Stronach reneges on SA surface change..

[alysheba4]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The lack of trainers is not an issue, it is the lack of owners. Lots of CA owners will simply get out if their trainers leave or they grow tired of the bs in CA. Those guys are tough to replace.

List of ease of replacement in order of hardest to easiest
1. Real bettors (not the guy who plays $2 in the derby pool)
2. Owners (the reason they are number 2 instead of at least tied for number 1 is that at least they can get some enjoyment out of the social aspect of the sport while losing all their money)
3. Fans (breakdowns, etc. chase them away but most are suckers for a sob story )
4. Good Assistants/Ex riders - (they do grunt work, have terrible hours, get substandard pay and receive little glory and there are fewer and fewer qualified ones to be found every year)
5. Jockeys (In 2010 people are just plain larger overall and if the size issue wasnt so important they would fall down this list dramatically)
6. Trainers (while the standards for getting a license are awful low it is getting increasingly harder to find people to risk the amount of money trainers must to do business. Not to mention the increasingly complicated labor laws to deal with that simply dont take into consideration the dymanics of horseracing. However there will never be a shortage of trainers)
7. Grooms (the level of horsemanship has dropped dramatically over the last 20 years. If a guy shows up on a consistent basis, doesnt freebase crack and can put on a saddle, bridle and bandage they are considered good help. Sadly if they fail one of those three qualifications they are bad help but often still employable)
8. Racing Secretaries (They have been stripped of power in many places and the revolving door of changes at top level tracks like GP have reduced their importance. But there are still lots of eager lower level racing officials that would jump at an opportunity to get the top job)
9. TV Analysts (with a few notable exceptions many of these people are simply not qualified of have a opinion to be shared as "expertise" and are hurting the saps that listen to them as opposed to helping.
10. Announcers (It isnt an easy skill to acquire but i have never heard of an announcer shortage)
11. Racing executives (Magna=revolving door)
12. Jockey Agents (Would be ranked even lower but some of them bet way more than they should which is a net positive)
13. Bloodstock Agents (Has any one group stolen/robbed/chased away so many good/potential clients than these guys? Sure they all arent crooks but enough of them are to drop the whole group. There are no standards to be a bloodstock agent, you dont even have to be licensed)

.......brutal, this sport is doomed

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by alysheba4

.......brutal, this sport is doomed

At least in the state of California.

You truly have to be a rich king to pay the bills for a horse in training at Santa Anita.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

At least in the state of California.

You truly have to be a rich king to pay the bills for a horse in training at Santa Anita.

What is the financial breakdown to have a horse in California? I find it hard to believe it is that much different then anywhere else.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Scav

What is the financial breakdown to have a horse in California? I find it hard to believe it is that much different then anywhere else.

why?

[Scav]

Originally Posted by freddymo

why?

I just don't see it being any more expensive then having a horse in NY, or Kentucky.

It isn't like the normal dayrate out there is 120$. Dayrate ends up being about 66%-70% of your monthly expense anyways

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Scav

I just don't see it being any more expensive then having a horse in NY, or Kentucky.

It isn't like the normal dayrate out there is 120$. Dayrate ends up being about 66%-70% of your monthly expense anyways

You think the vetting expense is the same? You think transportation is the same? Day rate in Pa is 50 bucks vs. 100 in Ca. and the purses are larger in some regards WAY larger.
What do you do with a 15k claimer in Ca.. Kill yourself?

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by freddymo

You think the vetting expense is the same? You think transportation is the same? Day rate in Pa is 50 bucks vs. 100 in Ca. and the purses are larger in some regards WAY larger.
What do you do with a 15k claimer in Ca.. Kill yourself?

Pony rides at kids parties, a la Old School.

[Scav]

Originally Posted by freddymo

You think the vetting expense is the same? You think transportation is the same? Day rate in Pa is 50 bucks vs. 100 in Ca. and the purses are larger in some regards WAY larger.
What do you do with a 15k claimer in Ca.. Kill yourself?

Transportation is the killer I am guessing, but it isn't like you are shipping from CA to KY every other day.

This isn't talking about Pa. I love Pa as much as you do. But some around here are trying to say it majorly expensive to have a horse out there when 1) it is majorly expensive to have a horse in general and 2) it probably costs about 4k to keep a horse in California (That isn't including any trainer purse %'s that you can deduct as an expense)

No one is talking about the opportunity to run against short fields, and while running for 'decent' purses

[asudevil]

Originally Posted by Scav

I just don't see it being any more expensive then having a horse in NY, or Kentucky.

It isn't like the normal dayrate out there is 120$. Dayrate ends up being about 66%-70% of your monthly expense anyways

125/day with top echelon trainers.