When something is successful and "the powers to be" want to expand it’s scope, the same question always arises; when is more, too much? Too much of a good thing can “water down” a product and sometimes make it less appealing. Whether it’s too many teams making the playoffs in professional sports or too much of a good thing in the entertainment field (i.e. Jay Leno on every night), sometimes if we get too much of a good thing, the result may backfire on the purpose.
We’ve are blessed to have the greatest thoroughbred racing in the world right out our back door in Saratoga . One of three racing meets in New York , it wasn’t until 1962 when then Governor W. Averill Harriman instituted the “The Harriman Law,” which mandated a minimum of 24 race days at Saratoga every year. The racing days remained that way for nearly thirty years until the meet was expanded in 1991 to 30 days. Three year’s later the number went to 34 and has been 36 since 1997. This past Wednesday, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) decided to add four more days to its 2010 thoroughbred race meet and bring the total 40 days. This increase in racing days comes on the heels of a very successful 2009 Saratoga race meet, spite the overall decrease in thoroughbred racing nationwide.
The meet will end on the traditional closing day which is Labor Day and the four new days will be added to the beginning on the meet in July. The 2010 Saratoga race meet will start on July 23rd which is a Friday and will include a stake race each day. The grade I - Coaching Club America Oaks which is traditionally run at Belmont Park, will move to Saratoga that first Saturday of the meet (July 24th). All these new changes are pending approval from the NYRA Board of Directors of course, but this should be no problem.
While thoroughbred racing numbers were on a decline nationwide about 12% in August, Saratoga was only down less than 2%. The horsemen throughout the country wanted to come to the Spa with a record number of stall applications and the increase of days will play in favor to NYRA. Another plus for NYRA was that they could continue to race six days a week, while many other tracks throughout the country had to cut back on days of racing.
The reaction of most of the people in the Saratoga area has been a positive one with the recent economy problems and the addition of these four days will bring added revenue to the area. But with the four added days, will the “on track” race product be affected adversely? The first half of this year’s Saratoga meet had full and very difficult racing fields which made my handicapping very tough. It was a bad thing for myself, but very lucrative for those who wagered successfully. The during the second half, the fields got smaller toward the end of the meet. Now, I know four more race days shouldn’t make much of a difference, but in the past when six new days were added to the meet, a few years later it expanded to 36 for a total of 12 new days. Hopefully, the past rumored idea of starting the meet during the 4th of July week will not come to fruition.
As always, the weather plays the biggest factor during the Saratoga meet for its success. But, the main purpose of NYRA and the Saratoga Springs area is to make revenue and stay in the “black”. With these four added days, it will help them achieve that goal and should not impact the “on track” racing product. This time, more helps out and makes things better.
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