Del Mar opens Wed. Racing hurting all over the place

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Racing is suffering everywhere... it gets harder and harder to put together "quality" cards. Foal crops are down, quality is diminishing etc.

Foal crop has nothing to do with it yet. Owner crop is down significantly. That is the single biggest problem in the sport right now yet no one wants to admit it or talk about it. People in the sport worry all the time about attracting new customers (which obviously is important) yet the people who are footing the bill for the show with a 95% loss rate are increasingly disappearing. The sad truth is that it is a lot harder to find a guy with enough money willing to buy into ownership than it is to find people who may be interested in the game in general or in becoming a player. The vast majority of the people who follow this board play the races to some degree. What % do you think have the wherewithal to claim a $15000 claimer and pay the bills on a B circuit? 10%? Less? Can you name 1 person in the media or from one of the organizations that have addressed this problem or even acknowledged that it exists? Is there any movement to make the game more attractive for owners?

[phystech]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Foal crop has nothing to do with it yet. Owner crop is down significantly. That is the single biggest problem in the sport right now yet no one wants to admit it or talk about it. People in the sport worry all the time about attracting new customers (which obviously is important) yet the people who are footing the bill for the show with a 95% loss rate are increasingly disappearing. The sad truth is that it is a lot harder to find a guy with enough money willing to buy into ownership than it is to find people who may be interested in the game in general or in becoming a player. The vast majority of the people who follow this board play the races to some degree. What % do you think have the wherewithal to claim a $15000 claimer and pay the bills on a B circuit? 10%? Less? Can you name 1 person in the media or from one of the organizations that have addressed this problem or even acknowledged that it exists? Is there any movement to make the game more attractive for owners?

Couldn't agree more, Chuck - couldn't agree more.

Racing needs to find a way to attract more owners, and then keep them in the game. And I'm not talking about the suit and ties that are only into ownership because they want to go to a party and win the KY Derby, I'm talking about the ones that will gut it out day to day. And when they get their throat stepped on a couple times, they'll still figure out a way to stay in the game. Not many of those kind left anymore...... and we certainly don't get much encouragement from the tracks or the bettors to stick around.

4 weeks ago, I had three horses running. Since then, one was claimed and the other two have had to be retired due to injury. The claim left me with enough to go buy two more, but the restrictive claiming policies at the track I want to claim at denies me the chance to claim. So, instead of being able to spend my money and get back to racing, I'll sit it out for quite a few months until MD opens again and things shake out a little. Does that help my business? No. Does that help the track's business? No. Does that help the bettors? No. Does the track or the bettors care about my business operations? No. But they'll both feel better if my horses don't run on lasix anymore.......

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Foal crop has nothing to do with it yet. Owner crop is down significantly. That is the single biggest problem in the sport right now yet no one wants to admit it or talk about it. People in the sport worry all the time about attracting new customers (which obviously is important) yet the people who are footing the bill for the show with a 95% loss rate are increasingly disappearing. The sad truth is that it is a lot harder to find a guy with enough money willing to buy into ownership than it is to find people who may be interested in the game in general or in becoming a player. The vast majority of the people who follow this board play the races to some degree. What % do you think have the wherewithal to claim a $15000 claimer and pay the bills on a B circuit? 10%? Less? Can you name 1 person in the media or from one of the organizations that have addressed this problem or even acknowledged that it exists? Is there any movement to make the game more attractive for owners?

I absolutely agree. My foal crop statement was more forward speaking...

For example, in LA there were 1,678 registered foals in 2010 versus 2,316 in 2009. Yet racetracks are still required to run 84 days within 21 weeks... so the same amount of races, with less and less horses to race in those races

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

I absolutely agree. My foal crop statement was more forward speaking...

For example, in LA there were 1,678 registered foals in 2010 versus 2,316 in 2009. Yet racetracks are still required to run 84 days within 21 weeks... so the same amount of races, with less and less horses to race in those races

And that is in a state where the purse structure is great for owners, especially statebreds