My Last Belmont

[tanner12oz]

Pimlico has the same archaic facility with the same lack of funds but here's where things differ...i get a survey literally days after the preakness wanting my opinion of where they succeeded and where they failed
..

does Belmont do this? Cuz from what I'm reading its business as usual and they simply don't care...raising the beer $3 Friday vs Saturday was a little over the top.. Prices were far worse then any sporting event I have seen peanuts 5 hotdog 5 beer 10 pretzel 5

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by tanner12oz

Pimlico has the same archaic facility with the same lack of funds but here's where things differ...i get a survey literally days after the preakness wanting my opinion of where they succeeded and where they failed
..

does Belmont do this? Cuz from what I'm reading its business as usual and they simply don't care...raising the beer $3 Friday vs Saturday was a little over the top.. Prices were far worse then any sporting event I have seen peanuts 5 hotdog 5 beer 10 pretzel 5

Again give the new hire a chance. When fixing an issue you need to hire someone to own the responsibility to make change. First step was done now its up to this person to get money and talent in places that matter. It really wasn't all that bad.

Preakness has a huge infield for the yahoos Belmont doesn't you kind of have to keep perspective in place. The infield plays a major roll in quelling the casual fans appetite for partying without subjecting the more ardent horse players to their brand of entertainment.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Again give the new hire a chance. When fixing an issue you need to hire someone to own the responsibility to make change. First step was done now its up to this person to get money and talent in places that matter. It really wasn't all that bad.

Preakness has a huge infield for the yahoos Belmont doesn't you kind of have to keep perspective in place. The infield plays a major roll in quelling the casual fans appetite for partying without subjecting the more ardent horse players to their brand of entertainment.

No worries... I don't give slack to a new hire who had the ability to query about past failures and make changes. We probably will be in the same situation x Years from now when we have a "New Hire" in place for the next Triple Crown shot.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by jms62

No worries... I don't give slack to a new hire who had the ability to query about past failures and make changes. We probably will be in the same situation x Years from now when we have a "New Hire" in place for the next Triple Crown shot.

I think she was hired 14 days ago. Have a heart

[jms62]

Originally Posted by freddymo

I think she was hired 14 days ago. Have a heart

So no one that was there 21 days ago gave a **** about fan experience or had the means to explore past failings? Just admit that I made a valid point and we can drop this. NYRA gets a 10 out of 10 for the racing and a 2 out of 10 for fan experience. Hopefully we get a shot at this next year while the "Chief Experience Officer" is in place. The fact that they need this position boggles my mind. I am sure it is a relatively high paid position for a job that should be the number one priority for any business dealing with the public.

[Storm Cadet]

And you know that representatives from the Breeders Cup were in attendance as they usually are! These people are very keen to attendance figures, customer service, concessions and transportation issues.

I would be very surprised if after yesterday what they witnessed in person and have read regarding the post race problems of the fans that we ever see a Breeders Cup in Belmonts future.

[Stickhorse]

Great day of racing which I was happy to see via my computer and TV

Thank you Belmont for you crowd management!

Hopefully you don't wrestle the Breeder's Cup from Santa Anita for a good long time.

Biggest crowd I have encountered at Santa Anita was 60,000 and it did take us 45 minutes to get to the freeway nothing like this nightmare:

http://tracking.si.com/2014/06/07/be...n-parking-lot/

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Stickhorse

Great day of racing which I was happy to see via my computer and TV

Thank you Belmont for you crowd management!

Hopefully you don't wrestle the Breeder's Cup from Santa Anita for a good long time.

Biggest crowd I have encountered at Santa Anita was 60,000 and it did take us 45 minutes to get to the freeway nothing like this nightmare:

http://tracking.si.com/2014/06/07/be...n-parking-lot/

The last time Belmont had the BC, it went perfectly smooth. You can't compare a Triple Crown on the line and the BC equally.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

The last time Belmont had the BC, it went perfectly smooth. You can't compare a Triple Crown on the line and the BC equally.

That's true. I spent three hours in the cluster*ck that was Saturday night, but I was also at the last Breeders' Cup at Belmont and that was a pretty smooth day. Though I drove out with a friend, and we bolted as soon as the Classic was over and were out in five minutes. I don't know what the train situation was like.

If I can continue to vent about the trains this weekend- NYRA is saying the whole thing wasn't their fault it's the LIRR's and the LIRR is saying wah wah wah everyone wanted to leave at the same time wah wah wah.

You know why everyone leaves at the same time, LIRR? Because you don't give out a schedule of when trains are departing; you just say you're running them until 9, which gets everyone panicked about making sure they're out by then. If you would actually schedule them, the same way you schedule the out bound trains in the morning/afternoon, and schedule them until 10, there'd probably be less of a huge pileup of people between 7 and 8.

And NYRA, you could help by keeping betting windows open and food concessions running for awhile after the last race so people are tempted to stay a bit longer. I'd much rather sit, eat something and continue to lose money betting on other tracks for a couple of hours than stand for the same amount of time in the dark and the humidity, hungry and thirsty because the lines were too long earlier in the day to get anything to eat.

[tanner12oz]

another good one was having all of the portajohns banded shut on Friday..after being stuck in NYC traffic for 3 freaking hours I had to piss like crazy when we pulled in...I saw an oasis of portajohns in the lots and made a beeline for them...my oasis of toilets turned into a mirage when they were all sealed with zip ties...I ended up going behind the public toilets in the middle of the parking lot...

[GenuineRisk]

Forbes has a good article about the customer service issues:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/teresage.../1752-1784-504

(The link is going to scroll down to a comment, but scroll back up for the article)

I hadn't even thought about the cell phone signal because I'm accustomed to the cell phone signal at Belmont always being crappy.

[Linny]

Lack of lighting in parking lots was a mess. The place is usually closed well before sundown but when the last race was ending as the sun was setting there was no hope of everyone getting out before dark. Non regulars and even those used to parking in other lots were out there for hours.

When I was on Hempstead Tpke at about 10pm, there were people all over the place. One guy approached every car with "livery" or taxi plates. He and his friend were dressed up nicely, probably escapees from the LIRR who were stranded. I got the impression that Nassau Cty police had lost control of the traffic.

I read a TDN blog mentioning trying to attract new fans with great stakes racing but to the uninitiated, the difference between Close Hatches and Princess of Sylmar and a pair of 10k claimers is non existent. Meanwhile they bring in newbies and the trash barrels are over run by 2pm, the bathroom lines are eternal, the food lines are worse and then you discover that there is no food.

Regarding trash, I have one bit of free advice: Place big plastic filled boxes about for recyclable bottles and cans only. Enterprising people will (as they do nightly at Saratoga) gather them up for return. If the gathering had gone on during raceday the place would have been tidier and the trash cans which were mainly filled with bottles and cans would have been available for real trash.