Farewell Arlington Park

Or should I say goodbye

Ive read some things about whos the blame for the fall of this once great racetrack.

Churchill ,the racetrack commission, patrons like myself who failed to support the track.

All I know is Arlington was the track that gave me my start. [Was that a good thing? lol ]

Before the fire this track was awesome. Something changed after the rebuild. Not sure what it was but never was the same as far as Im concerned.

I used to talk to a few old timers. Guys that hung out there day in day out. They would sit and stare at there racing forms and newspapers, they were a lot thicker then.

Going to take a road trip and go one last time for the finale tomorrow afternoon. Gonna have some fun, maybe buy a t shirt and win a few bucks.

94 years & it's gone with very little fanfare. Casinos have saved a few tracks but have killed 2 tracks in Florida with Calder & Pompano Park closing.

Have a great time vet.

Good point Midnight.

Dont believe Arlington had any casino style games.

Could have built Rivers Casino there. There was plenty of space. 

Wow that's sad.

Horse racing is slowly going the way of the dodo.  It seems like one or two parks close every year.  Eventually only the super tracks will be left standing.  I think people have simply lost interest in the sport.  Other than the Kentucky derby and triple crown races and the Breeder's Cup, no one really talks about horse racing.  I think things need to change to get the audience back and wagering again.  They need to find a way to compete with sports wagering.  A couple things they can do from the top of my head:

1. Bring in fixed odds wagering.  Get rid of pari-mutuel wagering.  It turns off people when you bet a horse at 5-1 and it goes off at ,2-1.  You may like horse #5 at 5-1 but would pass at 2-1.  You don't really have that option.

2. Bring in horse matchup wagering.  Same style as NASCAR.  Horse 1 vs. horse 2, bet on who finishes ahead.  You could have sports wagering odds this way.

Something has to be done to change things up.  The interest is waning and more and more tracks will close.

I really like thee idea of fixed odds.  Sometimes its also refreshing to see a race where the favorite  goes off as high as 4-1.

Many races, the top 3 horses are like 3-5, 6-5, and 2-1. Tough to beat those odds.

Earlie Fires will always be my memory of AP. 

I remember in the mid 90's for a meet, maybe two they have odd/even wagering which just didnt catch on.

Sad to see it go.