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Originally Posted by classhandicapper
I'm not sure I totally agree.
IF CA went away, I suspect all the leading trainers and owners in CA wouldn't simply retire. Many would go to CD, OP, NYRA, FG, etc.. So the potential for bigger fields and higher quality races elsewhere would increase. Also, unless CA totally banned betting on races outside CA too, a lot of that CA handle would shift to other tracks, especially wherever the best horses wound up going.
On a net basis, there would be a loss of jobs (in CA) because some guys would simply go out of business and lay people off. CA breeding would probably take a hit. People that sell information to horseplayers for CA racing would take a hit. But a few tracks would benefit and capture a lot of that business, handle, and some of those jobs.
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That's kind of what's already happening. I suspect some of these people are leaving Cali just for stability not just the rule changes. Everyone here makes some good points …...SA is the bullseye here for the activist, if they can shut down a track of that magnitude there will be an attempt to leverage that further. Make no mistake about this.
There has to be a turning point somewhere or this will not end well for California horse racing. Some are on here advocating to support this racing. Remarkably, some are doing just that but with all this going on the product is just getting worse. Personally, its really hard for me to bet this racing. I haven't wagered there since the BC. I half think they keep it out there not just for weather but to offer a shot in the arm at the end of every season. Its hard to get horse players and hardened gamblers excited about 5 horse fields where one guy trains half of them and then its called a Grade 1 event? In totality, that's not so really bad, but when the cards are littered with these types of races...…..you got a real problem. This kind of news (of leaving) is going to affect what you are selling even more and empower your adversaries.
This could carry over into the summer meet too and I'm old enough to remember when Del Mar was an equal to Saratoga. This is a damn shame. People wonder why horseplayers are cynical? For real!