[philcski]

I went back and looked at what kind of cards they had the Saturday before the Belmont Stakes in '04, '05, '06, and '07 (before the recession- and PA slots- hit.)

May 29, 2004:
1) CLM 10K 1Mi 1/16th $17k (7 starters)
2) MSW 3U 7.5f $43k (8 starters)
3) ALW N1X 1Mi 1/16th Turf F&M 3U (6 starters)
4) CLM 30K 6f $27k (8 starters)
5) MSW 3U 1Mi $44k (6 starters)
6) ALW N1X 1Mi 1/8th 3U $46k (6 starters)
7) AOC 3U 1Mi 1/16th $56k (8 starters)
8) Sheepshead Bay-G2 $150k (7 starters)
9) MSW 3U 1Mi Turf $44k (11 starters)

June 4, 2005:
1) ALW N1X 1Mi $46k (5 starters)
2) NYB MSW 3U 6f F&M $41k (8 starters)
3) CLM 25k 1Mi $26k (6 starters)
4) NYB MSW 3U 7f $41k (8 starters)
5) ALW N1X 1Mi 1/8th (OFF TURF) $46k (4 starters)
6) NYB Stakes 6f $60k (6 starters)
7) ALW N2X 7f F&M $47k (6 starters)
8) Acorn Stakes-G1 (6 starters)
9) MSW 3U 1Mi 1/8th (OFF TURF) $44k (7 starters)

June 3, 2006:
1) NYB ALW N1X 1Mi 1/8th (OFF TURF) $44k (7 starters)
2) MSW 2YO 5 1/2f $45k (4 starters)
3) CLM 50K 6 1/2f $39k (5 starters)
4) MCL 30K 6f $17k (7 starters)
5) NYB ALW N1X 5 1/2f $44k (7 starters)
6) NYB MSW 3U 5 1/2f $44k (7 starters)
7) CLM 30k 7f $38k (7 starters)
8) Sands Point-G3 (OFF TURF) (4 starters)
9) NYB MSW 3U F&M $49.2k (11 starters)

June 2, 2007:
1) STR $50k 6f $43k (5 starters)
2) CLM $30k N2L 6f Turf F&M $25k (8 starters)
3) MSW 3U 6 1/2f $43k (5 starters- including the iron horse HEDGE FUND!)
4) NYB MSW 3U 6 1/2f $41k (9 starters)
5) CLM $30k 1Mi Turf $40k (9 starters)
6) NYB ALW N1X 6f Turf $43k (10 starters)
7) NYB Stakes F&M 1Mi $65k (7 starters)
8) Sands Point-G3 (6 starters)
9) NYB MSW 3U 6f Turf $43k (11 starters)


A few things. Clearly, these cards are better quality than what is being offered this Saturday, so the recession and other tracks are clearly hitting NYRA hard (the 2005 card had very short fields but I remember that day- it was pouring and there were a ton of scratches). Second, the proliferation of conditioned claiming races (which they rarely used to write) is a direct correlation to the increased number of MCL races (just like to have ALW's at SAR you need MSW's at BEL...) Third, there was an 'examination' of Monmouth's (often bad) cards for many years- which is why they averaged only $3.1MM in handle per day last year.