[QUOTE=WhiteCamry;6934752]
Eh? 
[/QUOTE]
Why are you confused?
On a side note, this is probably the only thread I’ve ever started on COTH that has survived more than a day. :lol:
Still love AC…
Love AC. Had a winner there last year, if all goes well we’ll have another runner for the meet this year.
The turf looks good and how can you beat the mega sized quarter poles! 
Serious the track does exceedingly well against the odds. The purses bring in double digit fields for almost every race. Mixed with that thousands of fans on site every day. I bet that there are more people there each live day of racing than Belmont Park does.
Atlantic City was the first racetrack I worked at in 1980. It lived up to all my starry-eyed expectations, and no other track since has left me with the same feeling of awe. Maybe it’s because I was impressionable and new to racing at that time. I haven’t been there since the eighties, and it might wreck me to see it now…
[QUOTE=CharingHounds;6935624]
Atlantic City was the first racetrack I worked at in 1980. It lived up to all my starry-eyed expectations, and no other track since has left me with the same feeling of awe. Maybe it’s because I was impressionable and new to racing at that time. I haven’t been there since the eighties, and it might wreck me to see it now…[/QUOTE]
It will. Unless things have changed since the last time I was there about 6 years ago for a short Jump race meet. And the first time I had been back since running a horse in the United Nations grade 1 stake in the mid 80’s. The track was in good shape the Grand stand was the same but looked dated and a bit uncared for. The stable area was a wreck. Most of the barns were falling down with junk everywhere. It felt like being on the set of a zombie movie. At least the grand stand is still there unlike Bowie which is now a dilapidated training center. I grew up going to the races there and have many found memories of the back side, track kitchen etc. It is very strange to go there now.
About 10 years ago I was asked by a group of show horse people with deep pockets to approach Greenwood Racing about buying the remaining property to build a premiere showing venue. They wanted to keep the race track also. They were willing to invest major money. The people at Greenwood Racing were very difficult to deal with and really had no interest. We even offered to fix up the Racing end and lease back to them to operate. Too bad because it really could have been spectacular.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;6935111]
Why are you confused?
On a side note, this is probably the only thread I’ve ever started on COTH that has survived more than a day. :lol:
Still love AC…[/QUOTE]
I’m just surprised that any North American track that wasn’t Kentucky Downs or a steeplechase-only venue would deliberately run only turf races.
I can’t remember what the stipulation is but if I remember correctly AC is required to run a certain number of days per year hence why the all turf meet seeing as the dirt track is run down (and dirtless). I think it has something to do with their simulcasting license or some such thing.
Thursday Apr 25, 2013 kicks off the ACR boutique meet!
Equibase entries for the race meet and it looks like every race is a full 12 starters. California racing only wishes it had field sizes like this
They do have the meet structured to maximize the timing of people getting off work and also have cut away the cost of admission/parking. Small things but lets face it you could stroll in and just watch for free. Not a bad way to kill a few hours for free.
Daily Racing Form 4/24/13: Atlantic City - Six-day, thirty-seven races, all-turf meet opens
First post each day is 3:30 p.m. Eastern, allowing area job-holders to sneak out a little early if they’re interested in live-racing action. The track will once again offer free admission and free parking on race days.
All six races on opening day, a mix of maiden special weights and starter allowances, have 12-horse fields. There are 71 horses entered on day two; 65 horses on day three; 67 horses on day four; and 70 horses on day five. On the seven-race closing-day card, 73 horses were entered for seven races, including 10 in the meet’s only stakes, the five-furlong, $50,000 Tony Gatto Dream Big.
That’s an average of 11.3 horses per race for the entire meet. Granted, it’s for turf races, which typically draw larger fields than dirt races, at a time when turf racing is just gearing up at northeast tracks, but the track is putting up that average at a time when many tracks are struggling to put eight horses in the gate.
“A lot of it has to do with the turf course, which just looks spectacular again this year,” said Maureen Bugdon-Gallagher, the track’s general manager. “But a lot of it is also Sal Sinatra’s work to put on good cards, and some of it is also nostalgia. This is South Jersey’s last racetrack, and I think people really like to come here because of the way the track brings back memories.”
Last year, the track posted a record for ontrack attendance on the last day of its meet when more than 11,000 people packed the small grandstand. Bugdon-Gallagher said the typical crowd at the meet is an “outdoor crowd,” and to that end, the track installed a new open-air betting pavilion by its paddock, opened a new outdoor bar, and set up outdoor restroom facilities.
“They walk in the front and go straight to the apron, the paddock, and then the rail to watch the races,” Bugdon-Gallagher said. “This is a crowd that likes to be outside.”
This is correct.
[QUOTE=mintano;6943201]
I can’t remember what the stipulation is but if I remember correctly AC is required to run a certain number of days per year hence why the all turf meet seeing as the dirt track is run down (and dirtless). I think it has something to do with their simulcasting license or some such thing.[/QUOTE]
This correct
[QUOTE=WhiteCamry;6942171]
I’m just surprised that any North American track that wasn’t Kentucky Downs or a steeplechase-only venue would deliberately run only turf races.[/QUOTE]
Their meet is insanely popular.
The stigma against turf racing in this country is a result of bettors, fans, and track management.
I’m not so sure abut this foolishness. The ACRC is a good novelty/boutique meet but that’s not the same as this - 2 race date proposal: May 20, 2013 - “Palio di Atlantic City – horse racing by the Boardwalk?”
Well, no one is quite ready for this yet, but the Atlantic City Alliance hopes to team up with Monmouth Park officials and an organization called American Palio LLC to figure out the logistics.
Among the unique possibilities, though almost all details could change:
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Laying down a 3/4th-of-a-mile temporary sand track that would have a Boardwalk Hall finish line.
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A Columbus Day weekend championship race, with the preliminary date to be determined.
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While the Palio di Siena has horses representing 10 of the 17 city wards (with the seven unrepresented gaining guaranteed entry the following year), the Palio di Atlantic City could have 50 horses entered in preliminary heats – one representing each U.S. state.
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There will be wagering, if legislation can be passed in time to allow it.
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Then again, you’d be betting on claiming horses and the like, presumably – I doubt if any star thoroughbred is going to be heading from the Haskell to the Palio, let’s put it that way as an understatement.
I think this kind of creative thinking may be what is needed to generate horse racing fans for the future. It’s really not any different than the fair meets that exist all over the country. Logistically, I’m not sure how shipping to the AC Boardwalk to run would be received by horsemen. But if the purses are good enough, they’ll come.
I still don’t see the material benefit long term from this carnival like offering but nobody asked me for my opinion. June 24, 2013 “Il Palio di Atlantic City – horse racing on the beach – nears final approval”
The state Assembly voted 76-0 in favor, sending the bill next to the state Senate.
The bill (A-4149) would authorize the New Jersey Racing Commission to grant a special permit – to permit holders in good standing authorized to conduct running races – to hold or conduct a special running race meeting on the beach.
The Atlantic City American Palio will be a series of horse races conducted on the beach in Atlantic City on Friday, Oct. 11 and Sunday, Oct 13. The event is an Americanization of Palio, a race in Siena, Italy, that has been run for the past 700 years. In Siena, the horses race one half mile around the Town Square, while the American version will have horses competing in the American classic distance of three-quarters of a mile on the Atlantic City beach.
American Palio will have a total of 50 horses competing in a series of elimination races that will narrow the field to the 10 runners who will race for the American Palio Championship.
The “American classic distance” is now just 3/4 mi? 
As Chairman Bob would say - Approved.
June 28, 2013: ‘NJ state Senate also approves Atlantic City horse racing on the beach’
The New Jersey state Senate today passed a bill to allow for horse racing on the beach in Atlantic City come October – giving the Garden State its own version of the famed “Il Palio di Siena” event that is more than 700 years old.
The bill also grants special permits for steeplechase racing in the state.
The Atlantic City American Palio will be a series of horse races conducted on the beach in Atlantic City – tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 11, 2013 and Sunday, October 13. In Siena, the horses race one half mile around the Town Square. The American version will have horses competing in the American classic distance of three quarters of a mile on the Atlantic City beach, according to the state Senate release.
NJ already has steeplechasing (Far Hills) so I wonder what the additional special permits means. Extension of wagering at chasing events?
[legislation would] permit horse racing to a beach in Atlantic City and wagering at the annual Far Hills Race Meeting.
The plan would … also would allow patrons to wager on the annual Far Hills Race Meeting, which has helped raise more than $18 million to the Somerset Medical Center’s cancer center since 2007.
Allowing patrons to wager on the annual race would help raise more money for cancer screening, treatment and other services.
“This will help generate more interest for a very popular event, and more importantly, it will raise more money to help people with cancer,” Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, R-Ocean, Burlington, Middlesex and Monmouth, said. “October will be horse racing month in New Jersey when our exciting new horse race on the Atlantic City beach joins the Far Hills Race Meeting to have a unique Columbus Day Weekend of horse racing from the shore to the steeplechase of Central Jersey.”
Bumping my own ancient thread back up to say this time, it looks like it may be gone for good:
Greenwood to Close Atlantic City Race Course
Atlantic City Race Course, which was coming off one of its better meets last year and was awarded 2015 dates, will shut down Jan. 16, owner Greenwood ACRA said Jan. 9.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/89514/greenwood-to-close-atlantic-city-race-course#ixzz3OQpFWQ2R
I hate to see this.
There goes another one .
Garden State is long gone. Now AC. Sad! :mad:
It would be nice if the horsemen and track management nation-wide could get in front of this train wreck that is racing and divert it in a manner that saves the sport while doing the least amount of damage.
But wait… does my thread get to live on one more time?
Monmouth Group Interested in Atlantic City
Excerpt from article:
Dennis Drazin, an adviser to Darby Development, which operates Monmouth in central New Jersey, said Jan. 13 he called Greenwood ACRA president Joe Wilson Jan. 9 after hearing the news Atlantic City would be shuttered. Drazin said the announcement of the shutdown caught him and others by surprise.
“We had no forewarning they weren’t going to operate a meet,” Drazin said. "Joe Wilson later that day called me as a courtesy to tell me what was happening, and I inquired if (Greenwood) was interested in leasing or selling Atlantic City. He said we would talk about it another day.
"We are all certainly saddened by the fact there would be no horse racing in South Jersey. The local community appreciates that meet and the history there, and there is an appetite for horse racing there. So we want to make an effort to enter a lease or purchase the track.
Read more on BloodHorse.com: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/89585/monmouth-group-interested-in-atlantic-city#ixzz3OllvKoD2
I really hope Greenwood isn’t a bunch of d-bags about this.
