Is this awesome or what? Horseplayer of the year goes to??
 

Is it me or were the applause a little light when he said without horseplayers none of us would be here? I love it.

100% agree....the light applause and zero enthusiasm from guests was pathetic. Maybe it had been a long day/night for most and by the time they brought him up everyone was deflated. No doubt the fact that horseplayers and the billions of dollars they have dropped over the years seems to never get the respect the players deserve.

Without owners what wouold horseplayers bet on?

Sports,poker, casinos......racing better wake to the fact that they no longer have a monopoly on the wagering dollar.

So sorry a grimey gambler had the gall to interupt their "look at me!" party.


Myself, I was rooting for Jonathan Kinchen. Maybe next year....oh, wait.

Andy Serling says it best

Owners
Horseplayers

put money in this game.

Keep in mind that I met a guy at the racetrack who told of having a $500 square on the Blue-Gray college all-star game. People will bet on the best wagering product available.

Owners put money into restaurants, too.



Bottom line is gamblers have options of what game to put their in, owners do not.

That's skewed logic Tom. Owners have the option not to buy horses, or buy less horses, and they also have the option to race in different places.

The problem lies in that there is a perception that owners are catered to in ways that bettors are not. Since peoples biases lean in their own direction, many owners possibly believe the opposite:-)

most bettors and most owners lose money in the long run....ergo...perpetual miserableness on both sides

the nature of the beast says this is a "problem" with zero solution.

Yes. One is Exalted...the other, not so much. Or we could just say they are Royally shit on.

But pooint is, we can continue to wager on other things. We can continue to be bettors. I see your point, but I see it as from our viewpoint, we don't need racing to contue to gamble. Racing need us to continue being racing.

Of course it does. No doubt. I get it. I might work in racing but I've been playing for a lot longer.

The game needs to cater to the interests of both groups. Both groups likely often feel slighted. Fair or unfair, we need to as good a job as we can to try to change that.

Both are vital. And don't forget (not you Andy), most owners lose a lot of money too. I appreciate them greatly, and have them on equal footing with bettors.

I always figured that for every Bobby Flay there’s a hundred losing owners throwing their hands in the air.

I’m not even sure Bobby Flay isn’t losing his ass………but he seems to have made some pretty good buys over the years

They are bettors too, just in a different way, and the takeout is every bit as harsh if not worse. :)

Many are also horseplayers!