On Friday, I set my expectations for the 25th Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.  There are three things I was looking for during horse racing’s top event: big crowds, plenty of betting and a youthful trend.  The results were mixed.

Crowds

Attendance on Friday was 31,257.  Attendance on Saturday was 51,331.  The Saturday attendance was down a nominal 300 patrons from 2003 at Santa Anita.

Fifty-one thousand people is a lot of people.  And Santa Anita more or less felt packed (though the infield seemed more or less empty). And surely, the economy keeps people away.   It still makes me wonder, what will it take to draw 60,000 people for the best horse racing event of the year in a beautiful setting?

I was encouraged to talk to several people who had flown in from as far away as Vermont for the races. And the sight of looking at a sold out grandstand  is beautiful.

Handle

The spin will be that wagering is up–2.6 percent higher than the total all-sources wagering figure on the 11 Breeders’ Cup races held last year at Monmouth Park in New Jersey! That total was $129.2 million.  This year’s total was $132.6 million…on 14 races….and it wasn’t pouring rain, so there was less excuse to gamble.  Chalk this one up to the economy.

At the very least, I made a nice sizable donation to the Santa Anita coffers.

Youth

While it was no Del Mar, there were some under-30-year-olds.  But not many.  I didn’t get too good of a look at the General Admission sections, but I would say the Club Admission area ($50 and up entry) was 10% <30.  That 10% was enthusiastic though.  I would put the average age at 45.

2009 represents an opportunity for the Breeders’ Cup to reinvent horse racing and draw in a new, young crowd.  Make purple cool, leverage some of the hipper sponsorships, add some spice to the event, give away tickets on popular radio stations in Southern California.  Do something.  If not, the average age in 2009 will be 46.

Other Highlights:

• The palm tree framed views of the San Gabriel Mountains.  Absolutely stunning.  Though around 2PM they become slightly less stunning as the smog filled in
• Familiar faces from Del Mar
• Lanfranco Dettori throwing his whip in the air after breaking the track record and winning The Classic
• The novelty of downhill starts on the turf course never looks right
• The light applause for each winning horse making his way to the winner’s circle
• The respectful salute the crowd gave Curlin after a tough loss
• No breakdowns
• Good management of the traffic by the Arcadia police
• Lastly, the face on the guy three seats to the left and one row back when he realized he hit the Pick 6.  Priceless.  Looks like he was one of about 50 people that will be explaining $56K to the IRS.  If he was smart, he picked up all the tickets at my feet.  Plenty of write-down losers there.

See you in 2009.