Brilliant moves by Churchill
 

This is how to turn the tide in racing. Piss off the owners piss off the bettors and get ready to close the doors. Brilliant corporate decisions by people who don't have a clue.

http://foxhillfarmstable.com/2014/04...sible-mistake/

CD runs a business and has to run it as such even it is at the expense of pissing off bettors and owners. It seems they are slowly getting away from the old day to day horse racing business model and getting more into making CD a location for concerts and other events. Most tracks do this as well to bring in people to the track and not necessarily attracting them to the sport (concerts, film festivals,food trucks etc). You can bring your friends to the Breeders Cup and Kentucky Derby but you cant convince them to be excited for a 20k Maiden Claimer on a Thursday. As a fan of the sport, I dont like the changes but I can understand how they need to evolve to be competitive and profitable.

If they keep pissing off the bettors and the owners, they won't be running much of a business in Louisville.

this guy sounds like a real stooge. how'd he get to be in charge ?

Bettors will bet and owners will run for the best purses. Hard for me to feign outrage for someone who obviously has a sense of entitlement. Entitlement only applies to the other guy I guess. I am sure he has no problem with other companies in his portfolio maximizing revenue for their shareholders.

:tro:

the 'don't you know who i am?' syndrome....

but i want to bring a bunch of guests, why can't you accomodate me?

I gather this isn't the sort of treatment that other tracks are giving to the owners and rightfully so...

Other tracks aren't running the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks where seats are sold out 8 months in advance.

Cry me a river, Porter.

What difference will a couple seats make vs. the dollars bet because he runs his horse?

If they have seats for B list celebrities that even People magazine doesn't care about, they should be able to accommodate the owners entering horses in their races.

Exactly.. Saratoga isn't much better, so much red tape for anything as well. It's a joke. I just always assume when my horses are running that I will get screwed by calling for anything so why bother. Like I said, it's a joke.

Takes a miracle for anything to happen. even getting down the stairs into the paddock is a at aqueduct is a pain in the ass with my 3 little kids, somebody always giving you a hard time over something. MAKES YOU JUST FEEL THE LOVE.

Porter sounds like a rich, entitled, whiner to me

Couldnt agree more.

To be fair Larry Birkhead is a Z list celebrity

I see both sides, but I agree that he does come off as someone believing he is "entitled". If you own stakes horses racing for hundreds of thousands of dollars, what's a few hundred in seats going to hurt. CD does plenty wrong, and perhaps they should accommodate for a reasonable price.

Maybe if he didn't come off as such a doosh and entitled I'd be a little more sympathetic. I'm tired of millionaires like him whining. This is the way it's been for a long time and he knows it quite well- this isn't a change. You run on Derby Day, don't expect tickets. He's an assclown, even if I generally like his horses.

The funny thing is he promises the Vets the tickets, and expects somebody else to pay for it with their dime. Nice job of trying to make yourself look important.

Exactly - has he ever been denied free seats on any other Saturday when he's got a horse entered in an N1X? I doubt it.

But you still run your horses at Saratoga?

that's just it...just about any day of the year, they can accomodate you. but on these two days, one must expect it will be different.
i know he doesn't want to be around the unwashed masses, but does he really expect churchill to give away seats when it's their two days that carry the year?

I have run horses that I have owned in partnerships at Saratoga, haven't been fortunate enough to run horses I own by myself there yet. I have a two year old that should run there this summer if all works out. I will run there yes and will certainly will just show up with my family and enjoy it.

I ran at Fairground this past year but I prefer to sit in the stands anyway, there I usually just hang out in the Star Guitar bar between races and enjoy the view of the paddock if it's just my wife and myself. It's nice if you have a larger group to have access to some private seating or at least a bit easier than they make it

I enjoy the sport regardless obviously but I do think it's a pain in the arse at the bigger tracks.

I have a solution. They should just raise the takeout on the ordinary horseplayers so the millionaires and buddies can get free box seats.:$:

I'm with you on that. My comment was more tongue-in-cheek, especially after the failed attempt at the bettor's boycott Saturday that saw handle go up 7%.

I do think a couple of seats at a discount for a owner wouldn't asking too much, though. Throw a little bone out there......

at any time other than these two days, that's what they do, isn't it?

Winners circle and paddock to be eliminated to make room for more 42k tables at Churchill...im just kidding but it almost sounds plausible in the twlight zoneof racing we are in

Obviously there is a balance that needs to be found but if you piss off owners in an industry that needs improvement , it's not a great business plan. Plain and simple. Doesn't take a genius to figure out that most horse owners ain't making money, perks matter to many.

I have no idea. When I've been to CD and Ellis Park, I see names on several of the box seats. I just figure that those owners/trainers purchase a "season pass" or something along those lines.

I wouldn't expect owners/trainers to get free seats on Oaks or Derby Day, but I would think some kind of discount would be offered. Guess I'm just being naive on this subject....

Exactly and the owners are the ones who are spending thousands to provide the product so that the racetrack can put on a show. If I am forking up $$ for an entry fee to race as well as paying shipping costs and I am less important that a "B" celeb who won't be back until his free invite next year, I am totally pissed off too. Sure it's the tracks big days and the ones that make their year but if it wasn't for the owners who support all year there would be no track. Porter and his fellow owners have a reason to be upset. They put the bucks all year so they have a right to feel "entitled".

CD always used to provide owners with horses in under card stakes on Oaks and Derby days with accommodations that weren't in the nosebleed section for a face value cost (which of course was far cheaper than what they charge now)

They used to have a vice president of racing that handled things like this. Why would a racing company need an executive in charge of racing matters after all?

Just my humble opinion but if tracks hustle owners and trainers to race to fill cards throughout the year, then accommodating owners and trainers on the big days is only proper. Oaks Day and/or Derby Day would be a lot less spectacular if the non featured events consisted of 5k to 12.5K Claimers.
And in my opinion the owners and trainers with horses racing on a given day should be "entitled" to accommodations on that day.

Please explain how derby day will degrade into 5 -12 K claimers if owners aren't
"Accomodadted" . Will owners take their million dollar purchases and turn them into carriage horses to recoup their money instead of running them for the huge purses on Derby Day?

That's what I found most hilarious, too. Nothing more eye-rolling than the One Percent whining when they don't get something for free.

No, they will run them at a track with huge purses that treat them well.

In this instance, the track is also operating a service industry and it does not surprise me that numerous owners have cited that the only person they have had a pleasant experience with is Mr. D of Arlington.

You seriously think that owners are going to bypass graded stakes purse money due to lack of free tickets?

Most would argue that there are too many Graded options out there watering down the product. So yes, owners bypass graded stakes purse money for a variety of reasons.

And they will bypass Kentucky Oaks and Derby Graded races? Races on Days where they can puff out their chests and feel important as America watches. See these 2 days are exactly the days they are in it. Feeling their importance on the National Stage... Just my opinion sightie...

Seriously though- what's wrong with bringing your crew down into the 120 section with folks like me and my buddies for $200 a pop? Are we terrible people- the unwashed masses? Or have you reached a sense of entitlement that makes you feel too important to stand in line with anyone not in a suit?
I get that the game is largely a losing proposition for the owners, and we obviously need them to provide the product, but on the flip side if they don't like it, they can go run another track for a smaller purse, and that won't help anyone. I'm not defending CDI by any means, but jeez.

So you are saying that its fine for CD to make money by filling the Oaks and Derby Cards with lesser Stakes races...but its not ok to comp the owners and trainers that provide the horses that run in these lesser stakes. I personally think that if you have skin in the game your entitled to more of the frosting then someone who doesn't...those with skin in the game are in it for more than just the big days...just my opinion... we can always agree to disagree.

Churchill wants to be a casino driven company but are the absolute worst at comping the whales.

They are incompetent. I couldn't care less about their share price in this over-valued joke of a market.

They will fail with this business model. They are a-holes.

How about they comp us bettors who without they are NOTHING. No they raise the takeout on us. Sorry if I don't feel sorry for a rich fuk crying for tickets so he can bring someone in and pound his chest and say look at me I am so generous and compassionate.

No, I don't think they would take there horse and run elsewhere for the Oaks and Derby, but we're talking about undercard stakes here.

There is a great quote floating about from Jimmy Jerkins from his father on what to expect for the Derby, to paraphrase - it will be crazy, why don't you just run in the Peter Pan? :D