What is the problem with California?

[showonly]

30 total horses in the pick 5 at Santa Anita. They race 4 days a week. Is there no solution. Full fields are the key success Kee, Del Mar, Oaklawn ,Sar.

[GMB@BP]

30 total horses in the pick 5 at Santa Anita. They race 4 days a week. Is there no solution. Full fields are the key success Kee, Del Mar, Oaklawn ,Sar.

Well, you gotta look to the State's leadership, combined with racing's........epic disaster.

They also dont have the temporary casino money to prop things up.

[andtheyreoff]

I'm surprised no one has ever pointed out the main reason, in my opinion, California's fields are so small.

[Stillriledup]

30 total horses in the pick 5 at Santa Anita. They race 4 days a week. Is there no solution. Full fields are the key success Kee, Del Mar, Oaklawn ,Sar.

I would say one of the problems is the speed of the surfaces. Trainers complain when the track is "deep" but its possible that the tight surface is the one that causes many injuries. A kinder "cushion" on that main track would help i believe.

California has some of the most "honest" racing around, you don't have these "supertrainers" dominating the races, any trainer can really win out there, and the 4 day week you would imagine they could fill some races.

[johnhenry81]

I believe that one part of that answer has to do with the poor way track mgt. especially SA and Hol developed (or did not develop) young ownership, and instead looked at things from the ivory tower. I was a young owner in the 90's and we consistently ran into resistance at many turns which included access to areas, turning away our guests regarding admissions. (some of those young guests could have been future owners) being told that we had "improper attire" to sit here or there, and as petty as having hand stamps declared as fakes etc. In that era of 80's and 90's mgt. that thought that the stream of "blue hairs" and big single owners like Gene Klein, Bob Lewis etc. would last forever.

The East coast has done a far better job of changing with the times and learned back then that the Phipps and Whitney's were nice, but that developing younger group ownership was the future.

[Robert Goren]

Like racing in most places only more extreme, CA race track management has fail to generate interest in their product by the general public. When there is no interest in the product, there are no interest by investors in the making product. Of course it doesn't help that current horse owners and trainers pressure tracks to write races that virtually ensures a winner by one of their horses shutting out new owners. "Paying their dues" is not some thing attracts new investment especially when the investment is likely to be a losing one in the long run.

[dasch]

And yet with only 30 horses entered and the 1st 3 races being won by the favorite, it still paid over $3000 for 50 cents........

I dont know how anybody could complain about that.

[pondman]

Historically, California has had competitive purses. But they are going backwards. And it will only get worse

[GMB@BP]

Historically, California has had competitive purses. But they are going backwards. And it will only get worse

Dont be so sure, when the slots money gets yanked by all these state pols its going to be interesting to see who survives.

People realize that business has been leaving california for the last decade, right?

Its not just a racing issue, but racings pitfalls, which are numerous, make it even more dramatic.

[Curlin]

New York tracks can have as many full fields they want, but I can't play them when I'm at work. Main reason I'm a California player is I can play the late pick 4 during the week, thus I've become more familiar with them. Now I'll play New York tracks on big Saturday races, but majority of my money goes west coast.

[horses4courses]

Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge are coming for the Big Cap.


Everything's gonna be alright, ya
Everything's gonna be alright...........

[Speed Figure]

30 total horses in the pick 5 at Santa Anita. They race 4 days a week. Is there no solution. Full fields are the key success Kee, Del Mar, Oaklawn ,Sar.
The pick 5 paid $3,050 for 50 cents! who cares if the fields were small, their was still value!

[Robert Goren]

New York tracks can have as many full fields they want, but I can't play them when I'm at work. Main reason I'm a California player is I can play the late pick 4 during the week, thus I've become more familiar with them. Now I'll play New York tracks on big Saturday races, but majority of my money goes west coast.NYRA has plenty of short fields on days other than Saturday too.

[Charli125]

30 total horses in the pick 5 at Santa Anita. They race 4 days a week. Is there no solution. Full fields are the key success Kee, Del Mar, Oaklawn ,Sar.

The solution is simple, just ask the TOC and the CHRB.

Raise Takeout + Big Purses = BAMN, big fields. It happened 2 years ago.

[tanner12oz]

And yet with only 30 horses entered and the 1st 3 races being won by the favorite, it still paid over $3000 for 50 cents........

I dont know how anybody could complain about that.

I hit Saturday and it paid 42 dollars...can I complain please?

[Track Phantom]

I hit Saturday and it paid 42 dollars...can I complain please?

Yep! :)

[Just a Fan]

The foal crops have been dropping everywhere, particularly in California.

In 2005, there were 3664 Cal bred foals born.

By 2011, that figure had dropped in half, to 1820. Those foals produced the most recent racing crop, the 2013 2 year olds.

Cal breds combined for 38,584 starts as recently as 2008, and just 27,566 starts in 2012.

Obviously California racing doesn't rely exclusively on Cal-breds, but when the CA breeding program is falling off a cliff, its going to have a major effect on the overall horse population.

All stats from the link below.

http://www.jockeyclub.com/factbook/StateFactBook/California.pdf

Also, I think the stabling issue created by the closure of BHP is going to expedite the problem. Horsemen that were relocated from BHP to SLR are going to get tired real quick of doing that drive all the time, and that's going to create a further exodus.

[dasch]

I hit Saturday and it paid 42 dollars...can I complain please?

Sure that one you can complain about..........

I wont though....I spent $78 and hit it 25 times.

[Grits]

People realize that business has been leaving california for the last decade, right?

I don't think people have missed this tidbit. Given the homes reduced to ashes and rubble after several seasons of high winds and fools wandering about. Fools who insist upon going into the canyons and starting fires that consume everything in their paths for miles and miles? Its always heartbreaking to see the courageous homeowner, David, on his roof with one water hose who stays to fight the flames of Goliath. Too, there's the drought...for those who own thousands of acres of farmland that now lie dormant. The land not tilled, wasted, only to have our nation's most highly productive state stuggling to get the vegetables to market that they have delivered for decades. Profits reduced drastically, while needing to pass that cost to consumers. It is tragic.

Add just these two factors alone to the cost of living, the cost of homes, (little bitty homes), pollution, and traffic congestion? Yes, I'd say we're aware that businesses are leaving. .....Along with horseracing.

[pandy]

So many problems out there and the track management at Santa Anita has made a lot of mistakes. For one, the track surface, which they've spent millions on and it still sucks. No major racing circuit should have a speed favoring track like Santa Anita. And of course they keep raising the takeout.

[Stillriledup]

So many problems out there and the track management at Santa Anita has made a lot of mistakes. For one, the track surface, which they've spent millions on and it still sucks. No major racing circuit should have a speed favoring track like Santa Anita. And of course they keep raising the takeout.

I remember a few years ago at the beginning of the hollywood meet, there was a closing bias, horses were coming from the clouds, the rail was dead, speed was dying and the trainers went APE doo doo....so, what did they do? They made the track into a paved highway where if you got the lead, you had a huge advantage.

I agree, Santa Anita would be much better if it had a surface like Parx or Mountaineer....at those places, you see horses circle up from the back all the time, being on the rail sometimes is bad and the track is even and runners can win from anywhere. They need to deepen the surface, make the times slower and ignore the horsemen who complain about wanting a rock hard surface, the bettors like the variety and it makes note taking much more important, the pools will not suffer if speed dies once in a while and in fact, the pools will increase because there will be more carryovers if speed dies, more money for the track if closers can win.

SA had a nice even "closers" bias in January and they had a few huge double or triple carryovers......its just speed and 42 dollar pick 5s.

[proximity]

I agree, Santa Anita would be much better if it had a surface like Parx or Mountaineer.....

in the cynthia pars mountaineer consistenly has some of the highest (speediest) winning move factors year in and year out. and parx has to have one of the worst main tracks in racing. and good racing (at least to me) should require horses to display several different facets of equine athleticism including quickness from the gate and establishing an advantageous position along a fair rail.

[pandy]

I remember a few years ago at the beginning of the hollywood meet, there was a closing bias, horses were coming from the clouds, the rail was dead, speed was dying and the trainers went APE doo doo....so, what did they do? They made the track into a paved highway where if you got the lead, you had a huge advantage.

I agree, Santa Anita would be much better if it had a surface like Parx or Mountaineer....at those places, you see horses circle up from the back all the time, being on the rail sometimes is bad and the track is even and runners can win from anywhere. They need to deepen the surface, make the times slower and ignore the horsemen who complain about wanting a rock hard surface, the bettors like the variety and it makes note taking much more important, the pools will not suffer if speed dies once in a while and in fact, the pools will increase because there will be more carryovers if speed dies, more money for the track if closers can win.

SA had a nice even "closers" bias in January and they had a few huge double or triple carryovers......its just speed and 42 dollar pick 5s.


I totally agree. The races are more exciting at Parx and the horses are nothing compared to Santa Anita. I agree that management lets Baffert and other trainers boss them around. Years ago NYRA did away with the speed bias at Aqueduct inner track and Saratoga and it made for better racing.

[Stillriledup]

in the cynthia pars mountaineer consistenly has some of the highest (speediest) winning move factors year in and year out. and parx has to have one of the worst main tracks in racing. and good racing (at least to me) should require horses to display several different facets of equine athleticism including quickness from the gate and establishing an advantageous position along a fair rail.

I meant they should have a surface in the way it plays......you know, a safe surface that plays a bit slower than its currently playing. I don't know the behind the scenes stuff that horsemen are saying about different surfaces, all i know is how they play as a bettor.

[Stillriledup]

I totally agree. The races are more exciting at Parx and the horses are nothing compared to Santa Anita. I agree that management lets Baffert and other trainers boss them around. Years ago NYRA did away with the speed bias at Aqueduct inner track and Saratoga and it made for better racing.

Its amazing how much "pull" trainers have, tracks even will cost themselves betting handle to appease a few loudmouths and whiners. (not that i know anything about whining. :D )

[Exotic1]

in the cynthia pars mountaineer consistenly has some of the highest (speediest) winning move factors year in and year out. and parx has to have one of the worst main tracks in racing. and good racing (at least to me) should require horses to display several different facets of equine athleticism including quickness from the gate and establishing an advantageous position along a fair rail.

Parx has to be the Bermuda triangle of race tracks. 7 horses leave the gate, 6 make it back and no one can find or is even looking for the missing horse. They seemingly disappear, especially shippers. It's like a black hole. No one blinks; closer's show speed, speed horses don't leave. When I want a laugh, I'll handicap a race and then watch it.

[mkkash]

I hit Saturday and it paid 42 dollars...can I complain please?


It depends on the amount you bet and how much profit you made.

MMK

[Maximillion]

Parx has to be the Bermuda triangle of race tracks. 7 horses leave the gate, 6 make it back and no one can find or is even looking for the missing horse. They seemingly disappear, especially shippers. It's like a black hole. No one blinks; closer's show speed, speed horses don't leave. When I want a laugh, I'll handicap a race and then watch it.

:lol:
A lot of this may be(and probably is) true but the biggest problem I have with the track are the numerous horses seemingly changing hands in every race--makes things more of a guessing game,at least for me.

[proximity]

Parx has to be the Bermuda triangle of race tracks. 7 horses leave the gate, 6 make it back and no one can find or is even looking for the missing horse. They seemingly disappear, especially shippers. It's like a black hole. .

:lol:

indeed it's even a nice surprise when my car is still in the parxing lot at the end of the night. :)

[Al Gobbi]

http://www.drf.com/news/santa-anita-all-sources-handle-3-field-size-declines

The winter-spring meeting at Santa Anita reached the halfway point earlier this month with an increase in all-sources handle, but a decline in average field size that has concerned officials.

Haines and other officials cite several reasons for the decline, including an extra week of racing at the Hollywood Park autumn meeting in December, which was not run in 2012; and two five-day racing weeks in January and February to accommodate holiday racing on Mondays.

[Stillriledup]

http://www.drf.com/news/santa-anita-all-sources-handle-3-field-size-declines

I guess they determined it had nothing to do with the rock hard surface that became rock hard after a January rain episode and they never bothered to replace the material that washed away? Nah, that can't be it, i guess owners love running horses on cement. Check out the notes at CHRB dot gov and you can see a TON of horses who are claimed and returned to sender....They're going to have even shorter fields this week as its supposed to rain...you'll have cheap claimers going in 107 on the sealed track, no way that's healthy for the fragile horse population.

[Curlin]

I really don't want to hear how bad California racing is. I just watched a grade 2 race with a $200,000 purse in New York with 5 horses running.

[GMB@BP]

I don't think people have missed this tidbit. Given the homes reduced to ashes and rubble after several seasons of high winds and fools wandering about. Fools who insist upon going into the canyons and starting fires that consume everything in their paths for miles and miles? Its always heartbreaking to see the courageous homeowner, David, on his roof with one water hose who stays to fight the flames of Goliath. Too, there's the drought...for those who own thousands of acres of farmland that now lie dormant. The land not tilled, wasted, only to have our nation's most highly productive state stuggling to get the vegetables to market that they have delivered for decades. Profits reduced drastically, while needing to pass that cost to consumers. It is tragic.

Add just these two factors alone to the cost of living, the cost of homes, (little bitty homes), pollution, and traffic congestion? Yes, I'd say we're aware that businesses are leaving. .....Along with horseracing.

Whats funny is those are not the biggest issues that are affecting business.

[Rex Phinney]

I really don't want to hear how bad California racing is. I just watched a grade 2 race with a $200,000 purse in New York with 5 horses running.

:ThmbUp:
Exactly. As for the surface, has nobody watched any races at Gulfstream lately? Holy shit, the Fountain of Youth was like watching a match race between two horses loaded with jet packs.

The surface is what it is. I think horseplayers whine too much about the surface, it's freakin dirt exposed to the elements 24/7, its not going to play perfect every day. Besides if everyone is so dead sold on it being lightning fast it should be easier to bet right? My experience is that the same guy complaining about the surface is the guy who keeps burning money on closers at a track like that.

Nobody who has ACTUALLY been to Santa Anita in the last year can be the ones complaining. It's especially comical to hear people bitch about the management there, oh you mean the same management that has sunk close to $25,000,000 into the track in the last 12 months? We wish they where operating more like what? The management at Hollywood Park? No other track in the country is trying harder than Santa Anita to get things right, NO ONE.

Wasn't Santa Anita the trailblazer that told the CHRB to shove it with there synthetic mandate? To get rid of the plastic track that all these same horseplayers bitched about?

[JustRalph]

I really don't want to hear how bad California racing is. I just watched a grade 2 race with a $200,000 purse in New York with 5 horses running.


And that somehow excuses California? And all their ills?

You work in politics right?

California has the same problems they had ten years ago. In fact it's worse. Soon there won't be enough horses and something will have to give. Unless, Horseplayers who still play California will keep playing. When they are betting four horse races and they scratch to three? Will that be the breaking point?

We get what we pay for..........literally

[Rex Phinney]

And that somehow excuses California? And all their ills?

You work in politics right?

California has the same problems they had ten years ago. In fact it's worse. Soon there won't be enough horses and something will have to give. Unless, Horseplayers who still play California will keep playing. When they are betting four horse races and they scratch to three? Will that be the breaking point?

We get what we pay for..........literally

His point is the problems in racing as a whole are worse than they where ten years ago. Singling out California doesn't make any sense.

We are going to have to give Santa Anita and Del Mar a chance to turn things around, the new schedule sans Hollywood is only 60 days old. I think many horsemen are still getting horses settled and getting used to the new stall locations.

The two remaining tracks in Socal have between them in a span of five years replaced or committed to replace both of their plastic tracks with dirt, widened the Del Mar turf course, expanded to allow Del Mar two meets (the place that demolishes 90% of the tracks in this country attendance wise) and sunk tens of millions into the facility at Santa Anita.

I've posed the question here and other places before, why don't you tell us what other tracks have done in that time span? You've got big names shipping in for the Big Cap next week for the first time in ages, you've got both tracks doing everything they can to make the facility nicer and keep purses up.

The sport as a whole has issues, not just California.

[JustRalph]

His point is the problems in racing as a whole are worse than they where ten years ago. Singling out California doesn't make any sense.

We are going to have to give Santa Anita and Del Mar a chance to turn things around, the new schedule sans Hollywood is only 60 days old. I think many horsemen are still getting horses settled and getting used to the new stall locations.

The two remaining tracks in Socal have between them in a span of five years replaced or committed to replace both of their plastic tracks with dirt, widened the Del Mar turf course, expanded to allow Del Mar two meets (the place that demolishes 90% of the tracks in this country attendance wise) and sunk tens of millions into the facility at Santa Anita.

I've posed the question here and other places before, why don't you tell us what other tracks have done in that time span? You've got big names shipping in for the Big Cap next week for the first time in ages, you've got both tracks doing everything they can to make the facility nicer and keep purses up.

The sport as a whole has issues, not just California.

We can disagree. SoCal is the worst offender by a mile. They deserve to be singled out. They forced the plastic tracks. They sit on top of a gold mine of customers. They treat their customers much worse than NYRA does. It's a foot race but California and the CHRB is full of flakes. Look at their history?

Lawsuits against each other. Half ass movie stars getting a say in racing. There are ten people posting on twitter with better ideas in an hour of tweets than the CHRB has come up with in ten years.

Both jurisdictions are reflective of their government that controls them. When I lived in SoCal I loved the racing environment. Same as when I spent time with the in laws in upstate NY. TV shows, radio shows dedicated to racing almost every day in both locations. A bona fide love of the game in both places. Yet somehow racing manages to screw up a racket with a takeout that rivals any loan shark on the planet. Disenfranchises their entire customer base by turning their nose up to it in the name of "what's good for government and horsemen"

I know, preaching to the choir. Almost everyone I know has given up the game. Or their play is only about 10% of what it was. Ten years ago I used to sit in a chat room on Friday night with as many as 12-14 guys and play a couple tracks a night. I traveled twice a year to Keeneland for a week. As recently as 3 years ago I drove over to New York from Maryland with friends, and had a great time. Loved going to Belmont. My wife accompanied me on at least one trip a year for a week. Del Mar, Saratoga, Sam Houston all trips taken. For 18 months I've lived within 45 min of Lone Star. I just moved 20 min away. Still haven't been there. No reason to go anymore.

Those 12-14 guys I used to play with in the chat room? 4 of them still play the game. It's turned into a terrible game across the board. But SoCal leads the pack in reasons the game has gone south.

[andtheyreoff]

I really don't want to hear how bad California racing is. I just watched a grade 2 race with a $200,000 purse in New York with 5 horses running.

Aqueduct- 82 horses today
Santa Anita- 58 horses today (with a grade 3 race with 5 horses running)

Thanks for playing.

[Stillriledup]

Aqueduct- 82 horses today
Santa Anita- 58 horses today (with a grade 3 race with 5 horses running)

Thanks for playing.

SA had monsoon of rain, there was a reason they had short fields.

[Stillriledup]

We can disagree. SoCal is the worst offender by a mile. They deserve to be singled out. They forced the plastic tracks. They sit on top of a gold mine of customers. They treat their customers much worse than NYRA does. It's a foot race but California and the CHRB is full of flakes. Look at their history?

Lawsuits against each other. Half ass movie stars getting a say in racing. There are ten people posting on twitter with better ideas in an hour of tweets than the CHRB has come up with in ten years.

Both jurisdictions are reflective of their government that controls them. When I lived in SoCal I loved the racing environment. Same as when I spent time with the in laws in upstate NY. TV shows, radio shows dedicated to racing almost every day in both locations. A bona fide love of the game in both places. Yet somehow racing manages to screw up a racket with a takeout that rivals any loan shark on the planet. Disenfranchises their entire customer base by turning their nose up to it in the name of "what's good for government and horsemen"

I know, preaching to the choir. Almost everyone I know has given up the game. Or their play is only about 10% of what it was. Ten years ago I used to sit in a chat room on Friday night with as many as 12-14 guys and play a couple tracks a night. I traveled twice a year to Keeneland for a week. As recently as 3 years ago I drove over to New York from Maryland with friends, and had a great time. Loved going to Belmont. My wife accompanied me on at least one trip a year for a week. Del Mar, Saratoga, Sam Houston all trips taken. For 18 months I've lived within 45 min of Lone Star. I just moved 20 min away. Still haven't been there. No reason to go anymore.

Those 12-14 guys I used to play with in the chat room? 4 of them still play the game. It's turned into a terrible game across the board. But SoCal leads the pack in reasons the game has gone south.

I'll try and defend So Cal and specifically Santa Anita.

First of all, they have no slots, so right there, they are WAY behind the 8 ball. They also race in an isolated place, the closest track are hundreds of miles away, not exactly easy to get shippers to their place.

I think the racing there is honest for the most part...you don't have these trainers who came out of nowhere to win 40%.....the best trainers in California have been really good trainers for DECADES. You have Baffert, Sadler, O'Neill, Miller and others who arent flash in the pan trainers, they are really good trainers and you know who they are, the handicapping of the races is more of a horse handicapping than human handicapping, you can't say that about too many other places.

The jockey colony is strong and the jocks ride to win, there are battles on the lead, the paces are fast and you usually have to work hard to win, unlike some other tracks who i won't mention by name.

Maybe the lack of slots and the top trainers have something to do with the true cheaters staying away, if you are going to cheat, why would you set up base in California when you can set up base at a track that has slots and thus, doesnt care as much if cheaters pollute their races? Now, i'm not saying Santa Anita and So Cal is "snow white" but when i handicap their races, i'm not worrying about the "new" supertrainer who just showed up and started winning 40% with very little experience.

I wish So Cal would have a more "Fair" surface, it would be nice to see a closing horse win once in a while, hopefully they can address that issue and at the same time, make the track a bit deeper so horses have more "cushion" to bounce off of.

I also have to say that i think the So Cal judges are better than almost any stewards in the country, they usually leave the results alone unless they are sort of forced to make a DQ, most of the DQs in So Cal are legit, i think the races are policed at least as good as other jurisdictions, if not better.

CHRB puts up detailed rulings online...other states, not as much. More transparency there.

Another thing that most players dont even notice is the gate crew in So Cal. By far the best gate crew in the country, they get horses out of the gate better than anyone, Gary Brinson and Jay Slender are better than everyone in my opinion, this is something you don't notice, but they get those horses out of the gate in one piece, "broke in a perfect line" is often heard by So Cal horseplayers.

Now obviously, they're not perfect and the cost to wager is high, but they at least offer a huge pick 5 with a massive pool and low takeout and they also offer the biggest pick 6 carryovers in the nation.

Would it be nice if they had more horses? You betcha. Slots purses in many other states have certainly hurt So Cal's ability to have a higher horse population.

[andtheyreoff]

I'll try and defend So Cal and specifically Santa Anita.

First of all, they have no slots, so right there, they are WAY behind the 8 ball. They also race in an isolated place, the closest track are hundreds of miles away, not exactly easy to get shippers to their place.

I think the racing there is honest for the most part...you don't have these trainers who came out of nowhere to win 40%.....the best trainers in California have been really good trainers for DECADES. You have Baffert, Sadler, O'Neill, Miller and others who arent flash in the pan trainers, they are really good trainers and you know who they are, the handicapping of the races is more of a horse handicapping than human handicapping, you can't say that about too many other places.

The jockey colony is strong and the jocks ride to win, there are battles on the lead, the paces are fast and you usually have to work hard to win, unlike some other tracks who i won't mention by name.

Maybe the lack of slots and the top trainers have something to do with the true cheaters staying away, if you are going to cheat, why would you set up base in California when you can set up base at a track that has slots and thus, doesnt care as much if cheaters pollute their races? Now, i'm not saying Santa Anita and So Cal is "snow white" but when i handicap their races, i'm not worrying about the "new" supertrainer who just showed up and started winning 40% with very little experience.

I wish So Cal would have a more "Fair" surface, it would be nice to see a closing horse win once in a while, hopefully they can address that issue and at the same time, make the track a bit deeper so horses have more "cushion" to bounce off of.

I also have to say that i think the So Cal judges are better than almost any stewards in the country, they usually leave the results alone unless they are sort of forced to make a DQ, most of the DQs in So Cal are legit, i think the races are policed at least as good as other jurisdictions, if not better.

CHRB puts up detailed rulings online...other states, not as much. More transparency there.

Another thing that most players dont even notice is the gate crew in So Cal. By far the best gate crew in the country, they get horses out of the gate better than anyone, Gary Brinson and Jay Slender are better than everyone in my opinion, this is something you don't notice, but they get those horses out of the gate in one piece, "broke in a perfect line" is often heard by So Cal horseplayers.

Now obviously, they're not perfect and the cost to wager is high, but they at least offer a huge pick 5 with a massive pool and low takeout and they also offer the biggest pick 6 carryovers in the nation.

Would it be nice if they had more horses? You betcha. Slots purses in many other states have certainly hurt So Cal's ability to have a higher horse population.

For once, I actually agree with you, especially with the isolation part. The closest major track to California is hundreds of miles away- it's not exactly easy to get shippers.

However, slots has nothing to do with it. Their purses are already very solid- a n/w1x allowance, for example, is $58,000. If they had slots, sure the purses would be huge, but who would ship out all the way to California? Probably not that many people.

[greengorilla]

Well the answer to the original post is simple.

1.The people who live and race horses in California ,are either broke or going broke. There is no new or old money there anymore. Most owners I've talked to have been getting killed financially cause it costs more to train and run horses there then any other part of the country.So they left california all together. The last five years of racing there has been just plain sad, From the jockey colony to the trainers. Few owners want to send quality horses there anymore to run because it ruins the value of there horses. You win a open msw you with a horse you paid 150k at auction for with a beyer of 82 and you might have a horse worth 120k. You win that same race at gulfstream people will be showing up in your barn offering you 500k.

2. Synthetic Tracks, owners, gamblers, and most trainers hate them.

3. The breeding operation in California has been ruined due to the economic recession, and still hasn't recovered. They now have very few quality studs and mares in the state for breeding purposes due to owners relocating them to kentucky and florida, to fetch bigger dollars at the sales. Hence few horses means shorter fields and less quality horses.