2019 Breeder's Cup

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Yeah, no way does one high profile breakdown end the sport in the US. It could contribute to ending it in California, though.

(This is anecdotal, but I was up in San Francisco over the weekend that the front page of the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle, main story, with a big picture of horses racing, was a big flashy story on the breakdowns and the crisis in California horse racing. This is notable for several reasons: (1) San Francisco has been largely immune from the problem, because Golden Gate has a safe synthetic track with few breakdowns; (2) Santa Anita is now closed, so we aren't getting the 1 or 2 breakdowns a week we were getting when it was open; (3) page 1 on the Sunday paper is the most important real estate in the print world, so the Chronicle obviously saw this as a huge story.)

The only way racing ends in California is if the politicos in charge and their millionaire horse people friends WANT IT TO END.

And I doubt that will be the case any time soon. You could have 5 deaths a day and it would NOT lead to a ban on racing in California...UNLESS the powerful people involved concede it to be so.

Follow the money. Therein lies all your answers.

You guys have nothing to worry about (other than the welfare of the horses). Racing isn't going anywhere. Deaths or no deaths (and there has NEVER been NO DEATHS...there has ALWAYS been death when it comes to racing).

[Saratoga_Mike]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

The only way racing ends in California is if the politicos in charge and their millionaire horse people friends WANT IT TO END.

And I doubt that will be the case any time soon. You could have 5 deaths a day and it would NOT lead to a ban on racing in California...UNLESS the powerful people involved concede it to be so.

Follow the money. Therein lies all your answers.

You guys have nothing to worry about (other than the welfare of the horses). Racing isn't going anywhere. Deaths or no deaths (and there has NEVER been NO DEATHS...there has ALWAYS been death when it comes to racing).

What about a voter-led referendum???

[bob60566]

Update today

https://www.horseracingnation.com/ne...nta_Anita_123#

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

The only way racing ends in California is if the politicos in charge and their millionaire horse people friends WANT IT TO END.

And I doubt that will be the case any time soon. You could have 5 deaths a day and it would NOT lead to a ban on racing in California...UNLESS the powerful people involved concede it to be so.

Follow the money. Therein lies all your answers.

You guys have nothing to worry about (other than the welfare of the horses). Racing isn't going anywhere. Deaths or no deaths (and there has NEVER been NO DEATHS...there has ALWAYS been death when it comes to racing).

PA, the money in California politics these days comes from Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Silicon Valley hates horse racing, and Hollywood isn't nearly the fans they once were.

Millionaires have NO influence here. You need to be at least a 400 millionaire. And the horse industry is just completely irrelevant to the California economy.

We are not Kentucky. We could absolutely ban the sport here, and few would miss it. Certainly the folks who finance political campaigns wouldn't care.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike

What about a voter-led referendum???

That would surely end racing in California! It would take 1 political ad showing a horse breaking down and that would turn most voters with no knowledge of racing to vote against racing.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

The only way racing ends in California is if the politicos in charge and their millionaire horse people friends WANT IT TO END.

And I doubt that will be the case any time soon. You could have 5 deaths a day and it would NOT lead to a ban on racing in California...UNLESS the powerful people involved concede it to be so.

Follow the money. Therein lies all your answers.

You guys have nothing to worry about (other than the welfare of the horses). Racing isn't going anywhere. Deaths or no deaths (and there has NEVER been NO DEATHS...there has ALWAYS been death when it comes to racing).

You are making a huge mistake if you believe that CA makes policy through rational decision making. The money is NOT on the side of racing either.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

PA, the money in California politics these days comes from Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Silicon Valley hates horse racing, and Hollywood isn't nearly the fans they once were.

Millionaires have NO influence here. You need to be at least a 400 millionaire. And the horse industry is just completely irrelevant to the California economy.

We are not Kentucky. We could absolutely ban the sport here, and few would miss it. Certainly the folks who finance political campaigns wouldn't care.

So you're saying there are no super-wealthy people who own and race horses in California....

OK then...

BTW, all it takes is one with the right connection.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

So you're saying there are no super-wealthy people who own and race horses in California....

OK then...

BTW, all it takes is one with the right connection.

What are you talking about? We aren't some crappy little state where one rich guy can control public policy. We aren't Nevada or West Virginia or anything similar.

We are a large state with boatloads of money and large organized interest groups. Only the biggest sources of money, bundled, can buy off a politician's vote here.

Our state senators would laugh at one rich horse owner. "You think I am going to endure months of PETA protests and a primary challenge for YOU? I can get 10 times what you are offering from tech folks in Santa Clara County."

[PaceAdvantage]

I'm talking about reality and how the world works.

Stop thinking of horse racing as some sort of equivalent to greyhound racing and maybe we'll start reaching common ground.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

I'm talking about reality and how the world works.

Stop thinking of horse racing as some sort of equivalent to greyhound racing and maybe we'll start reaching common ground.

I am not saying horse racing is the same as dog racing. But I am saying very few people in California who are rich by California standards like the sport. And that defines the political realities here.

[LemonSoupKid]

It is hard to argue that something like this couldn't happen in California at this point, given that the state is basically anti-American.

That is not a political comment, it is a reality.

[biggestal99]

Originally Posted by LemonSoupKid

It is hard to argue that something like this couldn't happen in California at this point, given that the state is basically anti-American and has gone full retard.

That is not a political comment, it is a reality.

Many many states in the union don’t have horse racing and they aren’t anti American.

If the people in the state choose not to have racing it is not some sinister communist plot.

You don’t like the California govt, we get that.

But it’s light years ahead of most states.

Allan

[Dream_Police]

California has the 6th largest economy in the world so I think they would survive without racing. I am a huge racing fan but to say that the loss of horse racing and the impact it would have to the economy as a whole is a bit overstated. The impact on a smaller scale with the workers in that industry, excluding trainers and owners, would have a large impact on those people so that is something to consider when they take up these initiatives.


California is also on of the few "donor" states, that is paying more in federal taxes than they receive in aid, refunds and such.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by biggestal99

Many many states in the union don’t have horse racing and they aren’t anti American.

If the people in the state choose not to have racing it is not some sinister communist plot.

You don’t like the California govt, we get that.

But it’s light years ahead of most states.

Allan

I certainly agree with your first 3 points. Having lived in CA for over 50 years I can't imagine why anybody would think that CA is light years ahead of most states.

[Clydepuckett]

It is not.....not even close.

See Prop 8...