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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Survey Says...

Recently, I had posed a couple of survey questions.  The number of respondents was not high enough to base any actions on, but the results are interesting just the same.  

We had discussed the situation that horses like Googoo Gaagaa are not allowed to enter the Hambletonian using a supplemental payment.  So several alternatives were discussed resulting in the following survey question:
Question: Reviewing the options listed above, what approach would you like to see with regards to allowing supplemental entries in the Hambletonian?

A) Allow limited supplemental nominations - 4.8%
B) Allow supplemntal entries with a high buy-in - 23.8%
C) Allow both limited supplemental nominations and supplemental entries - 9.5%
D) Change the Hambletonian to an early closing event with payments only as a three year old - 19.0%
E) Have a joint triple crown nomination with individual sustaining and starting payments - 9.5%
F) Leave things the way they are - 33.3%


We subsequently discussed the fact racetrack handle is hampered at many tracks due to the number of horses who ship in for overnight events, the result of too much racing.  To see if this is a real issue, the following question was asked:

Question: Based on a nine horse field, does the following number of horses shipping in make you bet more, less, pass on the race or the same amount per race?

Number of Shippers
Bet MoreBet LessPass on the raceBet the Same
1 horse40.0%10.0%0.0%50.0%
2 horses20.0%20.0%0.0%60.0%
3 horses20.0%40.0%10.0%30.0%
4 horses10.0%30.0%30.0%30.0%
5 horses10.0%20.0%40.0%30.0%
6 horses10.0%20.0%50.0%20.0%
7 or more horses9.1%18.2%45.5%27.3%

Clearly, once you get past two shippers in a face, handle is significantly reduced according to the survey respondents.

 

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