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Originally Posted by Stillriledup
"Racings" problem and maybe its our problem too is that because dozens of individual tracks all use "horse racing" as their gambling vehicle of choice, we just say "hey, there are dozens of tracks all letting horses run in circles and accepting wagers, so they must be part of an "industry""
The problem is that nobody is part of any industry, everyone is operating on their own, in their own state by their own state's rules. Each track is its own "industry" and could really care less about what other tracks are doing that are offering similar products.
You could see this by how tracks run on top of each other. There was one day a couple years ago where CT and Mountaineer were the only 2 tracks running on one particular day in the entire eastern region, and yet, they both ran exactly on top of each other as if they didn't know the other track even existed. I put in a phone call to the judges at Charlestown to question a certain DQ and had a long conversation with one of the stewards there and i said to him "why do you run at the exact same time as Mountaineer even though you are the only 2 tracks running on the entire east coast and you're in the same state" and he acted almost as if he didn't realize he was a "Competitor" to Mountaineer. I explained to him that when there are only 2 tracks running, and they're both in the same state, that there might be plenty of bettors who are betting both places.....and that was news to him.
So, its not likely we're going to get "Racing" to work together in any meaningful way, its not likely much will change in tracks running on top of each other and nothing is likely to change in the "old boys club" as far as slaps on the wrist for "name" trainers who break the rules over and over again.
I wouldn't hold my breath that racing will "get with the times" and into the 21st century, staying stuck in 1970 is just fine by them.
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Yeah, but other sports faced obstacles as well. The big ones overcame them. There will be obstacles. So? It starts with defining them, and ironing them out one at a time. Is there enough motivation behind it? That's a good question. I remember reading an article in Bloodhorse, in the past year or so, about a team of innovative thinkers trying to get horse racing out of the dark ages.
How cool would it be to have an LA team visit NY for a direct match. Can you believe the coverage that each horse could get! People would eat it up. Can you imagine the stories and emotions? There already is a East/West coast rivalry. So why not cash in on it big? I see no reason, once the obstacles are overcome of course, why horse racing couldn't be set up like the NFL. Huge weekend matches that would get wide coverage, and be talked about all week. The horses would become star athletes. And there could be so much money to be made, that horses would retire much later!
If you can show a financial picture where everybody is making more money than they're making now, people will come on board.
