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Horse die-offs and high roller dearth cut Del Mar take
Absence of two unidentified "VIP bettors" responsible for $8 million gambling plunge
The business of betting on California horseflesh has been on the decline, plagued by the rise of Indian casinos, a dearth of high rollers, and a rash of well-publicized equine deaths at Del Mar over the summer.
A recent post mortem prepared by the management of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for the board of its landlord, the 22nd District Agricultural Association, tells the track's tale of woe.
"Total revenues for the ten-month period ending October 31, 2014, totaled $31.0 million, which is $2.6 million under budget and $1.9 million lower than the prior-year levels," the document says.
Horse death at Del Mar
"The decline in revenues was primarily related to the adverse publicity related to the catastrophic injuries and the suspension of turf racing during the middle portion of the summer race meet."
In short, after the carnage began, a lot of would-be racing fans stopped showing up.
"Several factors arose beginning in the second week of the meet that contributed to an overall 6.3% decline in average daily attendance and a 6.4% decline in average daily wagering when compared to 2013," according to the report.
"Chief among these factors was a three day period in late July during which seven horses perished for various reasons, including both racing and non-racing related incidents.
"Publicity concerning these fatalities cast a pall over the meet," the document says.
"This is especially so with regard to four catastrophic breakdowns occurring on the newly-installed turf course and in light of national publicity that resulted from our decision to cease turf racing for several days."
The thoroughbred club singled out the news media for special blame.
"ABC World News and Good Morning America, for example, erroneously reported that during this period Del Mar was closed not just for turf racing, but entirely.
"Numerous patrons reported to us that they did not attend the races because of ABC News’ erroneous reporting, which had been picked up throughout the Southern California region and nationally. Although ABC News corrected the misleading headline, by the time it did so the negative impact on attendance had already begun."
Even bad weather played a role in its season of hard luck, the club asserted.
"Del Mar also experienced rain, including weekend thunderstorms, in late July for the first time in many years, which led to lower attendance during the last weekend of the month. These factors combined to negatively impact our overall attendance this summer."
Then there were those unnamed reluctant gambling whales.
"On-track wagering revenues were $790,000 under budget due to the decline of total on-track attendance and a sharp reduction in wagering activity by several large VIP bettors," the report reveals.
"Large-player wagering declined $8.0 million, or 47%, because the two largest players from the 2013 race meet were absent for much of this summer."
Food and plenty of booze, a mainstay of the famously partying racetrack, remained a bright spot.
"Despite the decline in attendance, because our marketing expenditures are so heavily weighted on events that drive sales of food and beverages, per capita food and beverage spending increased by 7.5% over 2013 and food and beverage net revenues were $7.0 million, nearly equal to the record set in 2013."
Following its embarrassing run of horse die-offs, the report says, Del Mar started paying more attention to the animals' health and the condition of the track, and quickly stemmed the rash of expirations.
"We reopened our turf course on August 19 after performing maintenance to ensure that it was as safe as possible," notes the post mortem.
"Because soundness of race horses tends to be a predominant factor in breakdowns, out of an abundance of caution we decided to limit the number of turf races to only the highest quality allowance and stakes races, and to implement more stringent pre-race veterinary examinations.
"There was not a significant racing injury on the turf course throughout the remainder of the summer meet."
Here's something you might be interested in.
Horse die-offs and high roller dearth cut Del Mar take
Absence of two unidentified "VIP bettors" responsible for $8 million gambling plunge
Horse die-offs and high roller dearth cut Del Mar take
Absence of two unidentified "VIP bettors" responsible for $8 million gambling plunge
The business of betting on California horseflesh has been on the decline, plagued by the rise of Indian casinos, a dearth of high rollers, and a rash of well-publicized equine deaths at Del Mar over the summer.
A recent post mortem prepared by the management of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for the board of its landlord, the 22nd District Agricultural Association, tells the track's tale of woe.
"Total revenues for the ten-month period ending October 31, 2014, totaled $31.0 million, which is $2.6 million under budget and $1.9 million lower than the prior-year levels," the document says.
Horse death at Del Mar
"The decline in revenues was primarily related to the adverse publicity related to the catastrophic injuries and the suspension of turf racing during the middle portion of the summer race meet."
In short, after the carnage began, a lot of would-be racing fans stopped showing up.
"Several factors arose beginning in the second week of the meet that contributed to an overall 6.3% decline in average daily attendance and a 6.4% decline in average daily wagering when compared to 2013," according to the report.
"Chief among these factors was a three day period in late July during which seven horses perished for various reasons, including both racing and non-racing related incidents.
"Publicity concerning these fatalities cast a pall over the meet," the document says.
"This is especially so with regard to four catastrophic breakdowns occurring on the newly-installed turf course and in light of national publicity that resulted from our decision to cease turf racing for several days."
The thoroughbred club singled out the news media for special blame.
"ABC World News and Good Morning America, for example, erroneously reported that during this period Del Mar was closed not just for turf racing, but entirely.
"Numerous patrons reported to us that they did not attend the races because of ABC News’ erroneous reporting, which had been picked up throughout the Southern California region and nationally. Although ABC News corrected the misleading headline, by the time it did so the negative impact on attendance had already begun."
Even bad weather played a role in its season of hard luck, the club asserted.
"Del Mar also experienced rain, including weekend thunderstorms, in late July for the first time in many years, which led to lower attendance during the last weekend of the month. These factors combined to negatively impact our overall attendance this summer."
Then there were those unnamed reluctant gambling whales.
"On-track wagering revenues were $790,000 under budget due to the decline of total on-track attendance and a sharp reduction in wagering activity by several large VIP bettors," the report reveals.
"Large-player wagering declined $8.0 million, or 47%, because the two largest players from the 2013 race meet were absent for much of this summer."
Food and plenty of booze, a mainstay of the famously partying racetrack, remained a bright spot.
"Despite the decline in attendance, because our marketing expenditures are so heavily weighted on events that drive sales of food and beverages, per capita food and beverage spending increased by 7.5% over 2013 and food and beverage net revenues were $7.0 million, nearly equal to the record set in 2013."
Following its embarrassing run of horse die-offs, the report says, Del Mar started paying more attention to the animals' health and the condition of the track, and quickly stemmed the rash of expirations.
"We reopened our turf course on August 19 after performing maintenance to ensure that it was as safe as possible," notes the post mortem.
"Because soundness of race horses tends to be a predominant factor in breakdowns, out of an abundance of caution we decided to limit the number of turf races to only the highest quality allowance and stakes races, and to implement more stringent pre-race veterinary examinations.
"There was not a significant racing injury on the turf course throughout the remainder of the summer meet."
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