The California shenanigans by Stronach were a pretext to present a legal challenge. Obviously, 26 machines taking $1 wagers are not going to improve the purses at Santa Anita. Stronach is following in CDI's footsteps that the only path they can envision for racing's success is to milk off the udders of the slot machines. And if the market is too saturated, well then racing should not continue in that market.

In Florida, they have the right to 2000 machines. The are only using 500 in what amounts to a haphazard set up at the moment as you allude to in your post. Their goal is for someone else to maximize the profit on the slot machines themselves. The 2000 slot set up to do it properly would require a Gulfstream Park overhaul. And she has no interest in anything other than developers purchasing it to overhaul the casino slots WITHOUT the racing. She ("the family" as Aiden likes to say) sees this as the most valuable path.

Given this information about Stronach's approach in F L A, where is Santa Anita headed long term? CDI closed Arlington b/c they want to maximize their casino profits in Chicagoland and did not want to interfere with their Rivers Casino or whatever it is called 14 miles away. This is a rough blueprint that Stronach is using to cheat off of with GP and SA to reach the promise land of Belinda escaping racing. Stronach sees Kentucky, NY, and Arkansas are safe. And they are trying to maximize the casino laced Gulfstream land ASAP before casinos are no longer in vogue in a decade or so in areas where the market is saturated. And they are trying create a slot connected Santa Anita to make the escape from racing/sale based on a "We tried but..." stance if they can't cash out on the "someone else can develop this slot fueled land" approach.

I vote more HATS, more Fruity Drinks, more influencers, more concerts, and more social media. To hell with the gambling and the racing product . . .

Oh look, Pegasus Day is right around the corner!! How much do those tickets cost?

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On a serious note, the Tampa Bay pick 5 is very hittable today with the 80k carryover money in there. I will take an intelligent swing. Good luck to those that still gamble.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2026 10:43AM by Fairmount1.