Saratoga Meet so Far
 

How are things in upstate NY? I have talked to a few local people who tell me business is off 25%. Not as many people attending the old spa this year.

Bars and retuarants need a big 7 weeks here to show a profit for the year and to stay viable.

Is it the ecomony or the weather or a combination of both??

I'd say Whitney day when it was down 9% is a better indication of where it stands. The first few days were ruined by the weather. I think the meet overall will do well but matching last year is pretty much impossible.

It is July 31st. This meeting has always been about the month of August. The bad weather obviously didn't help, and perhaps the economy is somewhat relevent, but it's too early to make any definitive conclusions.

guys thx for the input keep me posted on what you see as the meet progresses , we have had a small drop in gas prices this week , so perhaps things will change

The one positive of the bad economy is less vacations means more people home on weekends looking for something to do that decide to hit up the track, and more people sitting at home betting on their computer.

More on the betting end....am I the only one getting my ass handed to me thus far? It's feeling like a bad replay from last year.

I seriously can't think of the last time I have had so many pick 3 tickets bust out on the last leg. It's maddening because I love the meet so much...but just can't catch a break I need to turn to the corner.

!!!!!!!!!

Id even take some of PG1985's pick about now...

Kevin you should have scored on Miss Ocean City I did pretty well with her but not as good as my uncle, won like she should of been 1-5

You have to expect the economy to play a part in this. Look at NASCAR - attendance down a ton. I think 7% for the season.

It's similar to the SPA in that a lot of people that go (like myself) drive hours to get there. Gas prizes are certainly not helping those people. I'm not equating NASCAR to horse racing but the travel involved here does equate.

This weekend will be a decent indicator. It's August, the weather looks good.

Lets see that weekend 2 numbers are next Tuesday.

EDIT: RE: wagering. I am also down for the meet. The only decent hit I had was on Acai this past Saturday. Opening Day was a disaster for me and put me in a hole I'm trying to dig out of.

Most are either staying in expensive housing/hotel or driving to Saratoga. Driving up is expensive with gas prices and many don't feel like forking over big money to stay there, especially if the weather is bad and you spend all your time in a hotel room.

I thought i was the only one who became an idiot on the last leg of the pic 3 or 4, and a genius on the beginning legs. I which i knew why that always seems to happen, and it usually doesnt matter how many picks I have in the last leg. I think I would even question me hitting if i had the all button punched

Solution to your problem: The Rolling Doubles!:)

It's been my worst start in many years.

I've been getting absolutely killed to the point where I'm forcing myself to take a one week break. . . which is hard since I have to be there every day. It seems like all the winners are either logical chalk or illogical longshots - none of the logical longshots that we all look for.

Since I had my 9 year old granddaughter with me last Saturday, I was betting her whims.

Her whims were not particularly good.

Now when my daughter was her age, she had a six or seven win day. People near us wanted to know who the little girl liked.

Well, you don't lose much on $1 bets.

She has been one of the very few bright spots thus far Pat. I had some win $ on her and used her to hit both doubles....but my losses are far more than my winnings thus far.

At least it sounds as I am not alone in taking a beating.

Hard as it is to believe, this may be the worst thread I have ever seen.

I had a lousy first week as well, with a couple of bad beats. Scaling back a little until the next time I head up there.

It breaks my heart that this thread fails to meet your standards.

i couldn't agree with you more?? (better??)

careful, there, kev, you're being very critical of the overly sensitive type.

Mark, while I don't know Andy that well and am unaware of all his behavior quirks, the very last thing I am concerned about is him being is overly sensitive.

Notyep

I edited the post, and it had more to do with its' odd and broadly insulting nature than anything.

Frankly, I found it insulting to me, and everyone here, as much as to any one person... unless I read it wrong. (Which is possible.)

I have little time to supervise the threads and I may have been overly zealous cutting that post. But I didn't care for the nastiness yestetday in the Selections thread and thought this had potential to create similar rancor.

this is begining to be like Pravda

sometimes in my small attempts at humor, nastiness ensues. edit away, but know that no true harm was meant. i only try to be mean when i can actually see others tears and not imagine them on their keyboard.

!!OOOOOOOOOO!!

My wife has one of those bags, OK it's a knock off.

Which is funny because sometime I knock up that old bag...my wife I mean.

Spyder

The list of worst threads ever is a long one.
Worst has no meaning.
Superlative bombardment.

I have had my butt handed to me all year. I am down 23% from this time last year. I haven't been able to wager on Saratoga other than a couple of times. I hope to change things around beginning today.

:eek: .. I laughed.

Well im glad to see that im not alone. This year has been very difficult for me wagering wise it just started bad and has gotten to the point to where ive pretty much stopped betting. I still get the DRF Wed/Sat/Sun and look at it and half ass cap it but i know that im not betting so that makes it hard to be serious. Just seems that i have zigged when they have zagged and hockey makes a good point in that i cant tell you how many times ive looked at the pp's of a longshot winner and can't for the life of me tell you how i could have bet that horse. Thats a bad feeling. Good luck to you guys that are down.

11 winners on top the first two days of week #2 :) :$: .....a lot better than week #1 :zz:

Well judging by the DT meet contest many of us are getting off to a slow start. I believe I am close to perfecting a system for picking second place horses as I seem to come up short on a continuous basis.

Just have to keep swinging.

Spyder

Kev:
Take a whole week off, cut the meet short. Get a recharge and knock off the stress for a week or so. This weekend's races pretty much blow, so it would be a good weekend to do something more constructive and fruitful like play golf or go on a date. If you keep trying to dig out of the whole every day, the hole you are in right now might seem pretty shallow. Wait until later in the meet, it will be worth it.

I prefer the ole' Jim Valvano method...."dont give up, don't ever give up":D

I bet one horse, Notional in the Whitney and lost.

If you don't have 50 hours a week to dedicate to Saratoga, I don't think you can beat it. Everyone ships, everyone wants to win there, etc.... You have to closely follow 3-4 circuits leading up to it to have a shot.

prada perhaps?? lol certainly not a pravda knock off?!