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#1
08-15-2007, 08:04 PM
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Getting dressed up has nothing to do with racings popularity either. Everyone loves getting drunk in a fun atmosphere --- be it all dressed up or in a high school keg party/spring break type atmosphere like the Preakness infield. How many of those people get converted into competent bettors or serious racing fans? The tracks need to find a way to figure out how to do that. 
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#4
08-16-2007, 12:07 AM
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A fun (and related) piece..... http://sport.guardian.co.uk/horserac...149495,00.html
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#5
08-16-2007, 12:37 AM
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But it was the horses, and the beauty and excitement, that they enjoyed. If we had been at Aqueduct they'd never return unless they were forced to. If you can't steal gamblers from other sports (basketball and football), you have to create them anew. At Keeneland, it is de rigour for all the college kids and young professionals to get dressed to the nines and hit the race track - it's a giant singles scene. Hopefully 5% of them will enjoy the races and the gambling, too, and come back. When I go to the track, I don't gamble very much - that I do at home or the OTB. Wagering is "work" that takes concentration  At the track I want to see the people, the horses, the paddock, stand at the rail near the starting gate and experience the thrill of a day at the races. I don't want to go to the track to sit indoors or on some secluded patio all day and watch a television monitor full of exacta will pays, or keep my face buried in fig sheets for 20 minutes between races. It amazes me how some gamblers seem to resent the presence of non-gamblers at the track, even discouraging attendance by phoo-phooing "fun" things tracks do to draw people in. And yes, I think if you are in the clubhouse or paddock, you should dress the part. It's respect for the history and pagentry of the sport. On a more simple level, it's just good manners.
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"Have the clean racing people run any ads explaining that giving a horse a Starbucks and a chocolate poppyseed muffin for breakfast would likely result in a ten year suspension for the trainer?" - Dr. Andrew Roberts
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#6
08-16-2007, 06:35 AM
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 good post, I completley agree.
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Tod Marks Photo - Daybreak over Oklahoma
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#7
08-16-2007, 03:55 AM
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Avatar ~ Nicky Whelan  and now we murderers because we kill time
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#8
08-16-2007, 04:09 AM
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As sightseek has been saying. Over the last couple of years, racing has become a trendy place to go for younger people. People haven't got a clue about the racing, but they are still betting and giving money to the track, and that can only be a good thing, right?
Do you guys have evening meetings over there during the summer? They have been very popular over here, especially with younger people who make a night of it (racing and then clubbing afterwards). Although i'm not keen on Newmarket, they have enforced a strict dress code in most areas of the track and after the evening meetings a well know band or singer is on stage for about an hour and a half when racing finishes, people come to see them alone, but they still bet and get dressed up for the whole event. What i don't understand is how your attendances are falling when you see how much it costs over there (dress code or not). When i went to Santa Anita in March i was given a voucher to get into clubhouse for $1. For me to get into the same calibre meeting into members over here it would cost me between £30-£50 just for entry, which, on the current exchange rate is just short of $60-$100!!
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Avatar ~ Nicky Whelan and now we murderers because we kill time
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