Belmont Entries for 5/29.... Very Poor
 

What a way to start a holiday weekend at Belmont.

Except for the feature, The (Grade II) Vagrancy, all the other races for Saturday are very mediocre.

Race 1 ALLOWANCE OPTIONAL CLAIMING $25,000
Race 2 MAIDEN CLAIMING $25,000
Race 3 MAIDEN CLAIMING $16,000
Race 4 CLAIMING $15,000
Race 5 MAIDEN CLAIMING $60,000 – $50,000
Race 6 CLAIMING $25,000
Race 7 MAIDEN SPECIAL WEIGHT
Race 8 ALLOWANCE Purse $39,000
Race 9 Vagrancy
Race 10 MAIDEN SPECIAL WEIGHT

Guess I take my money elsewhere...like Monmouth.

:tro::tro:

And that's not counting the scratches from the sheet ho's.

They're very mediocre and according to your headline very poor? You've handicapped the card already and declared the racing poor and mediocre? Interesting...

Six of the events are a graded stake, 2 MSW's, a high price MDN CLM, and 2 ALW's (one OC) and that's 'poor'. You haven't looked at the fields for one second, and it obviously didn't occur to you to even look at the size of the fields, but it's fashionable to call the racing poor and mediocre, so why not? Take your money wherever you want, but your comment about this first of three big days of racing leading up to Met Mile, ahead of the Belmont meet's biggest day of racing, is just ignorant.

I respect you very much Steve and think you are great, and your show is great, but you sound like a shill for the NYRA trying to defend this crappy card. 5 Maiden races on a Saturday, and three of them maiden claimers? come on, that just sucks. Maybe during the week it's ok but on a Holiday weekend? I disagree.

Do you believe that NYRA is holding back some great stash of better horses?

The horses that are available to PJ Campo right now are not the types they used to be. This isn't news to anyone and this card, unfortunately, is very typical of what has gone on over the last few months.

Is Campo doing a good job carding competitive races that make for good wagering affairs? Sure. Is he doing so with top shelf horses? No.

Go wager on Monmouth. Remember it too because next year when they've returned to anonymity with a fraction of their current purse structure they'll need you.

NT

So you have taken a position of the failure of Monmouth. Better go read some more. I'm surprised, but not really.

Point well made. Thanks for the reasoned response.

To be fair 7 out of the 10 races are either maidens or N2L.

The only dark day at Belmont until June 5 is Tuesday.

Do you think that this is what NYRA is looking to put on the track? If you looked at the overnight, you would have noticed that the races that drew your ire (races 2-5) are all "extras." Of course, if our filly wins one of those "crappy" maiden claiming races (the 5th), I won't care what the rest of the day's races look like.

Reality is that they are having a tough time getting cards to go, and they have to use the horses on the grounds to satisfy the bettors' demand for big fields. (Our trainer entered five horses last Saturday for tomorrow's card, and only one race filled.) With the exception of Monmouth for the time being, every major racing jurisdiction is facing the same problem.

I've taken the position that this is a one year thing. I don't believe that the subsidy will continue next year. There's already opposition from some state senators that the casinos should not be paying anything toward the racetracks. If sentiment grows to let the racetracks go on their own then the NJSEA is in big trouble.

I should know better than to expect anything rational from state governments. I applaud Monmouth for what they're doing now and they're going to have a terrific summer but whether they have the means to do it again is unlikely in my opinion.

NT

If it's this bad then why ask for the $25 million? That's not going to solve the problem.

Just shut the meet down and wait for Saratoga or kick out the trainers who keep scratching their horses and make it indefinitely.

I don't disagree that this is a temporary situation. If I have to make an educated guess, the Atlantic City subsidy won't be there next year, or the state will make a reduced subsidy if this summer's numbers are good. That being said, if the handle remains like it was this past weekend, it could probably support a three-day schedule with $600K in daily purses. If that becomes the template, then this year will be a rousing success. Keep in mind that $600K would be twice what they gave out daily last year, and I suspect that there would be just as much demand to run at Monmouth with $600K in daily purses as there is this year with purses at a $1 million per day.

I didn't mean to respond so angrily... I apologize. But recognize that Sat, Sun, Mon and then next Fri and Sat has to feature probably 53-55 races including 13 stakes, so the absolutel highest quality racing may be saved for certain segments or sequences on the various cards.

But I'm troubled by the perception that the 'class' of the races Saturday are somehow instantly 'poor' because they're maiden races. How is a field of 12 New Jersey bred dime claimers any better or more appealling than 10 NY bred maidens?

I don't like the card either, but I understand why it's bad. There's the biggest day of the year in New York coming up next Saturday and obviously the appeal of running on that day (+ the added overnight purse money) trumps. That being said... I think it's OK to call a spade a spade. This is NOT a good card for a Saturday at Belmont Park. It's becoming more and more common that this is what we get from NYRA, unfortunately.

This sport needs a commissioner in the worst way. If something doesn't change the tracks in areas with a population will cease to exist and all that will be left is Indiana Downs and other tracks supported by rural degenerate meth-riddled slots/table players.

I think what you're trying to say is this... and I agree with you