What is Racing's Biggest Current Hurdle?

Originally Posted by Kasept

The 'sticking around' schtick makes for a nice argument, but it's a canard in this conversation. Stars may matter to 'fans', but they don't matter to gamblers. CJ has always been right on this subject, and was banging that drum before anyone. People who will make the difference at the windows contributing to handle in a meaningful way couldn't care less how long some high profile horse is around... (unless they are a money-burning favorite type of course).


Separately, why in the world would Fabulous Strike draw ire? All he does is show up every time out. Horses that run really fast are the most likely to get hurt and most likely to need time between starts. Todd Beattie has handled Fabulous Strike brilliantly, and his scheduling has ALLOWED him to make the starts he has and still have a horse going into his 7yo season.

You need to add "fans" in order to have a shot at turning them into "gamblers."

It's difficult to do that when the top horses run 4-6 times a year.