ARE YOU KIDDING ME ??? - Horse Racing Forum - PaceAdvantage.Com

Enigma · 06-03-2017, 10:27 AM

Today June3 at Santa Anita the $400,000 Grade 1 Beholder Mile had 5 entered and only 3 will run.
The decline of California Horse Racing continues.

airford1 · 06-03-2017, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enigma

Today June3 at Santa Anita the $400,000 Grade 1 Beholder Mile had 5 entered and only 3 will run.
The decline of California Horse Racing continues.

Put a FORK in Santa Anita because you can't bet what they are offering.

JimG · 06-03-2017, 10:59 AM

But the main thing is its a nice payday for the connections. The heck with the bettors.

Fager Fan · 06-03-2017, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimG

But the main thing is its a nice payday for the connections. The heck with the bettors.

Who are you reckoning said or thought "to heck with the bettors"?

Santa Anita sure didn't say that. They don't benefit financially from such a short field that will take win bets only. The owners and trainers who didn't enter their horses didn't do so to screw the bettors but because they apparently figure they can't even get third money or Black type against these three so are opting for another spot.

So complain if you want, but you're sure missing the cause of the problem and sound sort of ridiculous. It's not like you have to bet this race and don't have plenty of other betting ops today.

GMB@BP · 06-03-2017, 11:44 AM

where are the people shipping in for this grade 1 event?

Robert Fischer · 06-03-2017, 11:50 AM

They look incompetent, in this case.

A grade 1, which originally featured 5 entrants?

There are no excuses, that is incompetence, in this case.

Get the field to 7, even if you scholarship the nominations, and give Optional Claimers and Allowance mares the weight allowance (which is already written in conditions as 6lbs).

They should publicly apologize for being disrespectful to the game, and announce that they will waive takeout for this race.

acorn54 · 06-03-2017, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

Who are you reckoning said or thought "to heck with the bettors"?

Santa Anita sure didn't say that. They don't benefit financially from such a short field that will take win bets only. The owners and trainers who didn't enter their horses didn't do so to screw the bettors but because they apparently figure they can't even get third money or Black type against these three so are opting for another spot.

So complain if you want, but you're sure missing the cause of the problem and sound sort of ridiculous. It's not like you have to bet this race and don't have plenty of other betting ops today.

what is happening in horseracing is a sign of the times. you are right, it is a concentration of wealth in society as reflected in the horserace industry, as well.

Andy Asaro · 06-03-2017, 11:56 AM

There is no signal that anything is being worked on or done to stem the tide. And the Stronach Group is the only entity that can do it. In 2018 the wheels fall off.

JimG · 06-03-2017, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

So complain if you want, but you're sure missing the cause of the problem and sound sort of ridiculous.

So enlighten me, what is the cause of the problem?

Fager Fan · 06-03-2017, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acorn54

what is happening in horseracing is a sign of the times. you are right, it is a concentration of wealth in society as reflected in the horserace industry, as well.

If you mean the "supertrainers" then I agree with you. I don't think Baffert has as many horses as Hollendorfer, Brown, and Pletcher, but until they can figure out a way to limit the number of horses a trainer supposedly (and I truly mean supposedly) trains, without violating anti-trust laws, then this part of the problem will continue.

Fager Fan · 06-03-2017, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimG

So enlighten me, what is the cause of the problem?

There are a number of issues. Supertrainers controlling too many of the top horses (and for some unknown reason their owners put up with it). Too many graded stakes instead of forcing the horses to race against each other. CA being an island doesn't help as it's not like there are daily flights in and out of CA. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of right now, but I'm sure one of the reasons isn't that someone decided to screw the bettors.

JimG · 06-03-2017, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

There are a number of issues. Supertrainers controlling too many of the top horses (and for some unknown reason their owners put up with it). Too many graded stakes instead of forcing the horses to race against each other. CA being an island doesn't help as it's not like there are daily flights in and out of CA. I'm sure there are others I'm not thinking of right now, but I'm sure one of the reasons isn't that someone decided to screw the bettors.

Thanks for the reply. You make some interesting points. I agree, no one woke up and said, let's screw the bettors. It just happens again and again.

Poindexter · 06-03-2017, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

Who are you reckoning said or thought "to heck with the bettors"?

Santa Anita sure didn't say that. They don't benefit financially from such a short field that will take win bets only. The owners and trainers who didn't enter their horses didn't do so to screw the bettors but because they apparently figure they can't even get third money or Black type against these three so are opting for another spot.

So complain if you want, but you're sure missing the cause of the problem and sound sort of ridiculous. It's not like you have to bet this race and don't have plenty of other betting ops today.

A business does what it has to do to make there product better. At least that is what they are supposed to do. When you have a prestigious Grade 1 race with 3 very legitimate Grade 1 horses, don't you think the racetrack has an obligation to at least put 3 or 4 other competitive horses in the field(personally I think there should be at least 10 horses (but that is fantasyland)? Are there no horses on the grounds that can compete with these horses? If there are could they have been induced to enter with free entry and adding an extra $10,000 or $15,000 to the puse money of 4th and 5th place finishers. There are no good Grade 1-2-3 fillies from out of state that they could have persuaded to come out with purse bonus and maybe even covering their shipping costs. Can't trainers be persuaded to enter a race via favors(enter this race and I will write you a really sweet condition for the horses next race....). Isn't it the job of the racing secretary to fill fields?

It just seems to me that this sport has no desire to put out a quality product We write a race, sure hope 5 horses enter, they did, yeah we are safe now. Instead of we have the makings of a blockbuster race with 3 very good grade 1 horses committed to entering this race, what can we do about giving the public a really exciting race with a full field of competitive runners.

Last point, you mentioned we don't have to bet this race. But truth is the public does. It is part of the late pick 4, which attracts huge pools, it is part of the Jackpot Pick 6 that now has over $400,000 in bonus jackpot money and this 3 horse field will make it really hard for anyone to be the lone ticket with six winners.............So yes the public does bet this race.

Not seeing why the racing industry accepts 3 horses fields, allows full takeout on any field size of less than 6.............These races destroy the bankoll of it's bettors and the industry doesn't seem to give a flying ****. It's bad business period.

Andy Asaro · 06-03-2017, 01:48 PM

SB1072 passed in 2011 gave most of the leverage to the Thoroughbred Owners of California who love short fields with big purses.

oughtoh · 06-03-2017, 02:12 PM

They didn't do it to hurt the bettors, but it does. The big bettors will be able to wheel that race in the pk4 and pk6, but the small bettor doesn't have enough money to do that, especially in the pk6. Santa Anita has went so far down hill it is sad. I remember driving from San Diego to Santa Anita in the 70's and early 80's whenever they had a big place. The place use to be packed. I realize tv and traffic has alot to do with people not going to the races, but to have a field of 3 for a big race is the racing secretarys fault. Maybe if they lowered the purse fron $400k to $200k if they don't get enough horses, maybe trainers would make sure they fields would be bigger. Wish we could go back to racing 40 years ago.