I am very happy to report that my pal who lost a foal that I wrote about on the blog earlier reported to me that at 6:30PM tonight, luck shone. It's a nice filly and mom and daughter are healthy. I will have some particulars in a later post. It's spring, eventhough it does not feel like spring outside! Tonight on Race Night on the Score (for non-Canadian readers that is the channel that shows Woodbine Harness Racing once a week) one of our trainers, Nick Boyd, who we have spoken about before was featured in a piece. You can view it on Youtube here. I thought it was a good interview. It showed that Nick really loves the game, and wants to succeed at it. If anyone wants to contact Nick for training purposes, please email me and I will pass it along to him. I can not recommend him more highly. He is 100% professional in terms of owner interaction and updates, his bills are on time and without any question and he gives his all. Most of all he will treat your horse with respect.
I got a nice comment below on the Breeders Crown 2010 post. I thought I would post it up here. It is from a Swedish reader. It shows that 1) Passion for racing knows no nationality and 2) People want this game to flourish. We are not alone out there. Thanks for the comment Janne, and please let us know a little bit about Swedish racing whenever the topic comes up. I am not alone in saying I truly hope the trotting World grows and we get to see more and more North American trotters head over to the Elitlopp. I watch it every year and I love to see the fans out for a good time and a great race. Thanks again for contributing:
Just found your blog...great stuff! The Breeders Crown event you describe is just the thing that the sport needs. A worldwide event where the best horses from around the world go toe-to-toe with eachother and compete for the "Crown". As a Swede I always hope that we get to see he best trotters from around the world in the Elitlopp but for this to happen we would need to at least double the current purse. The winner will get about 400k this year.
As it is now the best French horses are matched to race on home soil during their winter meeting while the best Scandinavian horses will be concentrating on their own circuit during spring/summer. So the Breeders Crown event would need a really big purse to get the attention from the connections of the European horses. There's been some feeble attempts to get a worldwide trotting circuit going but most tracks compete for the same horses and there's not much cooperation between them. We need to work together to get this sport where it needs and belongs to be!
We would also need to create common betting pools for all countries involved. There are a lot of differences between bettors in Europe. I'm sure there are at least as many differences between North American and European bettors. Scandinavians like to bet on multiple race bets (as V5, V64 and V75) while the French tend to bet their money on single race bets. I'd like to see some sort of a special bet to the race that would appeal bettors from all over the world and that would create the biggest pool of all-time. Maybe some sort of superfecta bet? Although I'm not sure if this is popular bet in North America?
We need to get our fantastic sport out of the comfort zone and start truly competing world-wide. In a perfect world the Breeders Crown event could even be raced one year in North America and the next year in Europe?
Best regards,
Janne
Notes:
Not on WEG's Christmas Card List
Our pal at Cangamble lets some thoughts be known on takeout and Woodbine in general. He touches many of the subjects that make us scratch our head as customers. He is not getting a Christmas card this year :)
Does Anyone Really Care?
In the "yes I am selfish" file, there is a web poll up on Standardbred Canada asking: "How much of a purse cut would you be willing to take if funds were directed to an independent body responsible for marketing, promotion and development?"
In what so far is a stunning, abhorrent vote, "none" has garnered the most support. Everyone wants marketing and publicity in this game; but only if someone else pays for it. It is completely close-minded and self-centered; and they should be ashamed of themselves for voting that way. This business owes us nothing and it is crumbling right in front of our eyes. We are the ones who must be the custodians of it while we have privilege to be in it.
1 comment:
As usual, many of the players are shortsighted and only concerned with getting the most they can during the current feeding frenzy of slots-enriched purses.
When that dries up, they'll all be stomping their feet and wondering why no one did anything to protect racing's future.
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