Fotias Says What a Lot Want To Say

A lot of industry insiders and players who want to see the betting part of racing improved are a distant memory now. Malaise usually sets in after 5 or 10 years of stagnation, and most move on. Cary Fotias is not one of them.

After yesterday's piece, he ain't getting invited into the Turf Club for free snow crab, methinks - if he ever did that is.

Some gems from his "State of the Game" Article:

• It’s so simple an economic concept [lowering WPS takeouts] that it probably has no chance of happening considering the panjandrums that control the game. 
•  The industry has taken the greatest gambling game ever invented and trashed it. It is a testament to “what the outside of a horse does to the inside of a man” that the game has survived the egregious and almost unconscionable decisions of its management.
•  The myopic managers at CDI have decided that rather invest money to help keep the industry’s promise, they simply “blank out the late odds” until they are final.
•  If you can change the rules on a whim, why not allow I’ll Have Another to race with the nasal strip that is permitted in every other US racing jurisdiction? Lasix is OK, but not a nasal strip? Let’s get real.
•  The Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) have shelved a betting exchange trial for at least a year. That’s right, these fools are fine with 5-horse fields where it’s easy to collect purse money but refuse to allow Betfair to begin an experiment with exchange betting in the U.S. 

It's a great read if you are a die-hard horseplayer. I imagine most of you will be nodding in approval on almost every line. It's nice to see there are still people around like Cary, not letting the industry off the hook for bad policy. Most of them have long given up, road kill from racings CEO, Mr. Status Quo.