Let’s face it; handle records aren’t what they used to be. Gone are the days when a single feature race[–the penultimate race on the card–on a nine race program was enough.
This is the age when big event days mean anywhere from a low of 11 to a max of 14 races to bet on.
But the flip side is, thanks to simulcasting, horseplayers have more choices, but time after time they prove that the biggest and best races will attract the biggest and best handle.
Clearly, $52.1 million from all sources represents brisk and healthy business, and $11.6 million on track is pretty damn good, too. And that seems to square with an announced attendance of 48,213.
Small problem for Florida horse racing fans; however. I taped the one-hour scheduled program on the Fox mother-ship at 5 pm Saturday; I gave it 15 minutes then tuned in. When I tuned in, I was treated to an hour of local news.
I looked around my cable dial–and I have all the food groups–for it, any and all Foxes; Fox Sports FS-1, Fox-Whatever. Nothing, and at no time can I get FS-2 on my system, but that’s not the point.
Where the hell is the Travers?
Due to exclusive restrictions, TVG could not broadcast the event live either, though they did make available the NYRA feed, which it streamed on TVG.com.
