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[boomman]

Originally Posted by cj

You rarely hear this one mentioned, but isn't the constant parade of chalk and short fields a total turn off to possible new players in this game?

Here is one example. The last two days at Woodbine produced the following win payouts:

6.70, 8.60, 3.00, 5.00, 6.10, 4.90, 6.80, 3.60, 3.80, 3.10, 3.10, 5.50, 8.10, 8.40, 10.10, 5.80, 4.20



How is that going to get anyone excited about the game? 17 races over two days, and an average winner paying $5.69. That is little more than getting a blackjack in the casino!

This isn't to pick on Woodbine. It happens around the country. Of course it doesn't happen every day. It does happen often enough to think these racing secretaries need to put on some more competitive races.

CJ: I think short fields is and has been a major threat to our sport for quite a while now, and am hoping that racing jurisdictions will race fewer days, get the drug mess straightened out (which will certainly add stablity and longevity to the breed) and set-up a scale for horsemen that reward them for running in full fields, as right now they have very little motivation to do so.........

Boomer