I posted the message below in a thread called "If you were racing Czar". It did not get much traction. Maybe because the following message was buried too deeply in the thread. I think this topic is worthy of a new thread because it discusses ways to improve racing in the U.S.
By improving racing I mean increasing handle, running more races with larger fields, illuminating race-day drugs, increasing stallion demand for more durable runners, increasing the number of owners, and giving more work to jockeys and trainers.
Comments welcomed!
Here is a brief outline:
CONCEPT
Add a Hong Kong-styled handicap division.
Maintain a separate, but fixed size population of horses that compete ONLY in the handicap division. This is in addition to the regular-type of racing that currently exists at tracks that I call the Open division.
Horses in the handicap division would be stabled separately from horses in the OPEN division.
Handicap divison stables are under 24-7 video surveillance.
Only state-authorized vets are allowed to administer therapuetic drugs, post race.
No pre-race, race day drugs are allowed to be administered.
Horses must be drug tested prior to racing and must be clean before they can race.
Here is a link to a description of the handicapping system used in Hong Kong:
https://racing.hkjc.com/racing/engli...cap_policy.asp
This could be adapted and modified to what would work best in a particular U.S. racing jurisdiction.
IMPLEMENTATION
Start small to see if the concept is workable.
It is probably not prudent to gather 2,000 horses for a handicap division given the risk of failure.
It is better to start small and then iterate the model until it is proven to work or not work.
If it fails after many iterations then pivot in a new direction or stop altogether.
The goal is to get 14 horse fields in every race, or whatever the typical maximum number of runners are at a given track.
In order to do average 14 horses per race 16 horses would need to be entered per race which would allow for two early scratches to be filled.
If one handicap race were carded for each class per racing day and this was done one day per week then 80 handicap division horses per day would be needed. Since the goal is to race these horses every 4 to 6 weeks a 6 week supply of runners would be needed. That is 480 horses.
It could probably be done on an even smaller scale with fewer horses by running three classes per day one day per week. For example, race Classes 1, 2, and 3 in week one. Then race Classes 4, 5, and 1 in week two. Then race Classes 2, 3, and 4 in week three, etc. This would require only 48 horses per week or about 300 horses for the 6 week rotation. Truthfully, the track could shoot for 10 horses per race with 2 standby runners. So then all that would be needed are 36 horses per day -- or about 216 horses for a six week rotation. Of course, it could be done on an even smaller scale and the feedback generated would still be useful.
New infrastruture would be required.
The horses would be need to be stabled in an area reserved for handicap class horses.
The horses would need to be under 24-7 video surveillance.
A roster of state-authorized vets each would be assigned to X number of horses.
This could make it easier to trace where any corruption occured if there were drug positives.
A set of rules would need to be drafted.
For example, a horse in the handicap class must be stabled at the track and cannot ship to another jurisdiction to race, otherwise, it loses it's eligibility to race in the track's handicap division.
Maybe a contract would be necessary that requires the trainer or owner to agree to race the horse for X amount of time at the track before it can be removed, unless it is retired? Then once it is retired it is never again allowed to race in the handicap division if it comes out of retirement to race again.
An owner can only own X amount of handicap horses.
An owner can retire a horse and replace it with another.
