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.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by jms62

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.

The place has 300% too much capacity for all but BC Cup days and Belmont stakes day. And simply can not pull off a huge event without a major dose of renovation.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by freddymo

The place has 300% too much capacity for all but BC Cup days and Belmont stakes day. And simply can not pull off a huge event without a major dose of renovation.

There were toilet issues in 2008. Why not bring in a boatload of portables? Why have 2 bartenders servicing a food stand or bar when there are 100K people. I hear your point about renovation but you need to look at past failures and create workarounds. It was all about maximizing profitability without regard to customer experience. Did I say it was awesome racing though?

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by jms62

There were toilet issues in 2008. Why not bring in a boatload of portables? Why have 2 bartenders servicing a food stand or bar when there are 100K people. I hear your point about renovation but you need to look at past failures and create workarounds. It was all about maximizing profitability without regard to customer experience. Did I say it was awesome racing though?

You are looking for a huge amount of qualified day workers and then have to train them in 10 days. Let's with what Julie McCoy does fixing the lido deck.

Yes NYRA looked to earn ,they have too, there in business to provide profits to give to the State and politician then take the profits and elect not to reinvest them into racing.

Originally Posted by freddymo

You are looking for a huge amount of qualified day workers and then have to train them in 10 days. Let's with what Julie McCoy does fixing the lido deck.

Yes NYRA looked to earn ,they have too, there in business to provide profits to give to the State and politician then take the profits and elect not to reinvest them into racing.

Belmont doesnt need to hire extra staff. There are companies like Sodexho u can hire that bring in thier own trained staff and thier own equipment. Hire them for one day and they can be gone the next.

[Linny]

Many regular Belmont attendees were surprised to see than $30 General Admission to the clubhouse got them no access to the track. A private party closed the clubhouse first floor simulcast room and created the oddity of very few people on the apron on that side of the tunnel.
The track has a history of GA offering generous access and several friends were upset that they never saw an actual race. Another went up to the second floor and blithely walked past the curtains and found a high top near the windows behind the reserved seats and stayed there all day. Clearly the crowd management wasn't very good.

Food service was dreadful. Before the Phipps, I waited 10 minutes for a snack on the patio near the paddock, only to be told that they had no food. After the race I went upstairs to the "café" area which had no coffee. (Just as well due to bathroom lines.) There were two lines and each had the "menu" posted on the wall behind the cashiers. I chose a line and waited 10 minutes when there were 3 people in front of me. I was told that if I wanted a pretzel I had to go to the other line! There were 7 or 8 people in line for hotdogs and pretzels. It took until post time for the Just a Game. The woman in front of me ordered 2 hotdogs, two pretzels and 2 sodas at 7 minutes to post. At 1 minute to post the order was complete, but wait! He accidentally gave her three pretzels and was flummoxed! Give it to me! I tossed the money over the woman's shoulder and ran to watch my P3 go down in flames by a nose. It was awful.

I left the clubhouse at 9. My friends had taken the LIRR and headed off the other direction from me. They live in PA but were staying over in Jersey. I had offered them a ride to NJ but they declined. Halfway to my car they called. Can I get them to Jamaica? Sure, I innocently said. Luckily, we stopped in the Morning Line on the backstretch to eat. At almost 10pm, it took us 10 minutes to exit the barn area onto Hempstead Tpke. It was another 20 minutes before were crossed the Cross Cty. Then were were rolling. It helped me as I was able to hop on the Van Wyck and didn't see any more of the fiasco.

I don't hold NYRA accountable for the LIRR mess. They experienced the mess with Funny Cide and Smarty and Big Brown but didn't fix it. The food service company was a disaster. I watched a supervisor scream at two young women who were actually trying to hustle because they hadn't refilled the supply of chips. For God's sake, let them serve the beer and keep the lines moving. Again this is a contracted group, not NYRA, but they need to know how bad it was. It's not that hard to get extra help for the day.

Bringing in porta potties for the day would help. I know that they are unsightly but there are fairly nice ones available.
Asking a couple of 100 pound 25 year old women to manage the reserved seating area where I was, was a fail. The aisleway stairs filled with a crush of people and those who paid $200 for reserved seats had to battle through to get to them after going to bet.

On the plus side, the racing was great. The place didn't feel as mobbed as it sometimes does. I used my NYRA card and had no issues with machines or lines to bet. My friend who uses cash had no issues as many people have been weaned onto vouchers or cards or accounts.

[infield_line]

Originally Posted by jms62

Why were there no lessons learned from 2002 and 2008? 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.

They would have had a 1000% return on investment to hire sufficient staff to service all the thirsty guests.... I can say with some confidence that between placing wagers and trying to get food and fluids, most folks spent over 50% of their day standing in some kind of line, probably more. The persistent long lines also made just getting around a constant battle. At $10 per beer, you would have to sell like 3 additional beers an hour to cover the cost of the lager and an hour's wages plus incidentals.

Refreshment staffing was at least half of what was necessary, so they would have been short without the TC influx. Not rocket scientists making these decisions......

I couldnt tell but was the infield open at Belmont? Pimlico sure does and that probably helps spreading out the crowed instead of packing them in one spot

[tanner12oz]

Originally Posted by helicopter11

I couldnt tell but was the infield open at Belmont? Pimlico sure does and that probably helps spreading out the crowed instead of packing them in one spot

no but Belmont does have the outdoor picnic area which pimlico does not have