1hooper
UpInClass Steward
Posts: 6,629
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Post by 1hooper on May 23, 2018 17:55:11 GMT -5
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Post by DoctorDisaster on May 24, 2018 17:28:35 GMT -5
Great news for me too.Another track I can drive to in a half hour.All these years and I never made it to the races there.Many of my friends would go but I never managed.Stories of the double triple. This could be fun.
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propro
UpInClass Member
Posts: 909
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Post by propro on May 24, 2018 21:50:19 GMT -5
My first trip to see racing at GBF was in 1997. I went to as many days in 97 and 98 as I could get to. It was different than Northampton but it was amazing with the hills in the background. The grandstand was totally new after the original was destroyed by a devastating hurricane in 1995. The location of the paddock was easy to see from the stands and the two story grandstand made wagering so much easier than at Nmp. You couldn't see much after the start of the 5.5f races out of the chute at the top of the stretch, but I could see enough to know when to start my stopwatch. The race times were as far off as they were at Nmp and there were no internal fractions in the Form, so keeping my own and having detailed trip notes gave me an edge over 95% of the racegoers. It was easier for horses to get around GBF since the about 5.5 and about 6.5 races were out of chutes and the horses were pretty settled by the time they got to the "rounded rectangle" turns. GBF was strange where the middle of the corners got so flat that some horses would actually change to their right lead while still turning left. If they didn't change back, they were at midtrack by the time they hit the straight, but most handled it well. The horses were cheap but loved to compete. I couldn't get enough of half mile fair racing in Massachusetts.
So now it's nearly 20 years later and I read about the possible return of GBF this morning. As exciting as the possibility is, it's not a longshot I'd be willing to wager on. Racing has always had it's opponents in Great Barrington and I'm not sure how the current group of Selectmen feel about this news. They all love their quiet and quaint New England town and do NOT like anything that brings big groups of people there. The guy that rebuilt GBF (cannot remember his name, but he was a character at the races since he asked me who I liked a lot) had all kinds of trouble getting a license to run there. Not that he wasn't at fault. He had issues paying people and got a bit over his head, but he had to fight the Selectmen at every step to get a license to race.
The fairgrounds are on a flood plain. The Housatonic River that runs at the base of the hill will overflow it's winding banks with any kind of summer storm. One article I read mentioned expanding the track past it's half mile dimensions. Even if they tore down the grandstand and built a new track at a different angle, they're still not getting anything larger than 5/8 or maybe 3/4 of a mile. Running over the existing half miler is really where they want to be if they run there. Suffolk might have deeper pockets than George Carney did when he tried to get Brockton up and running in 2015 and 2016 after losing his shirt racing in 2001, but GBF is going to need a lot of investment to become race ready. They can use the Fontana rail from Suffolk, which will save them a fortune. I have to think they'll take everything they can use at GBF that they won't need any longer at Suffolk and will ship it west. The grandstand is going to need a rebuild for sure.
My last concern might be the toughest one to overcome. The rules on live racing in order to have a license to have simulcasting doesn't include what Suffolk is trying to do, which is simulcast in Boston while having enough racing in Barrington to satisfy the racing commission. During the 90s, Great Barrington had simulcasting on their ballot but the town voted it down. The naysayers were afraid it would bring crime to their town and would just open the doors for a casino to open at the fairgrounds. Neither would be true, but they convinced enough people to vote no. This deal is 100% based on having this business model work where they can simulcast in a place other than where the live racing happens. The racing commission has shown they're willing to fight against racing in the state if they don't like something. How is Suffolk going to convince them to pass this one?
Nobody would love to see fair racing in Massachusetts again more than me. Even though my view is pessimistic, I'm hopeful they can pull it off....somehow. We'll have a UIC get together if they open. :-)
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