5 things the racing industry doesnt want you to know

[Stillriledup]

I was reading a 'things they won't tell you' article (things car dealers won't tell you, things hotels won't tell you, etc.) and thought about the racing industry. Does the racing industry have a 'things' they won't tell the average racetrack customer list they could compile if asked?

If you were writing this article for a horse racing magazine and were asked to list and explain 5 things the industry 'doesnt want the average customer to know' what would that be?

[BillW]

I've always wanted to know something that someone didn't want me to know. I'll be following this thread.

[sjk]

I suspect they would not want the on track patron to know the percent of on track wagers that are paid out as on track winnings.

[DJofSD]

How about the entries which are in the race only b/c the racing sec strong armed the trainer.

[wisconsin]

Stuck horses-horses that tried to scratch but were not allowed. With all of the scratches I see these days, maybe this is an old school problem.

[Jeff P]

Originally Posted by sjk

I suspect they would not want the on track patron to know the percent of on track wagers that are paid out as on track winnings.

Back in June we did a write up about this on the HANA Blog. In the win pool, where the takeout averages 16% to 18%, the new would be racing fan who knows nothing about handicapping experiences long term losses that average 25%.


16% to 18% Takeout Equals 25% Long Term Losses for the New Would be Racing Fan:
http://blog.horseplayersassociation....long-term.html



-jp

.

[Steward]

The fact that here in the united states, from Aqueduct to Zia Park, 75% of the "trainers" are neither competent, nor qualified, to train race horses! The scary part is the remaining 25% could have been anything they chose to have been!

[lamboguy]

the amount of money that is lifted out of the payoffs due to breakage, and the type of substances administered to horses that there is no test for.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Most of the people that draw a paycheck out of the purse fund have no working relationship with the notion that the wagering handle (well, should/used to) pays the bills.

[Tom]

That some people really do bet after the race is half over.
And most of them still lose!

[sjk]

Originally Posted by Jeff P

Back in June we did a write up about this on the HANA Blog. In the win pool, where the takeout averages 16% to 18%, the new would be racing fan who knows nothing about handicapping experiences long term losses that average 25%.


16% to 18% Takeout Equals 25% Long Term Losses for the New Would be Racing Fan:
http://blog.horseplayersassociation....long-term.html



-jp

.

Your article makes some good points but I was thinking of it more from the standpoint of negative settlements between the on track crowd and off track players to include whales and other computer assisted players.

[therussmeister]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

the amount of money that is lifted out of the payoffs due to breakage.

This is easy enough to calculate using average payouts and assuming an average breakage of 5¢ on the dollar.

[reckless]

Originally Posted by Tom

That some people really do bet after the race is half over.

Correct Tom, but what the industry does not want us to know is that way too regularly track management insiders are often the gonivs in this crime.

With their high-speed connections, usually linked to their very own off site hub, these gonivs monitor the 'smart' money bets and then place their own wagers accordingly -- mostly after the race begins to be 'safe'.

Sadly, it's much more rampant than the average fan knows or wishes to believe.

This is the 21st century version of the Saul Silbermann Method!

[Saratoga_Mike]

Originally Posted by reckless

Correct Tom, but what the industry does not want us to know is that way too regularly track management insiders are often the gonivs in this crime.

With their high-speed connections, usually linked to their very own off site hub, these gonivs monitor the 'smart' money bets and then place their own wagers accordingly -- mostly after the race begins to be 'safe'.

Sadly, it's much more rampant than the average fan knows or wishes to believe.

This is the 21st century version of the Saul Silbermann Method!

Really, could you please tell us how you know all of this? And given this knowledge, I assume you do NOT wager. Why would you?

[reckless]

Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike

Really, could you please tell us how you know all of this? And given this knowledge, I assume you do NOT wager. Why would you?

Well Mike, first off, I do still wager.... but it is an amount that is a small fraction of what I used to bet.

I also now prefer to bet mostly on the weekend/holiday major stakes races.

This isn't a practice at every or even most racetracks, thankfully, but it is happening way too often than we'd want to know.