richiebee,

I don't expect any of those things to happen because they make economic sense and economic sense and horseracing rarely if ever meet. :)

There is obviously no chance of Aqu being sold any time soon for the reasons you suggested. It just should have been because the place is deader than dead. You can hear crickets during the handful of stakes races they run there - and this is NY where the racing is supposed to be great. In general, the winter racing is terrible and the attendance is non-existent. It's only hope is a bunch of slots that could have been put anywhere in the city/state instead of on some pretty darn good real estate that could have been sold, developed in a way that would have helped the community, and provided the capital needed to salvage Belmont and Saratoga for the very long term. Who needs the track if it's the slots that attract the people and you can put them in a much smaller facility?

There is also no chance of Belmont being reduced in size the way I suggested for all the same sorts of reasons. I agree that it's an incredibly beautiful place. However reality is the reality. Other than when there's a triple crown race or marqee matchup the place becomes a ghost town. It's probably about 10 years behind Aqueduct - which is about 5 years behind Yonkers and Roosevelt (if you know what I mean). A facility and track that large is not needed.

The fact is that people don't go to the track as much as they used to. When they bet they play from home or from various smaller more convenient simulcast outlets. IMO, that trend is going to continue. So I believe live racing in the US needs to be consolidated. IMO, the proceeds from the sales of all the excess assets in the industry should be used to make the handful of tracks that are required better and more multi-purpose.

I'm not saying I want it that way or that it's going to happen any time soon. IMO though, it's obvious there is massive waste and eventually some kind of consolidation is going to happen.

Hopefully I am wrong, but it seems pretty clear to me where we will be in 15 years or so.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2005 02:47PM by classhandicapper.