Downs After Dark

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:12 am

We went tonight and It Was Great!!!!! Packed to the rafters. Something Churchill should do more often!

We were only there for five races and I hit two nice exactas - $218.80 and $166.60 on maiden races on paddock picks.

Mahubah · Postby **Mahubah** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:49 am

Sounds like you had a blast! And going home richer than when you started sure didn't hurt your feelings any, I bet!

bdw0617 · Postby **bdw0617** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:39 am

but..but... it's bad for racing!!!

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:57 pm

Why do you think it is bad for racing?

It felt like a return to what racing is supposed to be like - it felt like Saratoga in August. Looking out from the saddling enclosure, owners saw THOUSANDS of people who turned out to watch their horses run. There were tons of folks there quite new to horseracing. Churchill opened up Millionnaire's Row and offered a "date night" special with special seating, wonderful food, etc., all for $39 a head. I LOVE those kinds of days at the track because you have all sorts of bettors picking horses based on the horse's name, the color, how cute the jockey is, etc. This inflates the pools and makes the payoffs so much better! How is that bad for racing?
And racing gets a bunch of new fans and a wider audience.

They are having one more "Downs After Dark" next Thursday.

bdw0617 · Postby **bdw0617** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:58 pm

madelyn wrote:Why do you think it is bad for racing?

It felt like a return to what racing is supposed to be like - it felt like Saratoga in August. Looking out from the saddling enclosure, owners saw THOUSANDS of people who turned out to watch their horses run. There were tons of folks there quite new to horseracing. Churchill opened up Millionnaire's Row and offered a "date night" special with special seating, wonderful food, etc., all for $39 a head. I LOVE those kinds of days at the track because you have all sorts of bettors picking horses based on the horse's name, the color, how cute the jockey is, etc. This inflates the pools and makes the payoffs so much better! How is that bad for racing?
And racing gets a bunch of new fans and a wider audience.

They are having one more "Downs After Dark" next Thursday.

I gues you didn't detect my sarcasm in my post.

i was being (Extremely) sacastic. night racing is great for racing. but thee are some people that think that charging 10 dollars to get in on a friday night will some how ruin the sport.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:52 pm

But if you join the Twin Spires Club (which is free) the admission is only $1 and they had it set up so you could pick up your Twin Spires card anytime up to a couple of hours before the gates opened. Then you use your TSC card to bet and accumulate points toward valuable prizes - hats, umbrellas, shirts, etc.

Track admission for a place like Churchill Downs is maybe too cheap. $2 to get into a landmark like that? Same with Keeneland. As everywhere, it is FREE to licensed TB owners. Now if they charge me two bucks to get into a dump like Turfway Park, that seems kind of off kilter. My point is, Churchill stepped out and DID SOMETHING to get people to come to the track. They had that best dressed contest going on - there were roaming camera, interviewers, stuff being shown on the big screen - it was a PARTY.

They had bands, DJ's and music floating around EVERYWHERE - literally, it was amazing. KUDOS CHURCHILL!

bdw0617 · Postby **bdw0617** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:58 pm

madelyn wrote:But if you join the Twin Spires Club (which is free) the admission is only $1 and they had it set up so you could pick up your Twin Spires card anytime up to a couple of hours before the gates opened. Then you use your TSC card to bet and accumulate points toward valuable prizes - hats, umbrellas, shirts, etc.

Track admission for a place like Churchill Downs is maybe too cheap. $2 to get into a landmark like that? Same with Keeneland. As everywhere, it is FREE to licensed TB owners. Now if they charge me two bucks to get into a dump like Turfway Park, that seems kind of off kilter. My point is, Churchill stepped out and DID SOMETHING to get people to come to the track. They had that best dressed contest going on - there were roaming camera, interviewers, stuff being shown on the big screen - it was a PARTY.

They had bands, DJ's and music floating around EVERYWHERE - literally, it was amazing. KUDOS CHURCHILL!

I know that. and you re preaching to the chior. but i can post about 15 articles and at least 20 threads from various forums that said that 10 dollar admission was tghe death of racing and ovbiously these guys had no idea what they were doing.

30k one night, 27k the next.

Track admission for a place like Churchill Downs is maybe too cheap. $2 to get into a landmark like that?

preach it girl! we give our game away. the rationale for some people is that poker players dont' expect to pay when they go to a casino, how should horse racing fans have to pay 10 dollars.

what they don't realize is that poker is not a sporting event. horse racing is.

and frankely, if you are crying over 10 dollars, you weren't goin to add much to the handle anyway.

you make me want to go. it's kinda late this year.. but if they had it again in the fall i'll be there!

actaully id' be honestly shocked if they ever raced in the middle of the daqy on friday again after this meet.

also alot of these horse racing purist have no idea what the avg 25 year old's mindset is.

here is a frida night converatoin with my and my friends

Me: hey let's go to the track

friends: how much is it?

me: 10 bucks

friends: are there any hot women there?

me: hell ya

friends: do they have drinks?

me: sure do. cheap too

friends: what are we waiting for

Lisann · Postby **Lisann** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:50 am

Congrats on your successful wagers, Madelyn.

I've lived near Great Lakes Downs and Fairmount Park - both offer night time racing. Admission was cheap (think $2 at FP and GLD may have been free), but even $10 would be fine with me. Like bdw says, cheap drinks and usually cheap food, too.

ct2346 · Postby **ct2346** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:32 am

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any perspective on Woodbine's Wednesday night racing. I know they've been doing it for a few years...wondering if its successful too.

Perhaps the issue is that Friday night is DATE NIGHT...(Wednesday night certainly isn't).

I'm also not comparing CD to Penn National or MNR, but those tracks race at night all of the time. So - is CD successful so far because its a novelty? Or are they marketing it better? Or is Louisville just a better place to plan this?

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:24 pm

Turfway also has night racing - but it's nothing like Downs After Dark. Turfway's clubhouse has a barren, institutional Off Track Betting parlor combined with high school gymnasium seating feel to it. There is not an ounce of charm to it.

Churchill, on the other hand, has a big, cozy, old architecture feel that just gets sexy at night, when they turn the colored lights up on the twin spires and all.

hpkingjr · Postby **hpkingjr** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:18 am

Churchill, on the other hand, has a big, cozy, old architecture feel that just gets sexy at night, when they turn the colored lights up on the twin spires and all.[/quote

]

Yes, there is something about $1.00 ice cold beer that really enhances the mood, the appeal and the occasion. Takes about 5 or 6 beers and the old girl really starts to look hot. If you had stayed for 8 races you would have wanted to spend the night. Best you escaped after 5 races.

bdw0617 · Postby **bdw0617** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:10 pm

I hit the I want to say 9th race at churchill that night, the feature race by a nose... paid 20 dollars, on a horse that never should have been a penny over 3 to 1, and the next race I got 6 to 1 on a horse that finished 2nd by less than a length the last race otu in the exact same condition.

lol, the later the night got the better odds I got. Considence? Dollar beers, pretty women + bad bets. I think not

bdw0617 · Postby **bdw0617** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:48 pm

yes downs after dark doesn't work

Signed,

July 2nd attendance 33,681

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 10:50 pm

I hope this time you were also being sarcastic?

Three words describe why it worked, in my opinion. NEW RACING FANS.

Lisann · Postby **Lisann** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:35 am

Kudos to CD for trying something new.