[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

The purses are crappy because they can get away with it. They've hollowed out a niche where lower level horses can get on the grass for 16K all winter instead of getting their heads handed to them @ GP or FG - same goes with the dirt - good luck filling 8K N3L's twice a day at GP.

It is convenient to Ocala and South FL so you've got stock all around that can ship in, and as a result the fields are huge...

Finally, there is no incentive to increase the purses because there is NO COMPETITION from December to April - once the northern tracks open, trainers flee... by late April, there is usually less than a third of the stalls are full.

I'd like to believe that takeout has something to do with their success as Doug alludes to - You've got basically the same product all summer long at Suffolk, yet not a fraction of the handle.

Bettors can choose better horse racing at GP, FG, - with more formful/classier horses, higher profile trainers/connections, etc - yet Tampa continues to make a killing on a vastly inferior product, racing-wise - I don't know how the message to the industry can be anymore clear - It's the takeout, Stupid

Wouldnt an increase in handle automatically increase purses? I thought most tracks have the takeout split % wise between the horsemen(purses) and the track.