Thursday, December 14, 2006
Making a run for the border
I had the opportunity this morning to have a cup of coffee with some local horsemen and friends. The topic of conversation quickly turned to the increasing purses in Pennsylvania. The one trainer at the table said that the van ride to Philly Park was only $50 more than to Laurel Park (starting point being Baltimore). With an $8000 bump to MSW races, and a 40% bonus for PA bred horses, you would be silly not to run at Philly Park. Maryland continues to drop racing dates, and the purses are nothing great. I am going to make a prediction that the number of horses per race, and number of races that fill will be down at least 20% by the time 2007 ends. I have said before, even if Maryland approves slots, it may be too late to save the industry. I hope I am wrong.
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3 comments:
love the new look
Well... let's take it easy. These changes bring Philly's MSW and bottom level maiden claimers equal to Maryland's, and their allowance races are still a bit cheaper. The PA-bred enhancement is nice - but only if you have a PA-bred. And Maryland pays decent bonsues to state-breds, as well.
Maryland's ultimately going to have to act, and this may be the impetus for it, but the industry has squandered a whole lot of credibility over the years by a) screaming that the sky is falling and b) shooting itself in the foot politically. More screaming about the falling sky won't be the answer now.
I like the new layout. You're welcome to come watch the races here in PA!
I think Laurel will be fine for the time being (although obviously things will need to change at some point) -- it's Pimlico that really needs help in the short term, at least in my opinion.
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