6/27 ATR: Josie Carroll, Lou Raffetto and more.. ("Best Of" Tues.)

I doubt it. Why is he even attempting to answer these questions if he just took the job?

Once again you get a guy people in the industry know to an extent so they let their guard down and allow incompetence to continue.

One of the main problems is the horse racing industry is far too nepotistic and buddy-buddy.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

I doubt it. Why is he even attempting to answer these questions if he just took the job?

Once again you get a guy people in the industry know to an extent so they let their guard down and allow incompetence to continue.

One of the main problems is the horse racing industry is far too nepotistic and buddy-buddy.

Coach,

I wouldn't condemn Raffetto for offering answers to the questions I asked him. He starts in the job Friday... As to his hire, Raffetto's background is almost entirely East Coast based. I think the California people reached to him as someone who would bring at least a different regional perspective.

Recognize that the issue with bringing in 'fresh blood'' from outside the industry is getting them up to speed with the intricacies of the job(s).

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Yes, and Brutus is an honorable man. As smart as he may very well be - he said none of the right things on takeout - and all of the wrong things on betting exchanges.

Good luck on his quest for a quick fix - maybe he can prove his worth and pull something off short term - even If he can, you can be sure it will be nothing to the long term benefit of horse racing.

Instead of growing handle and improving the betting climate - these guys want to grow more Mike Wilbon's.

You're being presumptive about Raffetto's stance, motivation, mandate and ability. He was behind trying reduced takeout experiments at Maryland and tried to add new wrinkles to Steeplechase's exposure and wagering opps while President of NSA. Give him a chance to get the lay of the land and win over some allies in CA.

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Kasept

You're being presumptive about Raffetto's stance, motivation, mandate and ability.

I'm presumptive about absolutely nothing.

Just going by what he said in the interview.

By the way - the Maryland takeout reduction was for 10 days during Saratoga and Del Mar when they wanted to try and drum up business at a tough time for them in the racing calender. Lower takeout is not a gimmick or quick fix.

Originally Posted by Kasept

Coach,

I wouldn't condemn Raffetto for offering answers to the questions I asked him. He starts in the job Friday... As to his hire, Raffetto's background is almost entirely East Coast based. I think the California people reached to him as someone who would bring at least a different regional perspective.

Recognize that the issue with bringing in 'fresh blood'' from outside the industry is getting them up to speed with the intricacies of the job(s).

Yeah and those intricacies are primarily (at least in Kentucky) kissing ass up the nepotistic ladder.

[Calzone Lord]

I'll tell you what else is very annoying to me after a browse of another board - the type of stuff coming from the HANA folks.

Yes, handle is down over $200 million in just 6 months in California since the takeout hike - and the majority of that decline has come on weekends when field sizes are better... big deal.

That takeout hike is MUCH more devastating in the long term than the short term.

$207 million lost in handle over 6 months - is just a squirt of piss in a very big bucket. No big deal compared to the massive self inflicted setback of making the game more of a suckers game for new bettors than it was six months ago.

There was a time when baseball, boxing, and horse racing were the three big sports in this country. And coincidentally, I'm sure, some of the best horse bettors of that time made the equivlent of tens of millions of dollars in their best years, some of them dated well, and others were tabloid figures that newspapers obsessed over.

Go and look for them now! They don't exsist anymore.

A good portion of society today views horse bettors as lonely senior citizens or degenerate scumbags. ESPN tries to push the sport - and one of their guys like Mike Wilbon (Wilbon's own father loved horse racing and he was strongly exposed to it as a kid) can justifiably sh!t all over the sport. Do you think actresses still want to fucl< horse bettors?

In so many ways, the sport is MILES better now than it was a hundred years ago ... but because they've reduced it to a suckers game - it suffers.