No, I didn't travel 1,000 miles to go to the races. But I do travel 150 miles many times to go to Belmont. I am there more than the people who live there.

All we need is to get a couple more under 30, and we will be all set.

This site has good energy, some youth too. This is a good thing.

Now they only need to find a way to clone Byk, and start 1,000 more sites.

The sport is not dying, people have to stop buying into this. I don't know the exact number, but when you count the total attendance of every racetrack around the country on any given day, racing still draws a ton of fans and likely more than the combined attendance of any other single sport attending a live event on a given day. The ban on bringing liquor into the infield is the primary factor in the reduction of attendance at Pimlico this year, however, the obvious conclusion is that those that didn't attend don't really pump much money into the handle anyway.

Then, when you factor the ease of placing bets over the internet from your living room couch, it becomes clear that the dynamics are simply changing and the sport must (and has been) adjust to it. I still love taking in a day at the races, but I don't go to the track as much even though I am 20 minutes from Belmont and Aqueduct simply because I really enjoy going to my couch and enjoying a day "at" the races on a large flat screen television. The sport will be fine going forward.

:tro: Here here to that, the greatest ambassador to racing I know and a good friend as well.

As for generating new fans, it's all about getting people to show up who want to learn. I brought a newbie on Saturday (a thanks again to MD's greatest host, the Doc) and she had a wonderful time. This person grew up literally a mile from Pimlico and had NEVER been there. We didn't do very well at the windows, but she cashed one nice WP ticket and was hooked. She wants to go again next week!