Jan 24 2008
Random Thoughts
–Racing needs more stars to promote the sport. Horses need to stay in training longer. How about mandating that no horse gets to breed before it’s a six-year-old, and no two year old racing before August? When the animals are worth more in the breeding shed than they are on the track, something has to be done to slow that down.
–Also, as an incentive to keep horses on the track, allow artificial insemination for all breeds. Quarter horses are doing it now, and it’s OK. There can certainly be rules put in place so as not to over saturate the breeds. Two things come to mind immediately, limiting the total number of conceptions to something that would occur naturally (both in number per year, and for how long), and if an animal is able to breed naturally, they have to do it that way. Insurance costs for the stars (like Curlin) make it nearly impossible to keep them in training when they can’t make enough money to overcome the premiums by running. If they were able to harvest enough sperm to lead to the equivalent long-term income from his breeding naturally, then premiums would go down, and there would be an upside to keeping him in training since more could be charged for his offspring if he keeps winning.
–While I am on the topic of Stars, all Owners, Trainers, Jockeys and drivers should be able to sign endorsement deals with anyone, and be able to promote whatever they want on their clothing. I will allow for some regulations such as the size and location of the ad, and making sure only legal things are advertised. No one gets to claim business conflicts though. Golf has figured out a way to allow its athletes to do this despite corporate sponsors putting on events. We can too. And a personal note to a trainer who shall remain nameless … no taking hats of your rider’s head … he was just as important in getting to the winner’s circle as you were.
–Note to the Breeders’ Cup … please do away with the purple saddle towels. The entire rest of the industry uses standard colors, so you can too. And while we are on the topic of saddle towels, dog tracks and harness tracks should switch to match the thoroughbred colors. Yes, I know you had your color schemes first, but thoroughbred and quarter horse racing is far and away the biggest handle generator, and therefore fewer people are impacted doing it this way. Yes, customers will grumble for a few weeks, maybe for a meet, and then all will be forgotten.
–Programs should go final for all racing no less than 72 hours prior to race day. Enter to run please. The customers will thank you because they have more time to handicap, and you will make more money because handle will go up. Trainers, if you are entering to run, this isn’t an issue.
–Animals should not be allowed to scratch without a valid medical reason, confirmed by the State veterinarian. If allowed to scratch, they should be put on a list until after the next race at the same condition is in the condition book. Again, enter to run, not to see if the field is soft enough to keep your win percentage at 25%. If your animal can only win at that level if the stars align properly then you aren’t running at the right level.
–If an animal is in training at a track, it should be required to race there at least one time a month, barring injury. If there are not any races at the track for the animal, the animal is in the wrong place and should be sent somewhere it can actually participate. If the animal is hurt, turn it out and make room for another animal that is healthy enough to race. Looking at field sizes at most tracks, there are clearly a lot of animals “in training” and not enough runners.
–I don’t know who to put in charge, but something has to be done to better coordinate post times … and stakes races. Maybe fewer races and/or fewer racetracks will solve this problem.