The Rock Turns 100
Rockingham Park opened for its 100th season on Saturday in front of a crowd of 4,185. Driver Mike MacDonald started off the year with a bang, winning five races, including the day’s feature with Whosurboy, who set a track record of 1:49 in the one mile Invitational Pace. The New Hampshire track, which opened in 1906 with a 21-day thoroughbred meet, will run a 60-day harness meet this year.
Related: “Happy 100th, Rockingham Park. May you enjoy as many more birthdays as time and the economy allows, and may racing fans come to the track this summer to take part in your celebration.”
In other New England racing news: Mom’s Command, jockey Carl Gambardella, and late Rockingham owner Lou Smith will be inducted into the New England Turf Writers’ Association Hall of Fame this summer.
Attendance Is So Passé
“We’re moving toward becoming a handle-driven track rather than an attendance-driven one,” said outgoing Gulfstream president Scott Savin, contrasting the current mindset with the pre-construction period when free weekend concerts drew crowds of nearly 30,000. “We think you’re better off taking good care of 12,000 people rather than struggling to deal with 25,000.”
Keeneland Approves Polytrack
As expected, the Keeneland board of directors unanimously approved the installation of Polytrack in a meeting on Wednesday. Track president Nick Nicholson conceded there were some risks to switching from a dirt to a synthetic surface, particularly when it comes to horsemen using the Blue Grass and Lexington Stakes as Derby preps, but also suggested the benefits of Polytrack outweighed such concerns: “I don’t know how horsemen are going to react to the Derby,” he said. “But I do know that horses are going to be safer and healthier and have fewer problems, and I know fewer riders are going to get hurt.” With Polytrack, Keeneland may lose its speed-favoring reputation, but bettors will have plenty of other angles to play when the fall meet opens: The surface change is only one part of a multi-million dollar renovation project to be completed over the summer that also includes wider turns and a longer stretch.
Related: Steven Crist calls Keeneland’s decision “bold and innovative,” but warns against “a rush to transform the game as we know it before more is known.”
More Gulfstream Numbers
The median purse per race — the middle number that factors out top-heavy prize money from the Sunshine Millions and other stakes — has fallen from $30,000 in 1999 to $17,500 in 2006.
Thus, from 1999 to 2006, average daily purses are down 7.7%, average purse per race is down 2.2%, and median purse per race is down 41.7%. Factors that account for varying rates of decline from 1999 to 2006 are fewer races per day and heavier concentration of money into the stakes program….
Owners racing at Florida’s two other tracks have benefited from purse increases since 1999. Daily average purses at Calder grew 14.3%, reaching $226,638 in 2005. Median purse per race, however, has remained a constant $17,000.
Tampa Bay Downs is one of racing’s true success stories — and one that isn’t driven by revenue from slot machines. Daily average purses there have grown 81.9% since the 1998-99 season, with the median purse per race up 58.7%. Tampa Bay’s current meeting is offering daily average purses of $157,451 and a median purse per race of $11,900.
Earlier: Gulfstream Numbers
Gulfstream Numbers
Official Gulfstream attendance and handle numbers won’t be released until the meet ends on April 23, but track president Scott Savin told the Daily Racing Form both figures are looking good:
“Believe me, we are all very pleased with the way things have transpired so far,” Savin said. “Ontrack business is up substantially over last year, and through Sunday our attendance is up 365,000 compared to the same period [72 days] in 2005.”
Attendance is up 365,000 people? That’s impressive. And implausible. For Gulfstream attendance to be up that much, the track would have to be attracting an average of 5,069 more people a day this year than they were in 2005, which they certainly weren’t doing in January and February, as Bill Finley wrote earlier this year:
There were 42 days of racing at Gulfstream in January and February, 2006 and the daily average ontrack attendance was 5,157. It may even be less. The attendance figures given out by Gulfstream are estimates and, based on per capita handle, they appear to be optimistically high. For the sake of argument, let’s say they are true: they still represent a 44 percent decline in attendance compared to the 2004 meet.
As for March and April, Equibase numbers indicate that average daily attendance for those two months declined 25%, from 5,177 in 2005 to 4,157 in 2006. The one bright spot in that period is this year’s Florida Derby, which drew 11,990 people to the track. While the track wasn’t exactly packed, that number is an increase over last year’s attendance figure of 9,905.
If attendance is down, though, handle is up. Ontrack handle for last year’s Florida Derby was $1.7 million, this year’s exceeded $2.7 million. Average daily handle doesn’t seem to have increased as dramatically, but it’s up as well, and Gulfstream (again, based on the Equibase numbers) seems likely to report increased ontrack handle of approximately 15% for the meet.
So, more money from fewer people. I guess that’s one vision for the future of racing.
4/26/06 Addendum: I wasn’t too far off on the ontrack handle estimate: “Gulfstream Park … reported double-digit gains in average daily on-track handle. Wagering on Gulfstream races rose 18 percent while on-track handle was up 13 percent compared to 2005.”
The Collmus Interview
Patrick Patten interviews Suffolk Downs-Aqueduct-Monmouth announcer Larry Collmus. Among Collmus’ favorite lines from calls past: “My best lines were off the cuff. My favorite would be when Cigar made his move in the 1996 MassCap, I said ‘There goes the Legend.’ I don’t think anyone had called him that before. I liked it. He certainly was a legend.”
– – –
Noticed this tossed-off phrase in a Jay Cronley ESPN column today: “Women can’t call races?” Which made me wonder — is there now, or has there ever been, a woman calling races at any thoroughbred track?
3/30 Update: I knew there had to be female track announcers somewhere. A correspondent wrote in today to say: “Yes, in Japan and Korea, some women call races. Yasuko Iguchi, the first woman announcer of horseracing in Japan, had called JRA races from 1971 to 1995 on live broadcast of Radio Nippon. Kayo Koeda also is woman announcer at Hokkaido tracks. Kim Su-Jin became the first woman announcer in Korea.”
Santa Anita Barn Notes
Trainer Bob Baffert’s Point of Impact was one of the many promising colts horseplayers have been eagerly looking forward to debuting this winter as a possible Kentucky Derby contender. On Wednesday, he appeared in an allowance at Santa Anita and seemed to ruin whatever Derby chances he had by acting rank, blowing the first turn and running to the outside rail. Point of Impact still managed to finish fourth, but it was hardly the performance of a colt you’d want to have a lot of money on come May 6. Jockey Victor Espinoza, though, has an excuse:
“He’s inexperienced and it was the first time he was going two turns … Going a mile, the turn is right there, plus he’s so big, he needed a little more time to get around the turn. After that it was great. He settled down the backside and finished good, but it was too much for him to overcome.”
Perhaps. Point of Impact does have a couple of months to figure out this whole racing thing, but I don’t think I’ll put him in the Derby top 10 just yet.
—
Wild Fit, the impressive California filly last seen finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to Folklore, worked six furlongs in 1:12.4 at Santa Anita on Thursday. It’s expected the Patrick Biacone trainee will start next in the February 11 Las Virgenes Stakes.
Oaklawn Opens Friday
Oaklawn Park opens Friday, and “this year might be the track’s best yet,” with record purses, more wagering options, a “souped-up” three-year-old series, and full barns to draw on for races.
Trainer John Servis is at Oaklawn and planning on bringing back two of his best horses from layoffs during the meet. Out for much of 2005 with a severe foot injury sustained in the 2004 Remsen, Rockport Harbor could make his long anticipated return to racing in the Essex Handicap on February 11. The gash in Rockport’s hoof is completely healed, said Servis, who described the four-year-old colt as “much more aggressive in his gallops … He’s gotten to be, he’s like Smarty Jones now. The son of a b**** is tough as nails. That’s a good sign.” Acorn winner Round Pond, recovered from surgery last July for a bone chip in her knee, may also start next month. “She is coming along faster than I expected, so there’s a possibility she might run in February,” said Servis.
The opening day stakes at Oaklawn is the Dixieland for three-year-olds at five and half furlongs, and Servis will be represented in that race by Fidrych, who has won two of his last three starts at six furlongs going wire-to-wire. He won’t be the only speed in the race though — there are several fast colts among the 10 entered, including Steve Asmussen’s Catonight (winner of the Sugar Bowl at Louisiana Downs) and Cole Norman’s Corredor de Plata. Trainer Tim Ritchey has entered Urban Guy, his promising three-year-old sprinter.
Gulfstream Opens
Gulfstream opened on Wednesday to mixed reviews. Horsemen raved about the new facility (still under construction), while patrons lamented the absence of the grandstand and the minimum $10 seat price. “This is beautiful, and it’s going to get a lot more beautiful,” said trainer Bobbie Barbara. “The site and the physical plant are gorgeous. No doubt there are things to be done, but I am extremely impressed.” Less impressed was the patron who told the Blood-Horse that the new Gulfstream “is structured for a casino, not a racetrack.” Or this one, who paid for a couple of seats: “I can’t say I’m surprised they charged so much, but I was hoping for something cheaper. Would I pay this again? Maybe not.”
There won’t be much grandstand seating (cheap or otherwise) even when Gulfstream is complete. Only about 1,000 seats will be available to watch races live when the new facility is fully opened and half of those are reserved for horsemen, luxury suite owners, and the media: Everyone else will have to watch the races on TV, just as they might at another track or an OTB hundreds of miles away. Gulfstream president Scott Savin calls the setup “the new paradigm”; I call it joyless. Live racing should be live, and going to the racetrack should mean spending some time outdoors, in the fresh air, seeing thoroughbreds up close.
Related: Bill Finley misses the old Gulfstream. “Having been given a tour of the unfinished parts of the facility on Tuesday and having spent opening day at the track Wednesday, I came away longing for the old Gulfstream Park. That was a real racetrack, and a very nice one. This is a building, and a building where horse racing is merely an adjunct product.”
1/14/06 Update: Citing customer complaints, Gulfstream has dropped the $10 admission charge to the first floor clubhouse, at least until the end of January.
Churchill Ends “Super” Meet
The Churchill Downs fall meet ended this past weekend with “impressive gains” in attendance (up 5%) and handle (up 11%). “The supersized fields and talented jockey colony made for top-notch racing,” writes Jennie Rees. “A year ago, with the jockey walkout/ejection, some of us were relieved when the season ended. Not this time. A confluence of circumstances made this an outstanding meet.”
Same of those same circumstances, such as the weather-related damage at Fair Grounds and Ellis Park, are helping fill Oaklawn Park’s stables. The track, which opened for training on November 22, has received a record number of stall requests. Horsemen have asked Oaklawn to accommodate 3,000 horses; the track has 1,500 stalls. About 200 horses are already on Oaklawn’s grounds, including Round Pond and Rockport Harbor, who worked three furlongs in :36 on Saturday. “That was his first work back,” said trainer John Servis. “I’m tickled to death.” Rockport hasn’t raced since April because of a foot injury. As a two-year-old, he was an early leading Kentucky Derby contender; as a four-year-old, he could be a major factor in the handicap division.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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