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.
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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.
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