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Originally Posted by Danzig188
just saw this on drf:
The first twilight card held at Saratoga in the modern era was deemed a success after attendance and handle figures were both up compared to the last Friday of last year. Friday's card began at 3 p.m., two hours later than usual.
A crowd of 17,993 attended Friday's races, and the ontrack handle was $2,962,568. Last year, the final Friday crowd was 13,960 and the ontrack handle was $2,489,554. Last year's final Friday card had 10 races, although one was a steeplechase.
All-sources handle for Friday's card was $15,204,204 compared to $14,015,696 last year.
NYRA president and CEO Charlie Hayward said he was "very pleased" with the twilight card. While no decision has been made on running future twilight programs at Saratoga, it is likely that next year's final Friday program will be run at 3 p.m. Hayward said he wanted to meet with members of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce and local business people before making that decision.
Hayward said operators of local restaurants and bars expressed concern about the late-starting card, because it would cost them business in the early evening.
"We agreed we'd meet sometime in late September or early October and get some kind of consensus," Hayward said
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Ugh, Bold Brooklynite I like you and we have met, and you are a gentleman. But your agenda to bash NYRA, even in light of something successful, is just absurd.
I've been there every day this past week and its been a graveyard. Every day except Friday that is. Friday we had more folks there than paid to get in I suspect. They stop charging for admission after the 6th or 7th race and they were still flocking in then. The place was full of folks having a good time and they gave people a price break on food and everyone I know had a great time.
There were definitely more people there at day's end than reported. The reason for that is pretty simple. By 6 o'clock or so there weren't charging to get in anymore, and folks who had come after work were still arriving.
After i walked to my car and attempted to drive away, I was caught in a traffic jam that lasted me about 25 minutes to go about a half mile to the highway from where I had parked. Trust me, that jam was caused by more than 18,000 people.
NYRA tried something new that inceased attendance and handle over last year on the same comparable day, and they deserve credit for trying it and KUDOS for its success.
Your intelligence is certainly not lacking, but anyone reading this thread who didn't know you would certainly question it. Starting threads that are just plain inaccurate because of your contempt for NYRA is beneath both your dignity and intelligence.