Above, the western entrance/exit of Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex on U.S.-1/S. Federal Highway & S.E. 3rd Street, Hallandale Beach, FL.In the distance, two miles away on the beach are The Beach Club's three condo towers. February 10, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
Above, the Hallandale Beach Municipal Complex monument sign on U.S.-1/S. Federal Highway & S.E. 5th Street, Hallandale Beach, FL. Across the street is Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park.February 11, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.
February 11, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.Above, the public notice I saw at Hallandale Beach City Hall last Friday morning regarding the Wednesday February 16th Hallandale Beach City Commission Special Meeting/ Executive Session, i.e. closed to the public, which is not expected to last more than 30 minutes.
It reads, in part,
RE: Magna Entertainment Corp. et al Bankruptcy litigation styled [Case No. 09-10720 (MFW)]
You can be excused for not knowing much of this given the extremely sketchy coverage of this in the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and local Miami TV newscasts.
What can't be excused is Magna's refusal to talk publicly and forthrightly to Hallandale Beach and Aventura residents about their tentative plans for occasional night racing next year, an important component of making the two facilities a more inviting place to spend time and money.
I personally support occasional night racing at Gulfstream Park, but with certain key requirements.
I'm quite familiar with how ridiculously successful night racing has proven to be in Louisville at Churchhill Downs, as I not only have large photos and myriad news articles about
how it all came to be so successful, but also have heard first-hand from numerous Louisville-area friends who have gotten used to going there at night, whereas they formerly only went for the larger purse races or The Kentucky Derby, of course.
But Louisville, a city I really love, in part from spending so much time there with friends and getting to know their neighborhood, is a very different consumer market than South Florida, due to the number of entertainment choices one has there, as well as the weather.
In Kentucky, the thoroughbred industry is still just that, an actual industry onto themselves, with a rich and complex culture and sense of tradition.
In the South Florida of 2011, horse racing is merely one of a number of entertainment diversions, and one that has come to be looked upon as NOT particularly inviting or fun, at least as Gulfstream has done it of late.
The number one rule of politics and entertainment is that you have to know (and understand) what your universe is, which is why the seemingly never-ending series of Magna blunders and screw-ups I've personally observed over the past seven years have seemed so unnecessary.
It wasn't rocket science, but it does require some forethought and careful consideration for how things actually look to potential customers, most of whom have no past history with you.
Among those requirements that I would insist upon for night racing would be for them to keep open the Aventura gate on N.E. 213th Street, near the large retail complex housing, among others, the Target, Fresh Foods and Best Buy, on those nights for southbound drivers, instead of forcing it ALL onto either Hallandale Beach Blvd. or U.S.-1.
Aventura must share the expected traffic burden, too.
Below, the road NOT taken.
Above, the southern entrance/exit of Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino and The Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex on N.E. 213th Street, Aventura, FL.Notice the obstacles placed in the road by Magna.
They DIDN'T get there by themselves, did they?
Magna will NOT get what they want entirely without getting OUR city govt.'s approval, yet they imperiously act like we don't matter, and that the only thing that does is their highly-paid lobbyists and mouthpieces in Tallahassee, who have been busy poring money into certain elected officials favorite causes.
Not that you have read or seen that in the local South Florida news media.
For those of you who have asked why I haven't written anything critical about Gulfstream Park and The Village at Gulfstream Park this racing year -and there are quite a few of you, including some heavy-duty racing fans overseas- I understand your natural curiosity, but I've been busy writing and documenting what I've seen and heard.
Be patient and rest assured, there is a lot of material and facts I intend to share with you in the coming days and weeks, complete with damning photos.
Magna's longstanding refusal to employ any innovative thinking or even learn from their (many) past mistakes, some of which have yet to be resolved this year from last year, once again causes me to wish that someone else was running things over there.
The sense of clueless-ness and obliviousness there must end if those properties are ever going to be successful -and FUN!
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Daily Racing Form
02/01/2011 9:57AM
MID shareholders agree to transfer racetracks to StronachBy Matt HegartyFrank Stronach has moved one step closer to taking control of the troubled racing assets his publicly traded companies have acquired and failed to turn around over the past 13 years.
Groups representing the majority shareholders of the company that owns the assets, MI Developments, have agreed to vote in favor of a proposal that would require Stronach to give up control of the company in exchange for the racing and gambling properties, according to an announcement from MI Developments released late on Monday night. Stronach currently controls 57 percent of the voting stock of MI Developments through an unusual dual-class share structure that would be abandoned as a result of the deal.
Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.drf.com/news/mid-
In the near-future, I'll list some other recent well-written articles or columns I've read that have proven very helpful to me in understanding the pertinent facts and long-term implications of the bankruptcy involving Magna Entertainment Corp., the role of MI Developments and the future of Gulfstream Park Race Track & Casino.
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