From this newpaper article: “There was absolutely no reason for county officials to believe a new track could sustain itself, let alone become an economic engine. Wayne County would have been better off trying to recruit Amalgamated Spats or the Baltimore Opera Hat Company to western Wayne County for all that it mattered. The reason for this assertion is simple: Horse racing is a dying business.

June 15, 2007, Stockton Record reported: Whatever they expect, it flies in the face of national trends. American horse racing attendance is steadily declining.

Business Week reports on-track gambling fell from $2.9 billion in 1996 to $1.7 billion in 2006 – a 40 percent plunge.”

Read this full story here

Now granted, Detroit is not a thriving area due to extremely high unemployment, but it remains a major city in this country. A brand new track with a beautiful facility should have had a chance of making it.

What is worse is that this new track was so poorly supported within the industry itself, that when it closed, hardly anyone even noticed.