According to the Daily Racing Form, total handle (amount wagered) for the 13-race card at Saratoga Saturday (Travers Day) was down 9.7% from last year. The on-track handle – betting then and there – was also down, over 8%. What’s more, excluding 2020 (covid), this year’s handle is the lowest since 2017. And while I’m always skeptical of the announced attendance figures – they come from NYRA, after all – the DRF says that that, too, was down (3%) from last year. Progress.
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Its a start.
I wish they had statistics to figure out how many spectators left after the 2 :00 and 4:00 disaster of Nobel and New York Thunder.
Poor Colt Nobel, he’s an Irish horse who had up until Saturday…had never even been to usa. It figures…he comes here and gets KILLED by stupid ass killing machine saratoga. 🤬🤬
And why would people send their horses from Europe to Saratoga? Is it because of the glitz and the glamor (glamour) AND the big, high dollar, money involved?
The decision to send their European-bred Thoroughbreds to the United States of America is all on the shoulders of the European breeders, owners, trainers Regardless of what the outcome for their Irish-bred (or any other European country-bred) Thoroughbreds turns out to be after the fact, it is still the European country of origin breeder’s, owner’s and trainer’s responsibility that they send/ ship/ transport any horse they have any responsibility for to the USA and enter the horse/s in any race in any state in the USA.
I know as much as you absolutely despise any racing group of individuals in New York State, Bonnie, it is not just the responsibility of the racing industry people and organizations in New York State. Of course, everyone at the NYRA, the NYSGC, and all of the rest of the NY groups and individuals calling themselves “horsemen” (that includes women) should be shutdown immediately and charged with every applicable crime they have committed.
That obviously isn’t going to happen swiftly, but it is apparent that those individuals involved in “organized horseracing crime” in New York State are continuing to shoot themselves in the foot and slowly hang themselves with their own rope. They really deserve credit for that, you know.😆🤮🤬🤮
Wanda, from what I’ve read,Nobel sold for a fortune. My mentor in life used to say to me, business is business and love is BS. So there you go,money says it all. Sad state of mind.
Yes, Nancy….he DID sell for fortune, and I think the issue was, he wasn’t living up to price paid for him…so ship him somewhere else🤬. What people involved in racing don’t understand…these BEAUTIFUL animals owe them NOTHING!
Thank you, Nancy and Bonnie. I didn’t research him or his sold-at-auction price.
Bonnie, what you said about his price and not living up to his expected value or price paid for him: this is the typical evil of greedy rich people — send the horse out to die on a racetrack and file a claim for his “cash value” from the insurance company.
It’s a no-brainer that the owners of a horse perceived to be worth more money than he could win would have an insurance policy on him. This is definitely evil. It’s certainly not HORSEMANSHIP or “sportsmanship” in any way, shape or form.
Let me begin by saying I have never cared for horse racing. The thought of these magnificent and beautiful creatures being driven to run as hard as they do for the sake of human greed sickens me. But today my dislike for this questionable industry has been taken to an entirely new level of disgust and outrage. Today I learned of the two most recent deaths at the Saratoga Racetrack. At first, I thought it had just been the two, which was bad enough. As I said, I’ve never liked horse racing so I was not aware of the unspeakable travesty that is ongoing is this industry. Much to my horror, I learned that a total of 14 horses have died during the 2023 season, just at Saratoga alone. And in 2020 even more horses than that died at Saratoga! I have been walking around all day with a heaviness of heart and a deep sadness that I just don’t know what to do with. I had no idea. I believed the lie that race track horses were the most well taken care of horses anywhere. Clearly they are not. I am also angry. And furthermore, I have lost all respect for News10 Albany. They have always made a big deal about promoting the race season at Saratoga They have always made it appear to be the happiest place on earth and the best place to spend an afternoon. Their female newscasters flounce around in their big frilly dresses with their big frilly hats with big fat ear to ear smiles on their faces while meanwhile, somewhere in a darkened stable a beautiful horse is being “euthanized” because he was made to pay the ultimate price for, again, human greed. I am physically sick about this but I am grateful for this platform and the opportunity to express how I feel. I would love to see all race tracks shut down but I would most especially love to see Saratoga shut down!!
Thank you for writing, Christine. We are very happy to have you aboard. Here is a list, by the way, of all the horses who have perished at Saratoga since 2009.
Handle in down due to non competitive racing. Too many 2 and 3 year old maidens and first time staters. Also low pay offs