[QUOTE=JohannaStk;8670731]
Will they be doing this every year or only one time?[/QUOTE]
Stronach plans to do it more than once. He has said that people who buy spots in the first year’s race will have preference for getting a place in subsequent races.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;8670734]
This could be a game changer…
btw, does this mean Chrome (or any horse that enters for that matter) will not be going to stud next season? Or will we see a new era of top horses using this as a swan song before making a quick dash to the stud row?[/QUOTE]
I don’t think that a five pound weight allowance makes that much difference in a field of what will most likely be older colts and horses. I suspect that most, if not all, will run on Lasix. But I applaud Stronach for offering a bonus to those who run Lasix-free.
It’s doable for a horse couldn’t race in January and start stud duty in February. The sheds don’t even open until the middle of the month.
It sure is a gamble though.
Unless you have a stable full of top horses, most of these owners are buying a spot with one, maybe two, of their own horses in mind who will be of that caliber good enough to win it. Given you can never plan a horse’s racing career with any certainty. because of even the most minor injury can mean a horse will miss a race, then the spot you bought with your horse in mind you might end up having to offload it in a hurry, and maybe at a significant discount.
There already is a $10m race, that doesn’t cost anything to enter, and the guy that puts up the purse will also pay to fly you and your horse around the world to run in it, and that race still often doesn’t exactly draw the deepest field of top horses every year. So it remains to be seen if some of these people that bought spots to Stronach’s race will be selling their spots at a discount come next Jan if they themselves don’t have a horse good enough to compete.
There was an article in TDN about Daniel Shafer who bought one of the spots. He would like to own a racehorse someday but he doesn’t yet. He intends to partner up with someone who has a good horse that peaks at the right time. By Shafer’s estimation, fewer than half of the people who bought spots in the race actually intend to run their own horses in them. They’re looking at this initial purchase as an investment that will appreciate by race time.
It’s not the way I would look at it but he may well be right.
[QUOTE=LaurieB;8676858]
There was an article in TDN about Daniel Shafer who bought one of the spots. He would like to own a racehorse someday but he doesn’t yet. He intends to partner up with someone who has a good horse that peaks at the right time. By Shafer’s estimation, fewer than half of the people who bought spots in the race actually intend to run their own horses in them. They’re looking at this initial purchase as an investment that will appreciate by race time.
It’s not the way I would look at it but he may well be right.[/QUOTE]
They are looking at it from a business investment point of view. Even if they don’t have a horse good enough to run in the race, someone will, and they can probably unload their spot for a profit.
[QUOTE=Palm Beach;8677042]
They are looking at it from a business investment point of view. Even if they don’t have a horse good enough to run in the race, someone will, and they can probably unload their spot for a profit.[/QUOTE]
‘Probably’ is being optimistic. It all depends on the potential field it draws and likely entries. If there are no dominant horses next January and 15-20 horses in the older dirt horse division that have a shot at beating each other, then you could probably sell your spot at a tidy profit if there is a bidding war. But when is the last time there were that many good horses in the older div?
For example, if this race was held last year, Shared Belief would probably have gone into this race as the short priced favorite, with Chrome as 2nd fav. Would you have paid $1m to run against those two? You would have found a few takers, but doubt you would have found a full 12 owners, esp owners of longer shot horses, that would have plumped down $1m.
The BC Classic and Dubai World Cup both have significantly lower entry fees, or free in the case of BC 'win and you’re in". They will give you a travel allowance or completely cover your costs of traveling in the case of the DWC. Plus for both your entry fee is refunded if your horse gets sick or injured and can’t run. For the Pegasus Challenge none of those apply. If a horse comes up lame the day before the race, then someone is out a $1m.
Its quite a gamble.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;8678347]
‘Probably’ is being optimistic. It all depends on the potential field it draws and likely entries. If there are no dominant horses next January and 15-20 horses in the older dirt horse division that have a shot at beating each other, then you could probably sell your spot at a tidy profit if there is a bidding war. But when is the last time there were that many good horses in the older div?
For example, if this race was held last year, Shared Belief would probably have gone into this race as the short priced favorite, with Chrome as 2nd fav. Would you have paid $1m to run against those two? You would have found a few takers, but doubt you would have found a full 12 owners, esp owners of longer shot horses, that would have plumped down $1m.
The BC Classic and Dubai World Cup both have significantly lower entry fees, or free in the case of BC 'win and you’re in". They will give you a travel allowance or completely cover your costs of traveling in the case of the DWC. Plus for both your entry fee is refunded if your horse gets sick or injured and can’t run. For the Pegasus Challenge none of those apply. If a horse comes up lame the day before the race, then someone is out a $1m.
Its quite a gamble.[/QUOTE]
Not really. Go back to the beginning of the thread and posters were saying no one would ever buy the spots, and they all sold right away. There are multiple streams of income per spot. I’m thinking someone with a million dollars to spend on a race probably has some business sense and did some number crunching. And Shared Belief broke down in his last race, as the 1-9 favorite.
Steve Haskin writes horse racing produces it’s own Cinderella stories and he has changed his mind on this race.
The problem is that horse racing has a great many more Lizzy Borden stories. It would be wonderful if rich beautiful people would show up at the track on days not solely dedicated to red carpet struts.
Pegasus WC designated grade 1.
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/new-pegasus-world-cup-invitational-awarded-grade-1-status/
Looks like it is going to be a bit on the pricey side for the fans too.
http://www.drf.com/news/high-prices-tickets-pegasus-world-cup
And even more interesting, what does a non-racehorse owner do to fill his slot in the field?
At a point where racing needs to be more accessible to the fans and help to build a better fan base, I’m a little miffed at the ticket cost… I’m sorry, but that is just insane! This could potentially be one of the biggest ‘star’ fields of horses and they are going to make it practically unattainable for your normal person to afford to get a ticket! I work in this industry and there is no way I can even begin to afford a ticket to this race. The Breeders’ Cup and Derby General Admissions are about all I can manage and that is a splurge. It just continues to be disappointing to me to see an industry I love complain they need more fans, yet they turn around and put such huge price tags on tickets to races that can be used to build up that fan base.
[QUOTE=KentuckyFilly79;8897712]
At a point where racing needs to be more accessible to the fans and help to build a better fan base, I’m a little miffed at the ticket cost… I’m sorry, but that is just insane! This could potentially be one of the biggest ‘star’ fields of horses and they are going to make it practically unattainable for your normal person to afford to get a ticket! I work in this industry and there is no way I can even begin to afford a ticket to this race. The Breeders’ Cup and Derby General Admissions are about all I can manage and that is a splurge. It just continues to be disappointing to me to see an industry I love complain they need more fans, yet they turn around and put such huge price tags on tickets to races that can be used to build up that fan base.[/QUOTE]
While I can certainly understand what you are saying. The ticket price of $100 is pretty much the average for sporting events these days,
Average cost of a general admission ticket for basketball games is $100-125.
Baseball $50
Football $75
We’re not taking good seats either for a roughly 2 hour game.
Music concerts are ridiculous. Nose bleed tickets for the Rolling Stones were over $200.
Most concerts, be it “classic rock” bands or popular contemporary are $50-100 at the least.
In my Roll N Roll hay day tickets cost $2 to $15. For $15 we could see all day concerts with several top bands.
The average racing fan doesn’t “pay” for the “show”, the product. Racetracks make their money by “selling” betting tickets. There little to no profit in “door” money. I have been races countless times and have people tell me they don’t bet. Or I may bet $2 occasionally. Sorry, but IMO that’s kind of like freeloading.
Bars/clubs that offer music charge a “cover fee” this rarely covers the cost of the band. The owner gambles that the band is going to draw more people in who will by drinks. That’s where the profit is. Not the door money and not food.
Racetracks like some restaurants have a huge capital investment. A bar is not going to allow someone to take up a seat at a crowed bar drinking water or a soda. They are not going to allow people to take up a table order a glass of water and split a large order of french fries with their friends.
I don’t see having to pay $100 for 5+ hours of entertainment being unreasonable.
There is little to nothing in life that comes for free. In the end someone has to pay for it one way or another.
I’m really interested to see who they get to actually race. It sounds like a lot of horses will be retiring without running in the race (Exaggerator obviously, Nyquist is rumored to be retiring right after the Classic, not sure Frosted will go since Darley thinks it is competition for the DWC) so they’re going to be working hard to get horses that can run with Chrome. I’m really interested to see what Coolmore throws in if they use their spot. They don’t really have any good dirt horses right now (maybe Stanford) but they have enough War Front 3yos in Europe that maybe they bring one over to try on dirt (Hit it a Bomb may be a good choice).
[QUOTE=gumtree;8899869]
I don’t see having to pay $100 for 5+ hours of entertainment being unreasonable.
There is little to nothing in life that comes for free. In the end someone has to pay for it one way or another.[/QUOTE]
I get where you’re coming from, but all of the other forms of entertainment you mentioned have huge fan bases. Racing… not so much.
You could, in theory, attend all three Triple Crown races for nearly the same price that Gulfstream wants to charge to see a single day of racing headlined by a dubious field of 9f older dirt horses.
I just don’t understand Stonach’s thinking that making this race inaccessible to anyone but the elite (fans and horsemen alike) will make it successful. The approach may have worked in racing’s heyday, but not in a time when the sport is struggling to keep itself viable.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;8900071]
I get where you’re coming from, but all of the other forms of entertainment you mentioned have huge fan bases. Racing… not so much.
You could, in theory, attend all three Triple Crown races for nearly the same price that Gulfstream wants to charge to see a single day of racing headlined by a dubious field of 9f older dirt horses.
I just don’t understand Stonach’s thinking that making this race inaccessible to anyone but the elite (fans and horsemen alike) will make it successful. The approach may have worked in racing’s heyday, but not in a time when the sport is struggling to keep itself viable.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, in theory. You wouldn’t see any of the races though, not for that price. There is no way you can get into the Derby and Preakness with comfort for cheap.
Gulfstream has a capacity of like 10-12k these days, so limited attendance.
As Gumtree said, $100 really isn’t much these when talking about entertainment. It cost $100 to see the American Grand National at Far Hills last Saturday. College Football games can be up to $200 for the big rivalries, and btw they charge more depending on who the opponent is… i.e a lot more expensive to see Alabama play Auburn than it is to see Alabama play Chatanooga.
Stronach is gambling, and he may fall flat on his face, with both the race itself and the attendance. Or he may end up creating an elite event that attracts an higher crowd willing to pay the price.
Check out what it costs to go racing in most of the rest of the world. An average day would cost you anywhere from $15-30 to get in. A big stakes day would be anywhere from $50-200.
I’ve always believed that by giving away cheap, and sometimes free, admission, that US racing creates the illusion of cheap and therefore worthless entertainment in the eyes of many. You don’t see people waiting in line of making reservations to eat at cheap restaurants, they certainly do for upper end ones though.
[QUOTE=gotpaints;8900015]
I’m really interested to see who they get to actually race. It sounds like a lot of horses will be retiring without running in the race (Exaggerator obviously, Nyquist is rumored to be retiring right after the Classic, not sure Frosted will go since Darley thinks it is competition for the DWC) so they’re going to be working hard to get horses that can run with Chrome. I’m really interested to see what Coolmore throws in if they use their spot. They don’t really have any good dirt horses right now (maybe Stanford) but they have enough War Front 3yos in Europe that maybe they bring one over to try on dirt (Hit it a Bomb may be a good choice).[/QUOTE]
They have this War Front colt, who is a out of a half sister to Zenyatta.
http://www.racingpost.com/horses/horse_home.sd?horse_id=891335#topHorseTabs=horse_race_record&bottomHorseTabs=horse_form
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;8900145]
Check out what it costs to go racing in most of the rest of the world. An average day would cost you anywhere from $15-30 to get in. A big stakes day would be anywhere from $50-200.
I’ve always believed that by giving away cheap, and sometimes free, admission, that US racing creates the illusion of cheap and therefore worthless entertainment in the eyes of many. You don’t see people waiting in line of making reservations to eat at cheap restaurants, they certainly do for upper end ones though.[/QUOTE]
Again, I hear your point, but I still disagree. You can’t just raise the price to make something desirable. There has to be a demand. And I’m extremely skeptical about the demand for this race, and have been from the first announcement.
A race at Gulfstream will not become Royal Ascot by raising the price. Nor will it become a Beyonce concert. The college football fans won’t show up just because the admission price is equivalent.
I do agree that racing has a negative and “cheap” connotation, and that much needs to be restructured in order to appeal to more. But I don’t think inflating admission prices is the way to go about that. You need to recreate demand first. Personally, I think reinstating that appeal and demand will come from first making the sport MORE accessible to the general public, not less.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;8900147]
They have this War Front colt, who is a out of a half sister to Zenyatta.
http://www.racingpost.com/horses/horse_home.sd?horse_id=891335#topHorseTabs=horse_race_record&bottomHorseTabs=horse_form[/QUOTE]
Yep but I think they’re really working hard to get him a big turf win so I don’t see him coming here. I’ve also seen him in person (same with Hit it a Bomb) and he looks really turfy where HiaB seems like he could go either way. Of course, their looking like a turf or dirt horse hasn’t stopped Coolmore in the past.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;8900147]
They have this War Front colt, who is a out of a half sister to Zenyatta.
http://www.racingpost.com/horses/horse_home.sd?horse_id=891335#topHorseTabs=horse_race_record&bottomHorseTabs=horse_form[/QUOTE]
Yep, but I don’t think he’ll come over. I think he’s one they’d rather get a big turf win with next year.
[QUOTE=KentuckyFilly79;8897712]
At a point where racing needs to be more accessible to the fans and help to build a better fan base, I’m a little miffed at the ticket cost… I’m sorry, but that is just insane! This could potentially be one of the biggest ‘star’ fields of horses and they are going to make it practically unattainable for your normal person to afford to get a ticket! I work in this industry and there is no way I can even begin to afford a ticket to this race. The Breeders’ Cup and Derby General Admissions are about all I can manage and that is a splurge. It just continues to be disappointing to me to see an industry I love complain they need more fans, yet they turn around and put such huge price tags on tickets to races that can be used to build up that fan base.[/QUOTE]
To me it seems reasonable to charge more for an event that accommodates fewer people. The sizes of many of these courses are small. Keeneland is beautiful but small, Churchill is grand but needs a structure that can accommodate people more comfortably. Wheel chair access to the upper levels is …well…pitiful, let alone stollers. The metal beams get in everyones way and the platforms are accidents waiting to happen. Etc. I really hate when event’s cram people into spaces that are simply too small. I would rather watch on the computer than having to try to see the race from behind a crowd of people.
Then there is travel. Travel is an expense that includes taking time away from employment. People who fly to events usually pay more for the ticket to the event. They are the more vested of fans…
…Some are not not real fans but see opportunity to profit. By taking photos, being in photos, writing blogs with the intent to sell books, selling things, breaking into a career, or simply getting noticed socially. Many of these people will pay more and do profit from other other people’s successes. Here’s me and Mike Smith!!!
Just my opinion.
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