the new Gulfstream Park

[Tbone]

Has anyone been to the new Gulfstream Park?I was there on opening day and haven't been back since.I was suprised to find the facility as small as it is, and limited seating to view live racing @ $10.00 a pop.if you can get one.Simulcasting was also $10.00 and $10.00 for a terminal.Has anything changed there? any comments? Tbone
P.S I don't know how they could host a big event like the fountain of youth ,or a breeders cup.

[ken]

Magna wants people with more money to come to live events. They thinks the horses do not care about being cheered for. They wanted exposure and TV coverage. The Sunshine Millions was a PR stunt to get exposure to GP.

[trifecta mark]

I have kept up with all the negative comments by authors, race goers and column writers but have withheld judgement since the top guy there discouraged attendence at the beginning of the meet. I thought i would go in March. My closest friend went down there for two days last weekend. He said the experience is a lot like a race book in a casino as opposed to a venue like Del mar or Saratoga. The archetecture is nice but there are few if any places to enjoy the races outside ....so it lacks an endearing power to please when the weather is good. It is also more expensive. The seating/standing area around the paddock walk is relatively small and the center fountain location cuts the space available for the connections. My friend said that if their goal was to eliminate 'rift raft' they have suceeded. He also said there is some possibility of remedy if the owner wants to adapt to what the $2 players want. You would think it would be common sense to have good outside seating and perhaps some outside bermuda grass lawns for the patrons to enjoy. I could be that all they care about is the slots.

[ken]

Compare GP to this.the plans after Stronach was not allowed to add hotel and shopping mall to SA:
"The Canadian based horseman has also re-evaluated some of his renovation plans for Santa Anita. In a meeting with about 300 horsemen and track employees before the close of the Santa Anita meeting in April, Stronach explained opponents of the master plan influenced him to change his mind about doing away with the unique hillside turf course and from moving the walking ring from the paddock gardens to an area in front of the grandstand. "You’ve got to listen," he said in a Thoroughbred Times interview.

Now, the primary components of the initial phase of the construction will be the building of new barns on the site of the northern parking lot near the hillside course, new dormitories for backstretch workers, and a state-of-the-art clubhouse dining room. Additional plans call for dressing up both the walking ring and trackside apron with major landscaping projects, and a European-style galloping area near the hillside turf course.

Stronach added that implementation of future phases will not interrupt any live racing at the Arcadia, Calif., track, meaning that the Oak Tree meeting and California Cup in the year 2000 will not be seriously impacted by the construction."
Maybe those more familiar with GP can point out more differences than I see.