Despite going oh-for-the-cup, I enjoyed myself immensely yesterday taking in the biggest day on the racing calendar at my local track, Bay Meadows. I generally like the setup at Bay Meadows, and the weather there is much better than it is at Golden Gate Fields. Unfortunately, Bay Meadows suffers from the same lack of concern for horseplayers as does most every track in America. Even though the first Breeder's Cup race went off at 9:30 Pacific time, there were no live tellers in the lower level clubhouse until 10:45. There are automated machines, but only one voucher machine that is very persnickety when it comes to accepting your $20 bills. This means lost handle and an inconvenience for the patrons, as many were unable to get down on their first planned wager of the day, and then had to trek over to the grandstand or upstairs to get make wagers, or at least to get a voucher.
In the TBB newswatch, did you see this article in the Australian press? They seem to be looking at the matter strictly through their lens with regard to the post time of the Classic, which they complain is too late. I would have much rather the card be pushed back later yet. The first race on the Churchill card went of at 8:15 AM on the west coast, and the classic went off at ~2:30. I'd much rather it be later in the day. 9:30 is a touch early to get to the track, but a first post of 11am PST is still a very respectable 2pm on in the east. Then we could compress the races a bit, scheduling them no more than 25 or 30 minutes apart, and the classic could still be run ~6pm east coast time.
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2 comments:
There were too many people getting shut out of the windows at the current break between races... you can't cut down the time between races. It was taking me 20-25 minutes to get through the line if I got there just as the last race went official.
scoop, I agree with you completely about the amount of time it takes to get through the betting lines on BC day. At the 2002 BC at Arlington, track management was so illprepared for the crowd that it was vurtually impossible to get down, and I wrote off betting all together. I sat in my seat, watched a great day of racing and did not contribute so much as $2 to the handle. There, however, it took in excess of 1 hour to get through the lines. This is certainly unacceptable.
I think that is a seperate issue, though. It doesn't have to be like that. All it takes is more machines and well planned corridors for the movement of people. Shoot, 5 or 10 years from now there's no reason a large number of the fans can't have handheld devices to make their wagers without leaving their seats. I think this can be addressed, but given the glacieral speed with which the industry changes, I wont expect it too happen too soon.
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