Shoot... ten bucks? I'll take it! :D

I'll be willing to eat crow if need be and I'm good on my word.

cool! I like to make friendly wagers small... if i would have said 1,000 dollars you would have said to **** off (that and I would not risk anything over 100 cause I am young and nervous when it comes to gambling)... but now I'll be able to buy a few beers after breeders cup on you!!! (JK, let the best horse win!)

I do not understand the anti-Gulfstream venom. Wasn't it about 100 degrees at Santa Anita in 2003?:confused:

yea and the Euros dominated turf. Then again it was the hottest year in history for the Froggies.

My favorite wagering Breeders Cups have been at Belmont and Churchill. I think they are exceedingly fair tracks with little excuses for the horses. Monmouth, by the way, with the changes in track configuration will be better than people think. The turf course there now will be extremely solid for a Breeders Cup.

Ellis Park!!!!

Too bad Hialeah isn't in existence for racing anymore.There was never a better turf course in the United States and the main track was equally as good.That facility would have had no problem handling that amount of people.The only drawback is the neighborhood,but then again Belmont is not exactly in paradise and either is Hollywood.

Listen Hialeahs area is terrible.My point was that Hepstead turnpike before you hit the Nassau county border is not heaven.When i've spent a day at JFK seeing clients i take Springfield boulevard home until i get too Jamaica Ave. and go right to our house in Little Neck.I'm sure you'd agree that Aqueduct is not in the greatest area either.

The Breeders Cup shouldn't just be held in the United States. They can't call it the "World Championship" if they always hold it here. It should be held at the tracks in Europe too. Or Asia.

If they don't have a dirt facility then they should co-op with tracks that do like NAS, or CD, or BEL.

It's a joke to see the Euros come over and try to compete on our 7 furlong turf courses. And it's even more of a joke when they beat the pants off us!

Woodbine might be a good facility for it also.

Hialeah Park is / was nothing but a toilet. Thank god they closed that g_d forsaken place. I hope you were referring to 30 years ago, as the last 5-7years before it was closed it was by far the worst track I have ever been too. I have been to Belmont and it is like being in Paradise compared to Hialeah. You must have went to Hialeah when KC and the Sunshine Band was playing for free.

I think they should rotate through Woodbine once in a while. The facility is very nice and the turf course is excellent.

I like it to be more global. Have it at Churchill and Belmont and then every 5th year have it in Europe if they could find a place with a good enough dirt surface.

Well i guess i am giving a way my age.I was there in the 80's and early 90's.Let's not forget that the track to be during the 50's and 60's was not Belmont or any California track but it was Hialeah.The facility is enormous.I live here in NY and let me tell you that there was never a better turf course than Hialeahs.It really happens to se a shame what the oucome became of that place.

I hate to say this because its not fair to other big venues - but I agree whole-heartedly.....

Belmont, Churchill and Arlington are the ONLY tracks this time of year that offer everything important to host a successful BC IMO......I'd have to type more than I want to to list the reasons.....

I guess if having freezing temperatures and sloppy tracks are the only things that are important.

THATS MY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about Del Mar, and I agree with Zaf... Woodbine would be a nice place too. **** your guys' opinions on Polytrack courses. Keneland does suck right now with the huge closing bias, but like Turfway it'll get tweaked to be more fair. I'll take it all back if adjustments are made and the bias still exists. But this is a "Guinea Pig" year for Keeneland just like it was at Turfway last year. The same for Woodbine and Holywood. They'll be making adjustments for a year or two after installation and races. I'm totally with you guys right now. The stuff blows. But I wanna be optimisitc, and at least give tracks a chance to try and get things more blanaced out there. Lash out at me if you want, but I'm gonna let time dictate my final opinion.

But I mean those places only as alternates as NY, CD, Arlington, and Insert one of the 3 Big So-Cal tracks for the next year. Then from there maybe mix in a Woodbine or Del Mar or Gulfstream or the 'Stizzy again.

Arlington has to be used on a consistent basis in that rotation. It is generally a very fair race track. In '02, it was drying out which I believe made it the speed favoring surface it was that day. The Europeans love the turf course at Arlington (it's one-mile) as exemplified from their consistent trips over for Million Day. Most importantly, Chicago is a top 3 market in this country. The only problem is whether to push the Juvenile races to 9 furlongs or drop it down to a one-turn 8. For me personally, I like the fact that very FEW horses have a race over the surface. It can make it tougher to handicap, but as a fan I see that it levels the playing field. Practically 90% of the horses have to ship. Others have repeatedly said that Arlington is the nicest racing facility in the country as well.

The way I see it, if you're going to give it to New York horsemen every three years, you have to do the same for the California horsemen and give them the same advantage just as often. Not to mention, the weather is generally better in California than New York at that time of year. Don't let the '03 heat wave scare you off. The Euros don't mind; they only won 2.5 of 3 turf races last time including a clean sweep of the F&MT. So, it should be:

Churchill
New York
Arlington
California
"Wild Card" - Florida, Canada, Louisiana (you know Fairgrounds is making a bid soon to help "rebuild"), etc.
REPEAT CYCLE

-Ryan