I don’t know, Sleepy Fox, if the $1 is taken off of all entry fees, or all starts. I’ve always been more involved in the Trainer Listings. I ask, and get back to you.
The $1 donation sounds like a great idea, however, most races dont have entry fees.
I wish the Jockey Club would step up and set up a fund for retirement of racehorses. IMO it should be a $50 fee added to the $200 registration fee for each TB or they don’t race. There are a huge number of TBs registered every year - it would be a good chunk of cash and invested properly, could go a long way to helping reputable rescues to place/rehome or euthanize TBs at the end of their careers. It should be a mandatory fee - no retirement fee = no JC papers = no racing.
Well, I could have gotten what it is for messed up. It wouldn’t be the first time. :lol: I have asked and will let you know what I hear.
I got the answer on the donation per race. We receive $2/start (1 from Mgmt and 1 from HBPA) for every start, not every entry. Hope that helps.
What about increasing track admission fees? The admission fee for Suffolk is currently a ridiculously low $2.00 and $2.00 for a program. Why not raise that to $10.00 for admission that would include the program? The track would still get their $4.00 while the remaining $6.00 would go to CANTER.
A tax receipt for the “extra” $6.00 would be provided. This could then be used for year end tax purposes as CANTER is a non-profit organization. Go to the track enough times and you could collect a lot of receipts!
A $10.00 admission for any type of entertainment is cheap now a days so it’s doubtful an increase in admission would turn anybody away. The tax deduction incentive could be advertised as a way to offset earnings at the track while helping the horses at the same time. It wouldn’t cost the track much, if anything (some extra bookkeeping perhaps). Any administrative costs involved could also be deducted from profits.
What do you think?
Great to see the news and action by Suffolk and perhaps more crucially by the track’s owner, Richard Fields, who is doing just about everything and anything to not only save but improve that track.
Sadly not a lot of mention in the local Boston press for the action but I’m rather certain this wasn’t a PR stunt. Boston Herald July 9, 2008 “Suffolk bars trainers who slaughter thoroughbreds”
Fields and Suffolk are putting their money into the effort as well, donating thousands each year to a pair of groups that help provide retirement homes for thoroughbreds in their golden years.
Fields has also shipped a trio of retired Suffolk racehorses out to his ranch in Wyoming to live out their sunset years.
For more on Richard Fields - his offical website is here
On a timely basis I finally finished up on a long haul flight from the UK Wednesday the book Not by a Long Shot: A Season at a Hard Luck Horse Track , a book I cannot recommend enough.
Read that and you’ll far better understand the dynamics of Suffolk as well as the industry as whole in particular the non-Keeneland/DelMar/Saratoga racing. The tracks with never enough money, the good days of racing and bad but through it all people who do like racing and horses.
[QUOTE=rcloisonne;3353431]
What about increasing track admission fees? The admission fee for Suffolk is currently a ridiculously low $2.00 and $2.00 for a program. Why not raise that to $10.00 for admission that would include the program? The track would still get their $4.00 while the remaining $6.00 would go to CANTER.
A $10.00 admission for any type of entertainment is cheap now a days so it’s doubtful an increase in admission would turn anybody away. The tax deduction incentive could be advertised as a way to offset earnings at the track while helping the horses at the same time.[/QUOTE]
I had to laugh at this, sorry 
While the idea is noble you have to appreciate the Suffolk Down’s crowd that keeps that track flowing on a daily basis. Sure maybe you could bump the MassCap day up a buck more and reap some money in. However no track ever wants to have any significant barrier to entry at the door and yes $10 is high for a lot for the $2 folks who do wager away their paychecks.
Putting the entry at $10 would make a near ghost town already a bonified ghost town. Suffolk Downs is not Fenway Park. The people attracted to the daily fields at Suffolk are not seeing major league players (no disrespect intended) making front page news and getting a city to have a ticker-tape parade (and riots) when victories are won.
We aren’t talking about the ‘well heeled’ consumer who goes to DelMar who might file with the IRS charity contributions with their tax accountant. The people this would “hurt” most are the little guys, the blue collar folks who are the bread and butter of Suffolk.
Seriously - read Not by a Long Shot: A Season at a Hard Luck Horse Track; its out in paperback and used copies are easy to find for under $10 
I would disagree.
I think racing in the US gives away admission, and thus there exists a mentality that racing is cheap low class entertainment.
As I’ve mentioned before, it will cost you anywhere from $15 to $50 just to walk onto the grounds of racecourse in Europe, and that’s for a midweek card. People gladly pay it and racing in general has a slightly more high end appeal, though not the Opera by any stretch. Racing in the US is dying on it’s feet, yet the more costly European version seems to be going to strength to strength as a spectator sport.
Something to think about.
For example, to go racing in England or Ireland, today, a friday.
Wexford - entry, program and parking will cost you over $30. A program of NH races, and not a fancy track by any stretch.
Cork - about $30
Chester - cheapest entry, when you include parking is $35, and the encloursures will cost over $75
Newmarket - cheapest entry about $45, granted the July Meeting is going on this week, so it’s pricier than normal.
Chepstow - $28 to $38 for an summer evening jump race meeting at a provincial track.
York - $26 general admission, $48 to get into the stand.
Churchill Downs just raised its admission to $ 3.
Considering that some folks go almost every day during a meet, any more would be way too much.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;3353667]
I would disagree.
I think racing in the US gives away admission, and thus there exists a mentality that racing is cheap low class entertainment.
As I’ve mentioned before, it will cost you anywhere from $15 to $50 just to walk onto the grounds of racecourse in Europe, and that’s for a midweek card. People gladly pay it and racing in general has a slightly more high end appeal, though not the Opera by any stretch. Racing in the US is dying on it’s feet, yet the more costly European version seems to be going to strength to strength as a spectator sport.
Something to think about.[/QUOTE]
And buying a petite can of Coca-Cola Light in Italy typically is 2.5 Euro or about $3,90 USD
Point taken however on how the sport is marketed and the psychology behind it If you make it nearly free it does suggest that the product is not worthy of paying a premium for it.
That said the old logic which is hard to kill is that on a Tuesday afternoon the track would rather see someone with just $40 to spend blow the whole $38 at the window, rather then just have $30 to wager after paying $10 at the door. The horsemen too would rather see the maximum amount of money put into the wagering pools then see the track management siphon off upfront a larger chunk.
The assumption further being (and I have to say logical as well) that a not-insignificant % of would be gamblers will take a pass on going to the track if they have to pay that. They can just as easily go to an OTB for $2 entry fee vs. paying $10 for seeing live racing. That problem can be circumvented with frequent user cards that bypass the upfront charge I suppose.
The track still likely wants to think like a casino would. No one in their right mind would afix just entering Foxwoods Casino contingent upon paying an admissions fee.
A sudden jolt of bumping up the entry price on a weekday I’m sure wouldn’t go over well, regardless of the marketing behind it. I’m sure advocacy groups would claim the intent is keep “some types of people” out from attending the track. A hint of economic discrimination or even racism is the last thing a track would want to court.
I spoke to Christian Teja the weekend after Suffolk’s zero tolerance policy first came out through the Thoroughbred Times, and you are correct. This is not at all a PR stunt, just good timing.
I’m glad you liked the book. I’ll be sure to pass along to TD that he has another fan. He’s up to three now.
A $10 admission fee would NOT go over well with the career playas. Now, charging for parking on a regular basis (admittedly I haven’t been to the grandstand mid-week yet this year, but in years past parking has been free. Even on the days that Suffolk does charge for parking, the lots that are furthest away are still free for those of us who don’t mind the walk, and there’s also a free shuttle from the [public transportation] T stop.)…I think even the hard-core regulars couldn’t argue with that. Where else in Boston can you park for free?
Oh no, Barnfairy, TT has many more fans than that! He writes very well, and I always look forward to any articles he writes for the Globe.
And I did enjoy his book, as did all of my friends.
No worries, frugal. I’m just ribbing! :winkgrin:
As a member of his ever-growing fan base, did you see that TD received the 2008 Castleton Lyons-Thoroughbred Times Book Award for Not By a Longshot?
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;3353987]
As a member of his ever-growing fan base, did you see that TD received the 2008 Castleton Lyons-Thoroughbred Times Book Award for Not By a Longshot?[/QUOTE]
Yep - and for it Thornton received the first-place prize of $10,000 and a trophy.
The two runners-up were Bill Nack and Rachel Pagones. Nack wrote the lack luster (IMHO) Ruffian: A Racetrack Romance and Pagones wrote Dubai Millennium: A Vision Realised, A Dream Lost.
Eight years out, does anyone know if his father still trains horses with the small string of runners mentioned in the book?
Sadly Mike Gill - cited in the book with polite alarm - who vowed to leave the sport only has managed to return a few years later.
Glimmerglass: Paul Thornton - always a CANTER NE favorite because he 1) never hesitated to list or donate a horse who was no longer competitive and 2) always kept his horses looking like a million bucks - retired from training after last year’s meet. He had one of the best winning percentages of any trainer in the country for a few years; definitely a born horseman.
Glimmer, I bought both my beloved iron horse Rasor D and frisky filly Salty’s Actress directly from Paul in 2006 and 2007, respectively. I wholeheartedly concur with 17handtb. Several times I had the honor of visiting Paul’s barn over the last couple years, and the outstanding care his horses received was readily apparent in their gleaming coats, bright attitudes, and performance on the track. I do keep in touch with him and know he does still head down to the backside now and then. 
Wendy, My goodness they both look AWESOME
And I’ll third what 17handtb and Barnfairy have both said about Paul - what a horseman he is.
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;3354605]
Glimmer, I bought both my beloved iron horse Rasor D and frisky filly Salty’s Actress directly from Paul in 2006 and 2007, respectively. [/QUOTE]
Great to hear! By all accounts in the book - and I don’t think it was simply because of the blood relation - Paul Thornton was well respected for the care and consideration he had for his horses.
I know folks were thinking of ways to maybe shave off some of the money from the users to go towards equine retirement. How about exploring something like this:
As taken from the Saratoga 2008 new changes list
ATM Machines: As many as 12 Dime Savings Bank ATMs have been installed throughout the grandstand, clubhouse and backyard areas. The state-of-the-art, branded ATM machines reflect NYRA’s new partnership with Dime Savings Bank – a leading financial institution highly regarded for its community service in the greater New York City area. NYRA and Dime Savings Bank together will donate 10 cents per ATM transaction at Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct for the next year to the Disabled Jockeys Fund and other charitable causes.
I’m not sure how many ATM transactions are performed daily at Suffolk but on the bigger days I’m sure the machines get used significantly. It could be a less painless way to shave off some money (and maybe in the end its just a little amount) towards a cause. A $0.50 fee on using the ATM going towards the horses isn’t a bad thing …
I do: exactly none. Due to state regulations there are no ATMs at Suffolk Downs. Massachusetts’ attempt at making it less tempting for people to empty out their life savings on “I’ll hit it this time – this one can’t lose – just one more try”, I presume.
I like the idea of a small ATM fee, though, for tracks that have them.
