tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post2433528214430572782..comments2024-02-27T17:43:37.207-05:00Comments on View From the Racetrack Grandstand: Misguided Purse DecisionsThat Blog Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15487597769210721585noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-44916087541231205312016-11-16T09:44:44.145-05:002016-11-16T09:44:44.145-05:00The industry would be MUCH better if tracks like V...The industry would be MUCH better if tracks like Vernon and Tioga were closed. They handle NO money, and the few dollars that ARE bet there could be shifted to the few tracks that perhaps COULD survive, if there wasn't so much over-saturation of racing. The health of the industry requires a MAJOR contraction, and tracks like Vernon and Tioga should be right at the top of the "trimming list". Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-89369776619572674202016-11-16T06:39:06.673-05:002016-11-16T06:39:06.673-05:00Stakes races it can ill-afford. Every track needs...Stakes races it can ill-afford. Every track needs its overnight races to help fund the purses. Without overnight races, they can't afford to hold stakes. The exception is the Red Mile and those are funded by slots and sponsorships.<br /><br />Right now, the stakes races are being held at the expense of New Jersey horsemen, horsemen who can ill afford to subsidize those stakes. While the stakes are primarily intact, who is paying for the purse deficits?<br /><br />If the Meadowlands wants to be a stakes track, then I suggest they hold in addition to their regular meet sans stakes, they have their own boutique meet of three weeks or so and have all those races sponsored.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-8934041409112526502016-11-15T20:27:20.196-05:002016-11-15T20:27:20.196-05:00I couldn't disagree with you more, Pacingguy. ...I couldn't disagree with you more, Pacingguy. The Meadowlands is a stakes track and until they have the benefit of slot money to supplement purses, like Pocono, Yonkers and Philly, which run open mare and male pace and trots on a weekly basis, they should remain a stakes focused track. You can't have it both ways. Let's be fair...Blainehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01099944785495100269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-70075864088974282182016-11-15T14:27:28.529-05:002016-11-15T14:27:28.529-05:00Without Jeff Gural, the Meadowlands and Vernon wou...Without Jeff Gural, the Meadowlands and Vernon would be closed and Tioga would have never reopened. It was Gural or no one operating the tracks.<br /><br />There are reasons to be critical of Gural. Some of his decisions and comments are headscratchers, but I offer up this question to his harshest critics. Is racing better off with the three tracks operating rather than sitting empty or demolished?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-37392982285047681912016-11-15T06:17:23.542-05:002016-11-15T06:17:23.542-05:00He's a "strong supporter" of harness...He's a "strong supporter" of harness racing....when that racing is for the benefit of his friends, investors, breeders, and himself. It shows in almost EVERY decision that he makes, whether it be in regards to stakes purses, or his "exclusions". Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com