do they sustain you?? :D

GPK...you are an idiot

You opinion of me is none of my business.

only the tears of clowns

mike and the mad dog on today from Albany

francessa really talked about toga for a good 10 minutes, he goes every summer

has never seen it so bad , attendance down , handle down , bars and retuarants empty , guys is the econonmy really that bad??

I apply the "Costanza Rule" to anything Francesa says about racing. Take what he says and and its the complete opposite.

Marty - I can only vouch for opening week; the resturants and bars were far from empty, plenty of people in for opening weekend (although the weather played a huge factor in the first two day's attendance) and for the most part was fairly typical... I personally didn't witness some dramatic dearth of people... Not sure if it's held up, but knowing a bunch of folks with plans of still going I'd say it's probably down in a very small part due to the economy but nothing appreciable. Maybe more and more folks are beginning to come in later in the meet, avoiding the mayhem of opening week...I am planning on do that next year myself....

The economy is bad but Francesa is the biggest blowhard ever to hit the airwaves. The man is in love with himself. Anything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. By the way his partner is an even bigger ahole, if thats possible. KP

Week two was hardly discouraging given the rain:

Attendance:
Down 6.5% from 152,115 to 142,278

On track handle
Down 4.4% from $18,325,316 to $17,513,088

All source handle
Down 2.1% from $89,931,089 to $88,007,836

Well hes an idiot. How would he know about the bars and restaurants in a town he lives 3 hours from?

Heard the two weren't getting along and may split up....Mad Dog is TOTALLY lost when it comes to horse racing and Mike doesn't help him out one bit.

bill parcells?

They are very bias towards NY teams, they dont speak well and the subject matter is repeated over and over and over. You can only talk about Joba Chamberlain and the met's bullpen so much. Francessa sounds like he has marbles in his mouth.

Timmy you're from town and have been to many meets, is foot traffic down on broadway ?? do the returants look less crowded and the bars not as full?

if we had bought that ice cream store would we have met our projections so far?

Gales:
Foot traffic is not down. Car traffic is way up but that could be attributed to the new growth via all the condos. Track attendance appears (at least to the eye) to be about the same. I dont see any kind of suffering.
The majority of people that go to the race track are either passionate racing fans or degenerate gamblers, so I dont think the economy is going to make those people do otherwise.
Restaurants are as crowded as ever. I dont do the late night bar scene anymore, just too much trouble at that time of night for me. Waste of time and money for me and just too old to be hanging out with 22 year old kids.
I will tell you from my early morning runs through town, the garbage and cigarette butts left outside in front of the bars lead me to believe they arent hurting for business.
I am sure our ice cream store would be doing great. We only have Ben & Jerrys and Cold Stone and that isnt enough to serve 40K people!

Taking the next 2 weeks off from the track as I am taking a beating. Going out of town to Provincetown for a little vacation, then to Long Island for a party.

At Saratoga? :zz: Maybe on a weekday. I'd say the majority don't know a thing about racing and are just there for a good time or a free t-shirt.

i would agree with this about belmont and the big a but the majority of people that attend Saratoga are from upstate and once the show leaves town will only casually follow the sport

Agree with what you are both saying but the people who go the track here love racing while its here. They may not follow it once it leaves here, but they do know more than you think and actually do bet.
Its only for such a short time, people will always be able to find money for it.

I'm not sure about suffering, but the #s are down a good chunk whether you believe your eyes or not. Quoting from the Times-Union, Attendance is down nearly 17 percent and on-track handle is off by almost 9 percent after the second week of the Saratoga Race Course season.

My only two cents would be I believe that people are traveling less with the gas prices and sour outlook on the economy. And yes, it is affecting business in Saratoga and many other places. A nice woman at the NYRA store told me they were off about 25% from last year in terms of sales on track, for whatever that is worth.

The rain Opening Day (week), this past Sunday afternoon and in general has had en effect. I'm not sure there's any blame to lay at the feet of NYRA, racing, etc. In my two trips this year I have nothing but positive reviews. The addition of Restaurant Row and that Hattie's place was a straight gland slam.

But I think the weather/economy have combined to affect the attendance, handle, restaurant business, hotels (surprised to see vacancies this past Friday night)...all of it. I don't think that's being negative, just honest.