, and if you do too you’re in luck! Of course they have all their of video content there if you’re interested, or you can just pick and choose as you like.
And finally for Sutherland and Stra watch. Today at Santa Anita Kyla Stra didn’t have any mounts while Chantal Sutherland had 2 mounts. Sutherland got 4th on Dailies in the first race and won on on White Lace Jimmy in the 8th. Congrats to her and better luck to Stra on picking up mounts!
Posted by dana on Feb 19 2009
Filed Under: Santa Anita, Jason Moran, 2009, Kayla Stra, Chantal Sutherland, Derby Trail, Breeding, Retirement, Curlin, Racing
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