Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!


Got a caption? Yes, those are Waples colors, so be nice if you lost a bet on him recently :)

Racing management speaking of churn, lower take and doing betting math? It happened, and it is from a harness racing dude. I am convinced harness racing will be the first to crack to adopt some real change. About three years ago if you showed someone in the thoroughbred business the problems we were having in harness racing, and said that the problems were going to get them next, you would have probably been greeted with "ya, but that is harness racing. We're the runners, it can not happen to us!". I think we are a leading indicator and will try things to pull ourselves up before they do. Articles like the above are welcomed from an insider on a trade website! His plan to use slot money to lower the takeout to 8% is about the most fresh thing I have read from an industry insider for a long, long time.

Very interesting reading from the New York Times on the Jeff Mullins detention barn incident. Us harness racers (again, we had Dbarns a couple of years before the runners did) know that if you bring in anything at all into that barn it is a no-no. To read the reported Mullins' testimony you would think it was his barn at home :)

Anyone dressing up for Halloween? I am going as a horseplayer. I am working on a slight beard, a scowl and I already have a wallet with no money in it. My costume is pretty much done.

Enjoy the day, whatever you may be doing!

1 comment:

That Blog Guy said...

What Berry says makes sense; I have been arguing it for ages. The problem is going to be who gives up part of their slot revenue. Tracks will want horsemen to give up part of the revenue, horsemen will want tracks to give up part of the revenue.

Most Trafficked, Last 12 Months

Similar

Carryovers Provide Big Reach and an Immediate Return

Sinking marketing money directly into the horseplayer by seeding pools is effective, in both theory and practice In Ontario and elsewher...