Hialeah Contest

[papabear]

JAN.12th is a NHC event @ the Casino.

Has anyone ever played a Contest at Hialeah? If so, is it run well? Any info would be appreciated. thx

[Badactor]

Hi papabear...

I guess no one here has played this contest, so you'll be the first.
Good luck and please post about your experience. Go get 'em! 

[papabear]

I'm flying from Toronto to Miami with my wife for a little vacation and i think i'll give the contest a shot.

[bitowisdom]

Hoping you tear the place to pieces!!! Good Luck

[papabear]

Played the Hialeah contest last Sunday. I'll get the betting part over quickly ... My plays mostly ran second (large bet on Senora Roma @ GP). Then I bet $20 win on Far From Awesome in TB 4th. The horse was 55-1 ... a contest changer type of play. The horse ran his eyeballs out and finished SECOND. I only heard of one other player having this horse. My betting got worse after that race. Oh well ... i took a shot.

The contest itself was a nicely run event. Cost was $300 and you had $200 to bet with (10 plays @ $20 per). $5k + NHC seat for first, then $2.5k (2nd), $1.5k (3rd) and $1k for 4th. It was the first contest for Hialeah. They treated everyone well and feed us with a good lunch. They quickly took care of any tote/player issues. A bit of confusion by some of the players about the rules ... betting $20 WPS was actually 3 mandatory plays.

They announced they would run this contest again next year.

Finally, Hialeah itself is a thing of beauty. I walked around a bit to take in the place. Its run down for sure ... all the money goes into the Casino. The structure is terrific and i can only imagine how wonderful it would've been back in its prime. It was sad leaving because the racing world is missing out.

[tenfurlongs]

Thanks for the update Mike! Glad you had a good time down there. I would love to see somebody restore Hialeah to its former glory, but that's just a pipe dream now, I guess.

TW