February 20, 2025 • 10 mins
On this week's Harness Racing Alumni Show, we are joined by Dover Downs Alex Kraszewski. He discuses his view with Freddie, Trade and Bob on the drag time between races. Alex shares the positive effects that it has on the bottom-line dollars it contributes to the sport. Plus, Andy Cohen….., all on this week's educational broadcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to this week's Harness Racing Alumni Show. I'm Freddie
Hudson and I'm here today with Trade Martin, Bob Mark,
along with Andy Cohen and his weekly Keep and Pace update.
The Harness Racing Alumni Show is the number one Harness
racing podcast in North America. We have sponsorships and advertising
spots available. For more information, email Trodden at outlook dot com,
(00:24):
our visit us trots dot com. The statements and opinions
of our guests are their personal opinions and beliefs, and
it does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Harness
Racing Alumni Show or of its host. The Harness Racing
Alumni Show with your host Freddie Hudson and Trade Martin
(00:47):
return as this week's guest is Dover Down's Alex Kazuski. Alex,
Welcome back to the Harness Racing Alumni Show, Freddie, Bob Trade.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Thank you very much for the opportunity, guy, It's always
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Discussion today is going to be about the drag time
between races. Can you give us a little history as
to how this developed? Surere, Freddie.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Actually we're going to go back in the eighties, our
president Bob Quigley Garden State Park as well as our
general manager Bob Borke, in an effort to raise more
racing revenues, came up with an idea. We were racing
live afternoon, it would be the Import race singal, whether
it be Golf Stream Park, Belmont, and patrons would be
(01:39):
able to wager on that. The neat thing was there
were two separate pools. There was the pool of the
betting at Garden State Park, say at golf Stream and
at golf Stream Park itself. Therefore, a patrient would be
able to choose the odds. There would be two separate
odds at the racetrack. And it became a little bit
(01:59):
of a lot of fun. And then they thought, well,
how about let's try full card simulcast. Because at the
time you could only wager at the racetrack you were
at this way, the idea of full cart simulcasting, the
patron would be able to bet on the Triple Crown
or Gulf String or Belmont or the Metal Lands. And
(02:21):
that's when that came about. Obviously, we needed equipment. We
needed a satellite up truck to uplink the signal bounce
it off the satellite for satellite time and then come
back down to a decoder. The telephone lines the betting
lines were dial up telephone line, so we would have
(02:41):
twenty lines of that. So in order to have full
cart simulcast, we were able to commingle all those pools.
So what you see in the odds boards were all
across the country into one pool and that's where the
art of full card simulcasting came about. Out.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, how how much money does like Dover Downs get
out of the pool? I mean, we know what the
pools are for the Dover Downs itself, but for wagerings
on other tracks, how much of money comes in that way?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, I mean it's obviously it's hard to tell because sometimes,
like during the week, a couple of racetracks canceled out,
so we are able to gather the revenue from those
canceled racetracks, which added to our handle. So it depends
(03:38):
on race to race and and also as we stated before,
we uh Patty bringhams our director of racing. She also
was able to adjust off time and that way patrons
are able to have a choice of what they want
to what they want to play. Either we go above
(04:01):
or below post time of a particular racetrack. The intent
is to not have two or three racetracks go off
at the same time. Therefore, a patron has a chance
to choose whatever racetracks they want to bet without any
kind of conflict.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
While this is going on, you know you also have
thoroughbred races going off at the same time, not just
harness racings.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Correct, Yes, yeah, I mean it's it's an interesting concept
of the fact that Freddie, there are I think at
Valley Dober we have fifteen different signals throughout the day.
It doesn't mean that necessarily all the racetracks are going
to be by themselves, but the point is to be
able to allow a couple moments for the betting patrons
(04:46):
to make their choice of what racetrack they want to play.
The oft times. Sometimes we may go under a racetrack.
In other words, post time at Northfield off times they
instead have gone heading at the same time. We may
go five minutes under them or a couple of minutes
(05:07):
over them, so that there's not a conflict. A patron
can also not only make us at Bally's, Dover and Northfield.
It gives them the freedom because Freddie it's a casino
mentality out there where there's a race almost going off
every three minutes. So you want to give the betting
patron every ample possibility to bet whatever racetrack they want,
(05:30):
whether it be would bind Up in Canada or the
Metal Lands or Bally's Dover. That way, you have a
choice as opposed to a racetrack going off simultaneously.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Now, what this is going on is like Patty in
contact with like the fifteen other racetracks, well.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Not only Patty, but most of the mutual managers. They
have access. They have a board in front of them
that shows all the racetracks that are up, and you'll
be to tell at what time racetrack is setting their
post times. So therefore there's the axis of being able
(06:09):
to adjust the off times. As I said, you might
have Northfield Park, you might have the Metal Lands going
off at eight o'clock, and rather than us go off
at eight o'clock, adjust the off time to go five
minutes under or maybe five minutes over. That that way
there's not a conflict of three of us all going
(06:30):
off at the same time and therefore losing that valuable revenue.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Now, Bob Mars has always thought that we should have
our own channel and that we should have a director
that basically coordinates all this. What are your thoughts on
something like that.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, back in the day in the eighties, Bob Borg
had an idea he wanted to have like a time
walcast referee that way, you know, like a traffic cop
directs traffic that way, everybody you know, would have their
own time as to avoid a conflict of going off
at the same time. Unfortunately, the racetracks, a lot of
(07:09):
them did not pick up on this process. Freddie and Bobby.
It's up to the individual racetrack. But like I said,
in order to generate more revenue and to adjust off times,
it benefits the horsemen because there's going to be more
money into the betting pools. Therefore the percentages of the
(07:30):
purses will will have a bit of an increase. That's
the point to avoid conflicts and allow a betting patron
to choose whatever racetrack they want to bet without two
or three going off at the same time. It's just
just traffic control, that's all.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah. How much more of a positive impact doesn't have
towards the pool, Well, it does.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Back in the day at Garden State Park in the
eighties when we were we wanted to be the last
racetrack up on the Timulcast network and we would bet
one hundred thousand dollars on that last race. Then later
on at when I was at Delaware Park, we had
a horse that got caught in the gate for a
turf race. There was a five minute delay and we
(08:18):
were adding twenty thousand dollars and added revenue each minute.
So that's the point, you know, the more we want
to have more revenue, obviously it matriculates to higher persons,
but it is added revenue as opposed to you know,
and the question is full card simulcasting as opposed to
(08:40):
on track. Well, in the eighties, you go to a racetrack,
that's the only place that you've gut bet. Full card
timbulcast allows you to bet the Kentucky Derby, the Triple Crown,
the Hamiltonian, all the other individual races which we weren't
able to do in the eighties before fool card simulcasting.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Hey, Bob Marks, did you have anything you wanted to say?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, I think we've covied the situation very well.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Okay, And Alex, I'll ask you do you have any
last words to say before I close the show out. Well, Freddie.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
One one thing, our track and atcher Jack Gallagher just
celebrated the birthday last week. He's now been announcing races
at Harrington at Ballysover for forty two years. So hats
off to our track and Atcher Jack Gallagher.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Happy birthdays. Okay with that, Alix, thank you so much
for joining us.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Today, Freddie, Bobby, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Now over to Andy. Thanks Freddy.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I honestly don't know what I'm going to write about
yet for next Monday and the Keeping Pace column at
Pollock Report, but I wanted to jump in here and
say congratulations to all of the dance hats, winners, the humans,
the horses who will be honored this weekend a f
THEESHUWA event in Florida. So many worthy winners, so many
good people getting.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
The rest recognition they deserve. So I just wanted to
get on the record with that. Back to you, Fred
Thank you. Andy. The Harness Racing Alumni Show is the
number one harness racing podcast in North America and has
listened to worldwide on multiple platforms including Speaker, iHeartRadio, Ushrats
dot Com, Harness Link, Google Podcasts, and many others to
(10:21):
our audience. Thanks for listening, and please join us again
next week the Harness Racing Alumni Show
Welcome to this week's Harness Racing Alumni Show. I'm Freddie
Hudson and I'm here today with Trade Martin, Bob Mark,
along with Andy Cohen and his weekly Keep and Pace update.
The Harness Racing Alumni Show is the number one Harness
racing podcast in North America. We have sponsorships and advertising
spots available. For more information, email Trodden at outlook dot com,
(00:24):
our visit us trots dot com. The statements and opinions
of our guests are their personal opinions and beliefs, and
it does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Harness
Racing Alumni Show or of its host. The Harness Racing
Alumni Show with your host Freddie Hudson and Trade Martin
(00:47):
return as this week's guest is Dover Down's Alex Kazuski. Alex,
Welcome back to the Harness Racing Alumni Show, Freddie, Bob Trade.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Thank you very much for the opportunity, guy, It's always
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Discussion today is going to be about the drag time
between races. Can you give us a little history as
to how this developed? Surere, Freddie.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Actually we're going to go back in the eighties, our
president Bob Quigley Garden State Park as well as our
general manager Bob Borke, in an effort to raise more
racing revenues, came up with an idea. We were racing
live afternoon, it would be the Import race singal, whether
it be Golf Stream Park, Belmont, and patrons would be
(01:39):
able to wager on that. The neat thing was there
were two separate pools. There was the pool of the
betting at Garden State Park, say at golf Stream and
at golf Stream Park itself. Therefore, a patrient would be
able to choose the odds. There would be two separate
odds at the racetrack. And it became a little bit
(01:59):
of a lot of fun. And then they thought, well,
how about let's try full card simulcast. Because at the
time you could only wager at the racetrack you were
at this way, the idea of full cart simulcasting, the
patron would be able to bet on the Triple Crown
or Gulf String or Belmont or the Metal Lands. And
(02:21):
that's when that came about. Obviously, we needed equipment. We
needed a satellite up truck to uplink the signal bounce
it off the satellite for satellite time and then come
back down to a decoder. The telephone lines the betting
lines were dial up telephone line, so we would have
(02:41):
twenty lines of that. So in order to have full
cart simulcast, we were able to commingle all those pools.
So what you see in the odds boards were all
across the country into one pool and that's where the
art of full card simulcasting came about. Out.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Well, how how much money does like Dover Downs get
out of the pool? I mean, we know what the
pools are for the Dover Downs itself, but for wagerings
on other tracks, how much of money comes in that way?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Well, I mean it's obviously it's hard to tell because sometimes,
like during the week, a couple of racetracks canceled out,
so we are able to gather the revenue from those
canceled racetracks, which added to our handle. So it depends
(03:38):
on race to race and and also as we stated before,
we uh Patty bringhams our director of racing. She also
was able to adjust off time and that way patrons
are able to have a choice of what they want
to what they want to play. Either we go above
(04:01):
or below post time of a particular racetrack. The intent
is to not have two or three racetracks go off
at the same time. Therefore, a patron has a chance
to choose whatever racetracks they want to bet without any
kind of conflict.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
While this is going on, you know you also have
thoroughbred races going off at the same time, not just
harness racings.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Correct, Yes, yeah, I mean it's it's an interesting concept
of the fact that Freddie, there are I think at
Valley Dober we have fifteen different signals throughout the day.
It doesn't mean that necessarily all the racetracks are going
to be by themselves, but the point is to be
able to allow a couple moments for the betting patrons
(04:46):
to make their choice of what racetrack they want to play.
The oft times. Sometimes we may go under a racetrack.
In other words, post time at Northfield off times they
instead have gone heading at the same time. We may
go five minutes under them or a couple of minutes
(05:07):
over them, so that there's not a conflict. A patron
can also not only make us at Bally's, Dover and Northfield.
It gives them the freedom because Freddie it's a casino
mentality out there where there's a race almost going off
every three minutes. So you want to give the betting
patron every ample possibility to bet whatever racetrack they want,
(05:30):
whether it be would bind Up in Canada or the
Metal Lands or Bally's Dover. That way, you have a
choice as opposed to a racetrack going off simultaneously.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Now, what this is going on is like Patty in
contact with like the fifteen other racetracks, well.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Not only Patty, but most of the mutual managers. They
have access. They have a board in front of them
that shows all the racetracks that are up, and you'll
be to tell at what time racetrack is setting their
post times. So therefore there's the axis of being able
(06:09):
to adjust the off times. As I said, you might
have Northfield Park, you might have the Metal Lands going
off at eight o'clock, and rather than us go off
at eight o'clock, adjust the off time to go five
minutes under or maybe five minutes over. That that way
there's not a conflict of three of us all going
(06:30):
off at the same time and therefore losing that valuable revenue.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Now, Bob Mars has always thought that we should have
our own channel and that we should have a director
that basically coordinates all this. What are your thoughts on
something like that.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, back in the day in the eighties, Bob Borg
had an idea he wanted to have like a time
walcast referee that way, you know, like a traffic cop
directs traffic that way, everybody you know, would have their
own time as to avoid a conflict of going off
at the same time. Unfortunately, the racetracks, a lot of
(07:09):
them did not pick up on this process. Freddie and Bobby.
It's up to the individual racetrack. But like I said,
in order to generate more revenue and to adjust off times,
it benefits the horsemen because there's going to be more
money into the betting pools. Therefore the percentages of the
(07:30):
purses will will have a bit of an increase. That's
the point to avoid conflicts and allow a betting patron
to choose whatever racetrack they want to bet without two
or three going off at the same time. It's just
just traffic control, that's all.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah. How much more of a positive impact doesn't have
towards the pool, Well, it does.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Back in the day at Garden State Park in the
eighties when we were we wanted to be the last
racetrack up on the Timulcast network and we would bet
one hundred thousand dollars on that last race. Then later
on at when I was at Delaware Park, we had
a horse that got caught in the gate for a
turf race. There was a five minute delay and we
(08:18):
were adding twenty thousand dollars and added revenue each minute.
So that's the point, you know, the more we want
to have more revenue, obviously it matriculates to higher persons,
but it is added revenue as opposed to you know,
and the question is full card simulcasting as opposed to
(08:40):
on track. Well, in the eighties, you go to a racetrack,
that's the only place that you've gut bet. Full card
timbulcast allows you to bet the Kentucky Derby, the Triple Crown,
the Hamiltonian, all the other individual races which we weren't
able to do in the eighties before fool card simulcasting.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Hey, Bob Marks, did you have anything you wanted to say?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, I think we've covied the situation very well.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Okay, And Alex, I'll ask you do you have any
last words to say before I close the show out. Well, Freddie.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
One one thing, our track and atcher Jack Gallagher just
celebrated the birthday last week. He's now been announcing races
at Harrington at Ballysover for forty two years. So hats
off to our track and Atcher Jack Gallagher.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Happy birthdays. Okay with that, Alix, thank you so much
for joining us.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Today, Freddie, Bobby, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Now over to Andy. Thanks Freddy.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I honestly don't know what I'm going to write about
yet for next Monday and the Keeping Pace column at
Pollock Report, but I wanted to jump in here and
say congratulations to all of the dance hats, winners, the humans,
the horses who will be honored this weekend a f
THEESHUWA event in Florida. So many worthy winners, so many
good people getting.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
The rest recognition they deserve. So I just wanted to
get on the record with that. Back to you, Fred
Thank you. Andy. The Harness Racing Alumni Show is the
number one harness racing podcast in North America and has
listened to worldwide on multiple platforms including Speaker, iHeartRadio, Ushrats
dot Com, Harness Link, Google Podcasts, and many others to
(10:21):
our audience. Thanks for listening, and please join us again
next week the Harness Racing Alumni Show
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