Harness drivers doing well $$$$$ fans get the short stick

[NIATROSS]

Slots fueled purses have helped plenty of drivers do well.
8 drivers led by Tetrick with $15 million will have topped the $10 million mark in toital purses won thsi year.
Campbell led 7 times without ever topping $10 million.

What has the slot monies done for the racing fan ?
Have they led to better racing ? If you like 1/2 mile racing at Yonkers maybe it has.

IMO it has been a bust  for fans in the US.Bad mgmt and slots fueled tracks have ruined the pools and racing at Balmoral and The Meadowlands.We are left with high takeouts and a bad track to bet at Chester.

[pezz97]

I don't think slots ruined the pools, the tracks that now have slots in the U.S never handled anything anyway. Slots put more money in all the horseman's pocket, but what the pools have shown is there is only a few places that people like to bet and that is it. To blame small pools on the slots is just not true.

[Brush and Crush]

As a fan, I think slots ruined the sport to some degree for me.  When we are in the middle of summer, and the best harness track on the planet has 9 races with 7 horses in each on a Friday night, something is wrong.

[mo doc n]

Tross ,

Not sure why you included Balmoral in this , unless you know something we don't?

I do agree with you 100% that the fans and gamblers need to be taken care of  

[Jeremy]

I think Niatross meant that the best drivers from tracks such as Balmoral and the Meadowlands left and followed the higher purses leaving behind weaker driving colonies, and the places they went to have higher takeouts and not mile racing so there is no interest at those tracks from the bettors.  The weaker colonies have hurt betting as a result at the Meadowlands and Balmoral.  To which I agree.

Even take Northfield and the Meadows for example.  Northfield's handle has gone down because the best drivers and horses go to the Meadows and there is not much that much interest in the Meadows because of their high takeouts.

[NIATROSS]

That is part of it Jeremy.
I do not dislike 5/8 mile tracks in fact I loved Spk and Bal in the old days.However the track at Chester does not play fair at all IMO.If you add in the 8 horse fields and high takeout it does not work for me.
I am also not a fan of 7/ 8 mile tracks.IMO there is hardly any middle 1/2 action.
I think racing in IL missed a big shot when Hawthorne was pretty much screwed over with dates in both breeds.
Now when it comes to Balmoral with that huge stretch what clown thought an open stretch would be a good idea ?

[careless hal]

As a fan, I think slots ruined the sport to some degree for me.  When we are in the middle of summer, and the best harness track on the planet has 9 races with 7 horses in each on a Friday night, something is wrong.

Right on.  The size of the pools makes little diference to me.  If I bet $5 to win on a horse, it's not going to impact even a $1000 win pool that much.  I can see where the $2000 win bet won't be made at such a track.  I am more concerned about the takeout.  Takes as high as 35% are insane.  Even a 15% take makes it hard to win in the long run.  I bet 4-5 times a week.  I might bet 20 races on some days.  Maybe the total I bet in a week is $500-$1,000, with the churn. Most weeks I end up 1 to 2 hundred down or up.  If I hit something big then that is great.  I'm looking to make $1,000 or more betting $20 or less.  That is hard to do.  I know others are trying to make a few thousand by betting several thousand.  The problem I see with that is the take.  In the long run, it is hard to beat the take..   That is why we see bettors who won a $160,000 pk six end up broke.(although I'd like to give it a try!)  Guys lijke Tetrick have stated that they are trying to make as much as they can while they can.  They realize this bonanza won't last forever.   I have often stated that I view this all as a hobby.  I bet mainly for amusement pirposes.  If I win that's a plus.

[LVGaryD]

I bet mainly for amusement pirposes.  If I win that's a plus.

I find some of your picks to be very amusing. 












As opposed to my own damned idiotic picks! 

[careless hal]

I find some of your picks to be very amusing. 













As opposed to my own damned idiotic picks! 

 
Hey it's only a game.  You win some, you lose some 

[pezz97]

As a fan, I think slots ruined the sport to some degree for me.  When we are in the middle of summer, and the best harness track on the planet has 9 races with 7 horses in each on a Friday night, something is wrong.

That didn't happen last year. 2 years ago it did and it there were 9 races in the summer on Thurs last year. That is why they have got rid of Thurs racing after March. Go 2 nights, have full fields and people will bet

But I agree with what you are saying. Cause a place like Pocono, where no one bets, now has purses that are so huge, the Big M Suffers.

[Brush and Crush]

That didn't happen last year. 2 years ago it did and it there were 9 races in the summer on Thurs last year. That is why they have got rid of Thurs racing after March. Go 2 nights, have full fields and people will bet

But I agree with what you are saying. Cause a place like Pocono, where no one bets, now has purses that are so huge, the Big M Suffers.

true that it did not happen too much this year, but  the class of horses was down.   $10,000 claimers and nw 4,000 in last 6 didn't exist at the Big M a couple of years ago,  not to mention about half of the drivers on some nights would never have been driving there in the past.