Originally Posted by oracle80

2) The business has lost its "middle class" to a very large extent. You now have huge owners, and little ones. The number of guys in the middle has shrunk to a record low. A monopoly has been created among a small number of trainers and owners.
3) Fewer owners means fewer horses which means smaller fields which means bad gambling opportunities for bettors and lower handle for racetracks.
Now why do we have fewer owners? Simple, if their early experience is that they get screwed, they just decide to leave the game.