The disconnect between the outright giddiness of slots-fuelled large purses for claiming races and economic reality has long been a bone of contention for many in the sport, me included.
If a stock has an increase in earnings, the price of it goes up. It's how the market works. Horses at a fixed cost, suddenly racing for 3X or more the claiming price, tries to put a square peg in a round hole. It turns animals into commodities, can and has attracted the lowest of the low to this business, and it should never have been allowed to happen.
Joe Drape looks at the phenomenon today in the New York Times.
People complained about the methodology of the last New York Times article, and they had a point. However, the shoot the messenger strategy with this article should not happen. This one is all on us.
Notes:
Social Media/Twitter etc are spoke about with regards to horse owners and trainers letting fans know health issues of racehorses, on HRU. Also, a couple of initiatives to make it better for bettors are suggested (page 4, PDF)
What did you know and when did you know it? Regulators look at NYRA takeout snafu.
There are those out there who judge a racetrack by its driving colony and quality of horses. I guess it depends how you keep score. Balmoral Park, the track that attracts gamblers by carding good racing at a fair price, gave out $99,000 in purses on Saturday. Yonkers, with the best horses and the best drivers, gave out $1.1 million in purses on Saturday. The handle scorecard? Balmoral $1.33 million, Yonkers, $1.19 million.
Most Trafficked, Last 12 Months
-
Welcome to the 8th edition of the Monday Super Spectacular Blog! It was Preakness week and frankly instead of a horse racing pool, next yea... -
Last week's inaugural Super Spectacular Monday Blog got a lot of hits, and not just from Russian bots (although cпасибо to all Russian r... -
I continue to be fascinated with both the press and general football fan reaction to the Bill Belichick 4th down decision in Sunday's ga...
-
On the Harness Edge this morning, I see that there is a story up about the BCSA offering their members up for driver and trainer interviews ...
-
Welcome to the Super Spectacular Blog Vol 5 . Thanks for reading and sharing this disorganized barrage of thoughts and links each week. Ti... -
We'll all remember Memorial Day '24 because of the Met Mile as the day Ray Cotolo dressed up like a hot dog. Hope @RayCotolo au... -
Last night's Uncle Bill twitter spaces, where TVG's Fanduel's Mike Joyce joined some raucous horseplayers was, well, kind of in...
-
I was outside awhile back and noticed some kids playing with the pigskin. They flipped me the ball and I sent one kid on a fly pattern. I ga...
2 comments:
"The handle scorecard? Balmoral $1.33 million, Yonkers, $1.19 million."
WOW..The Horseplayers are talking!
Is anybody listening?
Well, we know the Rooneys are not listening, otherwise they would have spent some of their slots money to move the judges' stand. In that way, they could move the finish line up the stretch, give the fields a better run to the first turn, and create more competitive racing.
Post a Comment