California Jam
Why gadfly horse owner Jerry Jamgotchian is coming back to California: … Jamgotchian said he feels California is a better place to race now because the “purse structure is higher” and smaller stakes...
View ArticleSaturday Notes
Oaklawn Park opens today. Trainer Larry Jones, refreshed by semi-retirement and recovered from aluminum poisoning, is back. So is Lady Giacamo, one of the first winners for her sire Giacomo and one of...
View ArticleMore SA Numbers
Santa Anita executives went on the offensive over the weekend, releasing figures showing the handle decline isn’t as bad as numbers bandied about in discussing a horseplayers’ boycott suggest. Art...
View ArticleSaturday Notes
It’s become fashionable to say that we haven’t seen the Kentucky Derby winner yet, the “yet” referring to any race for 3-year-olds in January, but looking over the prep schedules of the last four Derby...
View ArticleThe Disconnect
From Matt Hegarty’s must-read on the state of the racing business: But continuing to fatten purses is a solution that directly serves horsemen, not bettors. In a macroeconomic sense, it’s hard to argue...
View ArticleMeetings Taken
Santa Anita and Del Mar executives recently met with horseplayers to discuss the January 1 takeout increase and other concerns. Art Wilson reports: A HANA-backed boycott of California races is believed...
View ArticleThe Gaming Trade
Bill Finley on the approaching end of slots-supported racing: … now things are starting to change. Where will the sport be when the slots money starts to go away? Whatever the answer is, it’s not a...
View ArticleCalifornia Complication
Oh, California. In an industry roiling coast to coast, the turmoil out west is something else. Handle is down more than $77 million at Santa Anita. Too few horses cause canceled days. Horseplayers are...
View ArticleHollywood Beckons
Santa Anita meet’s closed on Sunday and its numbers don’t tell a happy story*. David Milch’s racetrack drama probably won’t either, but the “Luck” preview released by HBO on Monday generates a good...
View ArticleHong Kong Handle
In a column about a software glitch, an extraordinary figure: We can’t wait for commingling to occur and not just because it will give Hong Kong’s finest taxi drivers the chance to dictate who starts...
View ArticlePricing
Tom LaMarra on simulcasting fees and Churchill’s recent takeout hike: I’m no math whiz, so correct me if I’m wrong. In the case of Churchill, if its host fee remains the same, a rebate shop and its...
View ArticleCompeting
This post has been corrected. Please see the note at the end. Plainridge Park’s new slots and video gaming parlor took in $6,154,626.38 during its first week of operation, or more than $703 for each of...
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Betting on Pharoah
Amanda Duckworth on the American Pharoah effect: [Monmouth Park] also posted an all-sources handle of $20 million, which is a non-Breeders’ Cup record. The Haskell alone brought in a record $6.54...
View ArticleSaturday Notes
It’s become fashionable to say that we haven’t seen the Kentucky Derby winner yet, the “yet” referring to any race for 3-year-olds in January, but looking over the prep schedules of the last four Derby...
View ArticleThe Disconnect
From Matt Hegarty’s must-read on the state of the racing business: But continuing to fatten purses is a solution that directly serves horsemen, not bettors. In a macroeconomic sense, it’s hard to argue...
View ArticleMeetings Taken
Santa Anita and Del Mar executives recently met with horseplayers to discuss the January 1 takeout increase and other concerns. Art Wilson reports: A HANA-backed boycott of California races is believed...
View ArticleThe Gaming Trade
Bill Finley on the approaching end of slots-supported racing: … now things are starting to change. Where will the sport be when the slots money starts to go away? Whatever the answer is, it’s not a...
View ArticleCalifornia Complication
Oh, California. In an industry roiling coast to coast, the turmoil out west is something else. Handle is down more than $77 million at Santa Anita. Too few horses cause canceled days. Horseplayers are...
View ArticleHollywood Beckons
Santa Anita meet’s closed on Sunday and its numbers don’t tell a happy story*. David Milch’s racetrack drama probably won’t either, but the “Luck” preview released by HBO on Monday generates a good...
View ArticleHong Kong Handle
In a column about a software glitch, an extraordinary figure: We can’t wait for commingling to occur and not just because it will give Hong Kong’s finest taxi drivers the chance to dictate who starts...
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