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Originally Posted by Kimmeastar
Personally,I think it all comes down to the fault of the breeding that is going on.
Polytrack,Slots,is not the answer or the cure.The breeding needs to improve.If you increase the purses,and put them on Polytrack,it is still the same miserable,chronic losers,now they are just running for a higher purse.
We need more than just the Northern Dancer line.Sure,the Fasig Tipton sale numbers went through the roof,but that just tells me there were some big ego's being massaged at the sale.Green Monkey can't even run,so how can he be a valuable commodity in the breeding shed worth 16 million?Tabor got robbed,in my book.
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I personally believe we need to look to Japan for some answers.This is a country that has taken racing to a new level.They still race at all the classic distances,and their breeding programs are to die for. Their horses race DRUG FREE,
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and at preview sales shows,the horses are not allowed to go faster than 13 seconds a furlong,whips not allowed.Maiden special weight races have purses for 100k!! Track attendance is a sellout everyday.
So no,I do not think the racing product is fine in the USA. |
Actually, I think its the other way around, the Japanese are STILL learning from us, not vice versa.
If you spend time on the grounds and in the Sales Pavilion at Keeneland (or Fasig Tipton) you'll quickly note how many of the Japanese agents are there, buying our horses. The still know where to buy good horses.
Three of Japan's horses of recent years come to mind.
(1) As far as the breeding program,
SUNDAY SILENCE is the greatest coup the Japanese ever pulled off. EVER. And the majority of their good runners, certainly, have been sired by this legend.
(2) On the other hand, another American purchase the Japanese made, was our great Kentucky Derby Winner,
FERDINAND. When he was no longer useful to them, he was hauled up on a meat truck and sent to slaughter.
Dudes, why didn't you folks give somone in the old USA a call? We would gladly have paid the shipping to bring him home.
They didn't.
(3) The most recent Icon of their breeding program,
DEEP IMPACT is another sired by Sunday Silence. This one couldn't lose, the greatest thing since rice. He was shipped to France last October, where he went off at near even money in the Arc de Triomphe.
The entire country, it appeared, was in the stands and on the rail, to watch their champion. Their screams turned silent as they watched him beaten by the great French turf trainer, Andre Fabre's,
RAIL LINK, who on that day I had wagered to win. Deep Impact finished a disappointing third, and days later, it was announced
he tested POSITIVE for an illegal drug.