50°F
weather icon Clear

New track might embody future

Who would have thought the future of horse racing could be embodied in Erie, Pa.?

Presque Isle Downs racetrack and casino in Erie will begin its first season of racing Saturday. Purses for the 25-day meet will average $500,000 a day.

Those are Keeneland and Saratoga numbers that should petrify any racetrack company that does not have slot machines.

The signal will not be offered for wagering here in Las Vegas. At least for now. However, purses that large beg for attention from the betting public.

Presque Isle could be the new model for the future of racing. As much as us fans want to see live racing, in reality about 80 percent of horse betting is done away from the track.

I cannot imagine live attendance and handle being anything but mediocre in Erie. Regardless, the quality of the product, if Presque Isle's operators can sustain big fields, could attract decent handle in the simulcast market.

The price of doing business at Presque Island is downsized by the area, plus the low cost of living. Compare that to such places as Bay Meadows, Hollywood Park and Aqueduct, where the property value is worth more than the racetrack itself and the cost of living is exorbitant.

As the sport evolves into a theater of racing, Presque Isle might become the best embodiment of that. Good product, cheap environment, rich slots.

MTR Gaming, which did a terrible job running Binion's casino downtown, owns and operates Presque Isle. It's a job that better suits the company.

I'm interested in its choice of synthetic racing surface, Tapeta.

Tapeta is owned by trainer Michael Dickinson, who is the father of the new wave of synthetic surfaces. He owns the patent for the wax-coated sand, so he is paid a royalty whenever a surface such as Cushion track or Polytrack is installed.

In 2008, Presque Isle is planning a 100-day meet with daily purses averaging about $300,000. But in the first year, trainers are treating this meet like a California gold rush with purses of $40,000 and up for maiden races, for example, showing the largesse of the slot machine-fueled condition book.

Richard Eng's horse racing column is published Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.

THE LATEST
Irish War Cry due for good race, pick to win Belmont

With Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness champion Cloud Computing skipping the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, the Triple Crown races will produce three different winners for the second consecutive year.

This weekend is filled with festival-style horse racing

Today the trend is for racetracks to cluster their stakes in a festival-style program. Thus, the Met Mile will be among nine graded stakes on the Belmont Stakes card June 10.

Always Dreaming’s Preakness run proves ‘horses are human’

Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming by various accounts came bouncing out of Churchill Downs in good order. His Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher felt good about his preparation.

Kentucky Derby offers clues for Preakness winner

Always Dreaming is the horse the racing industry will be rooting for. A win in the Preakness sets up another Triple Crown chance in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Preakness questions immediately face Always Dreaming

After Always Dreaming crossed the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby, the first question was, “Is he good enough to win the Triple Crown.”

McCraken gets nod to win Kentucky Derby

Many experts are calling this the most wide-open Kentucky Derby in years. When I hear that, I get cynical. Wide open was in 2009 when Mine That Bird destroyed the field at 50-1 odds.

Kentucky Derby week means betting seminars in Las Vegas

The Kentucky Derby attracts the most novice and casual bettors of any race in our sport. With that in mind, there are all kinds of free Derby seminars next week.

Patience is necessary for future bets in horse racing

I love making future bets, not only in horse racing but also other sports. That’s because horseplayers learn a basic tenet early on. Our goal is to bet a little to win a lot.

‘Super Saturday’ should solidify Kentucky Derby field for many horses

When the folks at Churchill Downs dreamed up the Kentucky Derby points system, I was skeptical at first. Not anymore. It has worked by producing fields of in-form horses that, for the most part, are also bred to race two turns.