Visit Hastings Racecourse This Summer, or Never Again Someday
posted at 1:02 pm
on Jun. 27, 2012
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On Sunday, I went to the Hastings Racecourse with Clint. It was my first time there. We saw two races, won by Full Power Ahead and Queen’s Vicar, respectively.
That place is awesome. Exciting races, horses, and you can get RICH (or POOR). And it’s free, basically, in the way lots of amusing places aren’t.
The sun was shining, the view was amazing, it wasn’t too crowded, it’s easy to get to, parking was easy, the whole PNE park is fun to walk around. I’d think this was a place that people would flock to in good weather.
The only thing that could stand improvement is the concession food—it’s about comparable to what you’d get on a BC Ferry—a fair amount of choice but nothing really interesting or healthy or delicious. The prices and service were great, though. I don’t know how good the restaurants are.
But for whatever reason, it’s full of people in the 60-80 year old range, and I when I say full, I mean, half full. If I had a business that relied on customers who were about 60 years old, I think I’d be quite worried about the future—and they are. (*waves to newspapers*)
Sadly, this year might be the track’s last. It’s losing money, the addition of slot machines hasn’t brought in more money, and they haven’t renewed their lease with the city. If condos go in there, I’m going to be well and truly upset. For what it’s worth, I can’t figure out WHY it’s failing—other than a weird inability to market successfully to a broad base of people in Vancouver looking for something cool to do—which is lots of people. Tourists, too, should be going here. I don’t know—who’s in charge of their social media anyway? 😊
So if you plan to see horse racing in Vancouver ever, you have to go this summer—and you should. It’s a great way to pass an afternoon, and there’s a free shuttle from the skytrain. It’s open Sunday to Thursday 10am to 2am, and Friday & Saturday 10am to 4am.
