Happy New Year!
Californians get up for full card simulcasting ----
With his eyes focused on a bank of television monitors, and his head adorned by a Jets cap, it wasn't hard to figure out why Butch Andrews had awakened early Friday morning, shaken off the cobwebs from his New Year's Eve revelries the night before, and headed straight to Hollywood Park. The first at Aqueduct was only minutes away.
"I think this is great," said Andrews, who lives in nearby Redondo Beach, referring to California's leap into full-card domestic simulcasting. "I like racing in New York and Florida. There's better prices because of the bigger fields. I set my alarm to make sure I'd be here. But I could use a Bloody Mary."
Andrews was one of several hundred people who were at Hollywood Park by 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time for Aqueduct's first race. The scene was the same throughout the state, as 35 sites - racetracks, county fairs, and Indian gaming facilities - opened early for simulcasts from both Aqueduct in New York and Calder in Florida.
The simulcasts began on Friday because of California state Senate Bill 27, which was signed into law in August by Gov. Pete Wilson and which allows California tracks to take up to 20 domestic simulcast races each day. The fans who showed up for day one on Friday largely were regular players, and the demographics were decidedly skewed towards males.
The handle, statewide, was $947,325 for the races at Calder, and $654,731 for Aqueduct. All the money is comingled. Calder had a 12-race card, Aqueduct nine, but because SB 27 permits just 20 simulcast races a day, fans were not permitted to wager on the first at Calder.
"Those are big numbers. We're very pleased," said Bruce Matthias, simulcast coordinator at Santa Anita, which acts as the hub for California's 35 simulcast sites.
The handle was larger than track officials expected and Matthias predicted that the handle would increase on Florida racing when Gulfstream opens on Sunday. And when fans have had a better night's sleep.
"Today is not one of the great tests," Matthias said. "This is going to build. Gulfstream has races with national implications, like the preps for the Kentucky Derby."
Still, opening day was auspicious. The crowds were generally larger than the ones that showed up for evening simulcasts from Australia and Hong Kong, which - along with daytime simulcasts from Woodbine in Canada - were eliminated by SB 27 as the trade-off for approving domestic simulcasts. Cal Rainey, the operations manager at Golden Gate, said his track normally got about 200 people for the night simulcasts, but that number had been surpassed by 9:45 Friday morning.
And the fans who showed up were excited about the ability to bet on races from New York and Florida.
"Now I don't have to drive four hours to Las Vegas," said John Lauro, a Glendale resident who was at Hollywood Park. "This saves me eight hours."
The crowds grew larger as the morning wore on, and post time for live racing in California drew near. Golden Gate, which gave away watches on Friday, started racing at 12:15 p.m. Santa Anita started at 12:30.
Rick Karapetian of Burbank was at Santa Anita early, and was planning on making an entire day of it. He hit the trifecta on the second race at Calder, and celebrated with a beer. It was 10 a.m.
"When I lived in New Jersey I used to play all the tracks there," said Karapetian, who said he was treading lightly in the Eastern races. "I plan to stay at Santa Anita. I know that a little better." |
