EXTENSIONS/OPENINGS: Lone Star still on hold

[MaTH716]

I thought I read something about a week ago that said Oaklawn wasn't going to extend.
If I remember correctly it had to do something with lack of money for purses and apparently they need the time to renovate the track. The renovation takes place every year after the meet and it takes the entire off season to do.

[NavalOrange]

I posted this in Churchill thread also:

Would the NY Pols consider getting Saratoga opened up in the late spring. NYC is not going to see relief from this for a while. It would make sense to go right up to Saratoga instead of Belmont. Start out with no fans and just try to get racing up in NY.

[ScottJ]

Originally Posted by NavalOrange

I posted this in Churchill thread also:

Would the NY Pols consider getting Saratoga opened up in the late spring. NYC is not going to see relief from this for a while. It would make sense to go right up to Saratoga instead of Belmont. Start out with no fans and just try to get racing up in NY.

Several points to consider.

First, the cost of moving the downstate operation to Saratoga is large (housing, stipends, shipping) considering that there has been no money flowing for six weeks and counting. Without the fans in the stands, the revenue generated will be severely impacted.

Second, if there should be a continuing COVID-19 situation, the Capital District's ability to respond is fractional compared to downstate itself. Imagine people coming from across the country where a rolling apex is incomplete across all states.

Third, John Pricci reported (as a rumor) in the last 48 hours that New York will petition for reopening Belmont for studio racing in some form starting May 22nd, one week after the current Governor Cuomo shutdown. If we see bad results in the next three weeks or another growth in infection rates, you can expect the Governor to extend that May 15th date and therefore push out a potential Belmont opening.

Fourth, Saratoga's tighter spaces and social environment by its nature will make the social distancing discussion impossible. Until that piece is handled, there will be no fans at Saratoga.

So, it disappoints me, but there is no situation in which I see Saratoga operating this year for a (40-Day) meeting.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

I thought I read something about a week ago that said Oaklawn wasn't going to extend.
If I remember correctly it had to do something with lack of money for purses and apparently they need the time to renovate the track. The renovation takes place every year after the meet and it takes the entire off season to do.

Thanks... Miss you around these parts..

[Kasept]

Tampa request to extend meet through May 30 is approved
Mike Welsch

Tampa Bay Downs has been granted approval by the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering to extend its current meeting through May 30, Margo Flynn, vice president of marketing and publicity at the track, confirmed on Thursday.

Tampa Bay, one of the few facilities in the country currently conducting a live race meet, will run on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the final four weeks of May.

The 2019-2020 Tampa meet was scheduled to end on May 3. But with the majority of tracks around the country either closed or delaying their scheduled openings indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tampa, which has been conducting racing without spectators since March 18, will stay open in part to accommodate trainers stabled locally who have no place to ship their horses at the present time.

Tampa management had previously informed horsemen they would be able to remain at the track at least through May 31.

[TheSpyder]

Anywhere else opening?

Too bad there's no racing down here in SC. We'd be open.

[ScottJ]

... Martin Panza, senior vice president of racing for NYRA, said the proposal seeks racing to start-up at Belmont Park on Long Island, then move up to Saratoga in upstate for the scheduled July 16 opening. Belmont's scheduled April 24 opening has been delayed indefinitely.

Even without fans on-site, Panza said, the Saratoga meet is extremely important to NYRA's bottom line and to horsemen's purses, of which 35 or 40 percent are subsidized by slots revenue from the currently shuttered casino at Aqueduct.

“Those protocols are pretty extensive,” Panza told the Thoroughbred Daily News. “If given the opportunity to race, we're going to be extremely careful. There has been a lot of thought going into how we open and how we do it in the safest possible manner.”

Apparently, a meeting at Saratoga this year is very much still on the table without fans on-site according to Panza.

[jms62]

Do they use a Drunk with an IPhone to produce feed from WIll Rogers?

[casp0555]

Originally Posted by jms62

Do they use a Drunk with an IPhone to produce feed from WIll Rogers?

That's gold Jerry....