Horse Ownership, Owner Breadth and Reasons to Leave the Game

I had a fun conversation today with Brad Thomas and Chuck Simon on twitter about horse ownership, big stables and the ever-changing game.

We've all seen what's been happening: Big stables get bigger, vet bills and supplement costs grow, partnerships are formed which drives down the price of breeding stock (both on the higher and lower end).

There's a real crowding out going on, and it has been going on for some time.

Why is this an issue? Because it has decreased owner breadth, and made for bad betting races. Since owners (suppliers) and horseplayers (the demand which allows for supply to occur) are the complete, unequivocal lifeblood of the game, this is a huge issue. With slots especially, aggregate demand for horseflesh is looked at and trumpeted, but the make-up of such demand is as, or more important.

In HRU over two weeks, this ecosystem was looked at. Some of it is probably hard to read, but I feel it is steeped in logic. The horse ownership demand curve is hurting, and needs some fixing.

Part I - About Charles Dombeck's comments in leaving the game to others (some of these very same points) (pdf page 4) & Part II - some lighter fare - What Can the Track and Industry do to make things more attractive to a new owner.

Have a nice long weekend everyone. Good luck and good racing.