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Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up
Would that have ever been passed by the legislature?
I assume your post means you believe this to be a purse issue?
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Seems like anything the Indians want, they get.
Well had the purses been as high as they could have been, there probably would not have been a owner exodus and surely the 2% takeout increase would have never been implemented.
Is it a purse issue? Of course. Last year there were races at Penn National that were running for the same money or more money as the same class at Hollywood Park. I know a lot of KY breeders who send their horses where the money is highest. They have good horses and a steady supply of them. They now run in NY, Monmouth and Woodbine as opposed to CA. There are several traditionally CA based owners that fill the barns of guys like Phil Aristone and others at Parx.
Between low purses, polytrack, Stronach's issues, the CHRB's ineptness and general malaise the racing product has slipped quite a bit and handle has followed. Had they played nice with the Indians and came up with some sort of agreement years ago not only would have the monetary situation been better the atmosphere of desperation that now exists probably wouldn't have reached the levels that it is now at. Sure the general economic downturn would have still hurt somewhat but the timing in which it hit seems to simply accelerated the downward trend CA racing was already in.