It is anticipated that on the next Yonkers Raceway condition sheet, purses will be increased once again by 15 percent on the heels of the last increase of an equal amount
in the beginning of May. It is anticipated that the Opens at Yonkers will go for between $42,500 and $44,000.
SOA President Joe Faraldo expressed the views of the organization.
"This will definitely give Yonkers Raceway the highest Opens in the nation and ranks Yonkers as the number one racing venue in the nation, featuring the highest purses year 'round. The SOA of NY is pleased to have the co-operation of Yonkers' Vice President and General Manager Bob Galterio, as well as Race Secretary Steve Starr and Assistant Race Secretary Bob Miecuna in developing a planned purse schedule that is sustainable all year long."
On another note, the caps on three and four-year-olds may possibly be removed by the end of June, adding further racing opportunities for younger horses to compete at the Hilltop oval.
(SOA of New York)
The back to back purse
The back to back purse increases at yonkers is both good news and bad news for the industry. It is good news for the owners, trainers and drivers but bad news for the most important segment of the industry, the betting customer. Although the yonkers wagering pools have gone up a long way being a half mile track there is only so far that they can go. The big betters are not interested in half mile tracks where you get short priced winners from inside posts or betting priced horses from the outside posts who never get into the race because of an outside post on a half miler.
Prior to the arrival of slots the industry had two marquee tracks, the big m and the ojc which is now called weg. If you wanted to race for big purses you had to race at one of these two tracks. Both tracks used to have power packed cards, high end claimers, high end conditioned horses with full fields. For the ones who have race programs from 10 to 15 years ago from these two tracks and compare it to the cards offered by these tracks today, the quality of races is not even close.
I have not bet a race in over a year and won't bet again unless the race game addresses the many issues it has but a little over a year ago when i would look at a big m or weg friday or saturday program i would just look thru it and practically yawn. Nothing but short fields, cheap claimers, and low end conditioned horses. How times have changed for the worse if you are a better. There was a time that i would look at a big m or weg card and just be pumped.
Now with slots everywhere the horses are spread out all over north america and the good horses no longer have to race at the big m or weg to race for good purses. The horseman might mistakenly believe that this is okay but they would be wrong. The sport cannot survive unless they have several marquee tracks which will keep the whales interested. As the product continues to get watered down the gamblers slowly move on to other forms of gambling. Then what will happen next as wagers continue to decline governments will soon ask why are we pouring all this money into something the public simply does not care about.