My Last Belmont

[jms62]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

As someone who goes to the Belmont every year, I can assure you that it is always difficult to get out of the place. What added to the problems yesterday was that no one left after the Belmont. It is usually a mass exodus following the Belmont and yesterday absolutely was not.

Handling a crowd that size is nearly impossible, especially when you get it on average of once every 3-4 years. It is nearly impossible to not be understaffed.

Issues with the parking lot and train platform are unfortunate. They also will not take away from the great experience that the vast majority of people had. It's a shame that some people ran into problems and I feel badly for them, but no one should be dissuaded from attending the Belmont because of issues that can be fixed with more planning by new personnel in the future.

Why were there no lessons learned from 2002 and 2008? Isn't it common sense to ask what were the shortcomings in those years and insure they didn't happen again yesterday? Even if new people were in charge there are those that were involved that could give feedback that are still on board. Let's face it they acted like all business and tried to milk every dollar they could by short staffing knowing that people would continue to come when a triple crown is on the line regardless of their prior experience. One lesson I hoped they learned is if they give us great full field stakes racing we will take the rubber band off our bankroll and push it in with both hands. I had 4 heart breaking high 4 figure beats yesterday yet enjoyed the hell out of the day.