This week's Rewind is mainly pictorial in nature as the subject of attendance at harness racing in years gone by is the topic of conversation captured by a number of remarkable photos
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In the earlier days of racing it seems that having people show up to watch a day or an evening of racing was never a great concern. Obviously some racing centres were better at drawing crowds than others, but in general it was always a given that if a good card of racing was presented there would be lots of people there to watch. Unfortunately, slowly but surely, those days once taken for granted have ebbed away.
The modern day record for attendance at a live harness racing event was set in 1960 at Roosevelt Raceway in Long Island New York when 54,861 people showed up to watch that year's International Trot. For many decades it was common practice to publish daily attendance figures along with the mutuel handle. That stopped quite some time ago other than in rare instances.
Reportedly at one time a new track was proposed for construction in the area of the intersection of Highways 401 and 402 on the outskirts of London. It was believed to be the answer to the continuing problem of patrons being tied up while exiting from The Western Fair Raceway. I am told that this proposal involved a number of people influential in the sport at that time and progressed to the point of having detailed blueprints and conceptual drawings of the proposed facility. It obviously never took place, or at least not yet.
I can clearly recall the day when attending live racing was a "big deal" and caused a lot of excitement as people hurried to arrive on time, buy a program, get a good seat (and try to hang on to it) and for sure the first order of business was to bet the Daily Double. There were times when one person from a group went earlier than the rest and "put dibs" on a row of seats with a blanket or a newspaper to insure seating for all. A few months ago I was in attendance at what is now known as "live" racing and there were so few people there and it was so still and lifeless that a fellow not far from me said "I feel like I'm in church, it's so quiet in here."
The reason why crowds have diminished has now become the proverbial $64 Question.
When harness racing was a
When harness racing was a sport on which you could bet, it prospered. When it became solely a medium for gambling it went down the tubes.
J. S. Findley.
Exposure to the horse is the
Exposure to the horse is the basis of our industry. Follow the Canadian hockey model. What if there were the same amount of back yard tracks as there are back yard rinks? What if there were the same amount of fairground barns as there are community hockey arenas? What if youth horse camps equaled youth hockey camps. Take the school kids on an outing to the fairground barn as well as the skating rink.
The shift from rural to urban living certainly hasn't helped our cause any. How do we "re-introduce" the horse to a new urban demographic. Urbanites love their outings to the rural community to "get away from it all"
Ideas - Resurrect fair racing by shifting that 'skimmed" B track purse money and some sire stake money over to a fair curcuit. Lots of examples south of the border to follow; start small and build public interest each year.
Wow David you just pointed
Wow David you just pointed out the most basic part of the business, the exposure to the horse which is the foundation for the sport, if your not exposed to horses how are you going to fall in love with horses and then want race your own? It's so obvious once pointed out that it's startling when you think about today's society.
It was never gamblers who filled those tracks back in the day per say, it was horse lovers and horse owners of all breeds who came to cheer their favorites and gamble!
I guess all any one person can do is drag as many friends to the track as often as we can and hope they catch the "Bug"
Mr Robinski, i really don't
Mr Robinski, i really don't understand your comment. This has been my position all along. The races is all about gambling and with out gambling few people are interested and the empty grandstands prove that. I have said all along that the race game has forgotten all about there customer base and they need to give back by way of reduced takeout. With out that they have no chance of getting people like me back or attracting the next generation of gamblers who have been brought up playing low vig games such as sports and poker. As time goes on it appears that tracks would rather close then fix there outdated broken business model.
I don't know Mr.John Carter
I don't know Mr.John Carter although I have been an occasional critic and supporter of his comments. His latest regarding the $64, question got me thinking about how one could reattract people such as him and attract new customers to racing/harness racing. First acknowledege without wagering racing has proven it is not interesting enough to attract a fan base. Now instead of racing revenue receivers(trainers,drivers.officials/etc)continuing to try and get more for themselves, how about more for the customers. Use a percentage of the slot revenue as a poool/s for those who wager on racing in a affinity program style.Perhaps we could live with a 10-15% takeout if there was an opportunity to participate in wagering pools in a relationship to the amount previously wagered. The refusal of any and all in the racing industry to improve the product and possible return to their "customers" (the bettors) has been going on far too long.
Bob and John Carter, Amen
Bob and John Carter, Amen and Ditto !!!!
Yes, there are now other
Yes, there are now other forms of gambling but how many days of racing were there at each track back then? It's kind of hard to get that level of interest when you race from January 1 to December 31.
THE modern family knows very
THE modern family knows very little about the farm life as the population has shifted to the cities. They never had time on the farm with the grandparents learning to enjoy the love of horses. Even my children who are in their late twenties would ever think of going to the track for an evenings entertainment. The tracks will never see the crowds again.
OH no it is not a $64
OH no it is not a $64 question it is all too obvious. It is a terrible deal in the gambling market place!!
The $64 dollar question as
The $64 dollar question as to where the crowds have gone is actually quite simple to answer. There is hundreds of things to do now in the way of entertainment that you couldn't do years ago. Also years ago if people wanted to gamble you had two choices, races or bingo now you don't have to leave your home to gamble 24 hrs a day. Combine that with the fact that the race game has seen there attendance and handle nose diving for over 20 years and have yet to do anything serious to try and reverse it and you have the making of the perfect storm. People like myself have been saying over and over again that I WANT TO PLAY THE RACES but can't because the race game refuses to get serious and compete for my business by competing with the other forms of gambling that I am now playing like sports and poker. The end result empty grandstands and no handle and tracks disappearing.