Derby day handle takes a dip
 

Steve Sexton. the president of Churchill Downs, has the gall to blame it on short fields in three of the early races on the card. Give me a break.

sounds like a valid reason.

I didn't waste much money on the first 3 races
but how may of the "Derby" crowd actually showed up before the 5th race.

that is an excellent point

Who are those people??

they did have two very short fields that the previous year were full fields

TV ratings were up 12% for the Derby itself.
Not bad at all.

Several reasons for the handle being down.

Numero Uno: Not having all the account wagerers on board. And to shut out big bettors like IRG? Unforgivable.

2. Early post time. There is no need to have an hour between races. This is nonsense/bullshit. THese 10 AM posts that they do T-Giving weekend and Derby weekend are idiotic. Bettors need as much time as possible to handicap. No need for more than 30 minutes between races and the idiotic early start.

3. Did they run the obligatory 2YO race? For God's sake, is it really difficult to figure out to put it the opening race of the day so it one wrecks one set of P3s? Most years they ran a 2YO Stake, the WHAS, and they'd put it in the middle of the card:confused:

4. THey can call that track "good" but for the early part of the card it was closer to sloppy. Many bettors back off when the track is off.

Don't you think handle will be down because it was far harder to get a play down when YOUBET and TVG are not taking money from Churchill.

It just stands to reason that the casual fan or the less frequent player will not jump through hoops to get a bet down.....

The race was a great opportunity to maximize interest in the Triple Crown with a good 6 horses as legit contenders.

They screwed themselves by making it harder to play....

2nd race was a 2YO race, favorites ran 1-2-3.

Believe me... you didn't miss anything. I was on the phone w/ ATRAB for the first (won by a Frankel 1/5 shot) then the worthless 2YO race.

For all that people bash Pimlico/Magna, the Preakness card is an INCREDIBLE wagering day every year, even if it isn't quite as star-studded as the Derby or Belmont cards.

Absolutely.

Those were just flesh wounds...

ALostTexan

Most of the points above are valid: If you can't place a bet as usual or have to set up a new account, there was no urgency to do it for the early races on the card. Also if you couldn't find a internet source and had to head to the OTB there are a lot of other weekend resposibilities that preclude the 10 AM journey. The Post time, early start time, short fields, and new betting platforms all contributed.

3Kings

I guess I should clarify; I'm in the Midwest so 10 am for me meant 11 am Eastern. Way too early. Two hours earlier than usual which is idiotic. I realize with the crowd they need a little bit more time but this is overdone.

And they did run a 2YO race (the 2nd).