Horse shortage affecting Santa Anita meeting

[rwwupl]

http://www.drf.com/news/horse-shortage-affecting-santa-anita-meeting

Excerpt:

ARCADIA, Calif. – There were 2,422 racehorses on the backstretches at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park earlier this month, Santa Anita director of racing Mike Harlow said Wednesday, a drop of about 400 horses from a census taken by racing officials in early September.

The reduction in inventory, caused by reasons such as injuries, retirement, and the relocation of horses to other circuits, struck Santa Anita on Sunday when the track did not draw entries as scheduled for Friday’s eight-race program. Friday’s entries were taken Wednesday; the program features 57 entrants.

“We probably could have drawn Friday on Sunday, but it wasn’t the product that we wanted to put out,” Harlow said. “We were lacking maybe a half-dozen horses that would have shored up the card.”

Saturday’s card, also drawn Wednesday, features 80 entrants in nine races.

The struggle with entries has been reflected in average field sizes.



Hmmm.. I thought the managers said a 25% increase in purses would draw larger fields and customers.

How wrong is wrong?

Roger Way

[The_Knight_Sky]

How wrong is wrong?



Possible solutions:

1) call an audible:
3 day racing weeks for the rest of the Santa Anita winter meet
card 9 or 10 races on those days

2) rescind the takeout rate (product not as advertised)
rebuilds relations with the wagering clientele

3) address backstretch medication policy
Why are the thoroughbreds in California incapable of racing without extended rest periods?

4) revamp purse structure with incentives to RACE the horses
Horse Owners who feel that it is acceptable to simply work out
in the mornings but not race are not helping California Racing.

5) add your suggestion here: __________________

[Robert Goren]

If you train a Maiden, NW of 2, or claimer and it is on the grounds for more than a month and you haven't run it, then you are not allowed to collect training fees till it runs. The race track should not take the place of a training facility.

[The_Knight_Sky]

The blogger Foolish Pleasure (http://foolishpleasure-valerie.blogspot.com/2011/01/excuses-excuses.html) is tired of excuses :liar: :

Hollywood recently had the same problem as Santa Anita does now, so it’s really not about synthetic versus dirt surfaces, is it?

So, what’s the real reason behind California’s inability to card larger fields? Is it purse money? Poor condition book writing? Lack of quality breeding programs? Inadequate development of horse racing partnerships, or ways of attracting owners?

Sure, the state has pissed off bettors with its high takeout, but that doesn’t directly affect the number of horses racing in the state, does it?

[johnhannibalsmith]

If you train a Maiden, NW of 2, or claimer and it is on the grounds for more than a month and you haven't run it, then you are not allowed to collect training fees till it runs. The race track should not take the place of a training facility.

LAF!

[DJofSD]

5) Newly seated Gov. Brown to dismiss all CHRB members and appoint new members. Then declare a crisis -- or are we in the middel of one already.

Oh ya, and some how disenfranchise the TOC.

[mountainman]

The race track should not take the place of a training facility.
You sound sooo much like a racing secretary. And coming from me, that's intended as a compliment. It's not hard to weed out stables whose agenda is something other than competing. The problem is, without active outfits clamoring for stalls, evicting the offenders won't boost entries.

[DJofSD]

The problem is, without active outfits clamoring for stalls, evicting the offenders won't boost entries.
Excellent point.

[Robert Fischer]

Time to go NATIONAL league of the only the Major tracks, and race on TELEVISION during prime time.

[mountainman]

Hustling entries just to make short fields can be hell. The pressure is intense as every warm body in the racing office falls behind on other work while searching urgently for avenues unexplored yet by coworkers. The draw is never postponed overnight except in dire instances. When trainers smell blood in the water, some seize the chance to criticize the condition book or even attack the racing secretary. And as the precarious balance of power between horsemen and the office tilts in favor of trainers, many hold back rountine entries, wait to be contacted, and use their participation as a bargaining chip to impose unreasonable limits on field size. You can bet the Santa Anita crew is hearing lots of this these days: "Yes, I'll enter, but only for a 5-horse field."

[DJofSD]

"Yes, I'll enter, but only for a 5-horse field."

Pretty soon that sentence will not heard any more.

[Tom]

"Yes, I'll enter, but only for a 5-horse field."

Pretty soon that sentence will not heard any more.

Those same people will soon be asking - and rightfully so - "You want fries with that?"

[DJofSD]

Here's another possible entry for this weekend: http://www.fox5sandiego.com/community/newsletter/sns-viral-video-drunk-man-horse,0,5918331.htmlstory

[owlet]

Take the guys who are saying "five horse fields only" and refuse to write another race for that horse for a couple of months.

If a guy scratches after he enters, his horse can't run for a month.

If he has a claiming stall and doesn't run the horse for six weeks, he and the horse are gone.

If he uses and is caught he's gone.

Go the Southwest or other lesser circuits and find guys who are somehow willing to train and run for one tenth the purse money and set them up here.

This is war. Phuc these clowns.

[Stillriledup]

Take the guys who are saying "five horse fields only" and refuse to write another race for that horse for a couple of months.

If a guy scratches after he enters, his horse can't run for a month.

If he has a claiming stall and doesn't run the horse for six weeks, he and the horse are gone.

If he uses and is caught he's gone.

Go the Southwest or other lesser circuits and find guys who are somehow willing to train and run for one tenth the purse money and set them up here.

This is war. Phuc these clowns.

I love this post!

The problem with So Cal is that the trainers and owners have too much power and that power is turning the sport into an owners game and not a game for the bettors. Owners want to make money, so i can't blame them for not wanting to enter in a 13 horse field, i wouldnt enter either.

I guess its ok to run 5 and 6 horse fields all the time, but you can't charge 22 and 23 percent to bet an exa and tri into these short fields, those are horrendous bets, you can't charge a premium on a 'lottery' type wager (the tri/super) if you have only 120 possible outcomes (in a 6 horse field).

[Horseplayersbet.com]

From the DRF:

"Looks like that big winter purse increase – funded by a takeout hike in exotic wagers – has not done a darn thing to boost the local horse population. The latest word is that Bill Mott, who considered sending a string west, has changed his mind and will stay put for now."

[Stillriledup]

From the DRF:

"Looks like that big winter purse increase – funded by a takeout hike in exotic wagers – has not done a darn thing to boost the local horse population. The latest word is that Bill Mott, who considered sending a string west, has changed his mind and will stay put for now."

NO BILL COME WEST THE BOYCOTT IS NONSENSE, PLEASE COME CALI IS THRIVING DONT LISTEN TO ALL THE RHETORIC, CALI IS A GREAT PLACE TO RACE!

[DJofSD]

Instead of calling it CALI all of the time, let's start calling it cauliflower.

Cauliflower is a member of the cabbage family which also includes brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli and collard greens. I dislike cauliflower along with brussel sprouts, kale and collard greens but I love broccoli.

So to with racing in cauliflower: I dislike most of it but there are some elements of it I still do enjoy.

So, message to CHRB and TOC: I just did not fall off of the cauliflower truck.

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Jeremy Plonk:

'Only in Southern California could 2,400 horses stabled locally be called a "horse shortage" and necessitate 5-horse fields galore, like we see in Saturday's Grade 3 Sham. Most circuits with 1,500 or so horses in the stable area jam the entry box. Explain to me how California horsemen can't enter races. And it's not about synthetic surface injuries and the leftover results. California field sizes have been abysmal for decades. There's a decided culture out there, for whatever reason, that horsemen decide to run their horses every three blue moons. And then they want to bleed the horseplayer for a higher takeout to offset their inactivity.'

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?columnist=plonk_jeremy&id=6021703

[Zman179]

Yeah it's a sham alright.

[garyscpa]

Jeremy Plonk:

'Only in Southern California could 2,400 horses stabled locally be called a "horse shortage" and necessitate 5-horse fields galore, like we see in Saturday's Grade 3 Sham. Most circuits with 1,500 or so horses in the stable area jam the entry box. Explain to me how California horsemen can't enter races. And it's not about synthetic surface injuries and the leftover results. California field sizes have been abysmal for decades. There's a decided culture out there, for whatever reason, that horsemen decide to run their horses every three blue moons. And then they want to bleed the horseplayer for a higher takeout to offset their inactivity.'

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?columnist=plonk_jeremy&id=6021703

Don't the SoCal trainers charge the highest daily training rate in the country also?

[Horseplayersbet.com]

Don't the SoCal trainers charge the highest daily training rate in the country also?
Yes, that is why it is important to keep their win averages over 20%. This is why they hate huge fields of 7 or more.

[DJofSD]

Yes, that is why it is important to keep their win averages over 20%. This is why they hate huge fields of 7 or more.
So, what are you saying, they can not make ends meet by just collecting their day-rate fees?

[Horseplayersbet.com]

So, what are you saying, they can not make ends meet by just collecting their day-rate fees?
No. What I am implying is that it is hard to charge a customer $100-$125 day if you have a 10% win percentage.