After barely mentioning Curlin's presence in June at Belmont Park for the Man 'O War, NYRA has finally gotten smart and pulled out the marketing engine for Curlin's debut at Saratoga this Saturday in the Woodward. The website for NYRA prominently mentions Curlin and they even have a page called "Curlin's Corner". The website itself could still be much better and interactive than it is, but it is light years ahead of where it was this time last year.
So Curlin gets the Key to the City of Saratoga Springs and posters will be given out to the the first 20,000 fans to enter the track. What do you think the attendance will be? Charlie Heyward, president of NYRA, is looking for 30,000 according to his interview with Sherry Ross of the Daily News.
Attendance was up for week 5, with thanks going to the dry weather all week. As been the case all season, rain will keep the crowds down, sun will keep the crowds coming. I don't know if we will see 30,000 there on Saturday. Seems a tad too optimistic. If memory serves me correctly I think about 22,000 were there the last Saturday of the meet when Lawyer Ron took the Woodward. Figure curiosity about Curlin will bring in another 4000-6000 for a total of 26,000-28,000 total fans in my estimation. My gang going with me this Saturday increased from 8 people to 12 with 4 of the 12 being 1st time visitors. Imagine seeing Curlin on your first visit to a racetrack ? With many out of towners already gone and school starting this week for many kids, it will be tough to bring in really huge numbers. If they actually exceed 30,000 NYRA will be more than satisfied.
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3 comments:
It's good they are marketing Curlin better. However, you'd think NYRA would have the proper date on the video of Curlin's work. They claim it's 8/18, however, the video is of him working on the Oklahoma track in the slop. not at all what happened on 8/18.
Remember this is NYRA we are talking about. How much can we really expect. You think they could at least label the workouts correctly. Thanks for reading.
NYRA went all out on Curlin when he raced in the Man O' War. Remember that the state only approved the racing license a fews before the race. It would have been foolish for NYRA to advertise a horse that is not licensed to race at Belmont. NYRA turned over the homepage to Curlin and even had theme music for him when he stepped on the track.
http://gregcalabrese.blogspot.com/2008/07/man-o-war-trip-report.html
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