Very good points, and interesting too.
We've read time and time again the various problems in horse racing, when in reality, a lot of those lists are filled with "nice to haves."
A lot of "fixes" tap into Ries/Trout's Law of Perspective... "The long-term effects are often the exact opposite of the short term effects."
For example, minor takeout decreases will not save the game long term... getting rid of money going offshore would do far more in the long run. Would racing rather have the added money from a 1% takeout decrease (provided it positively impacted wagering) or would racing rather have the full-takeout of all bets which have gone offshore in the last ten years? Because if all that money were in the game, who knows how racing could have treated big bettors, whales etc.
Slot machines are a short-term fix... they've juiced purses... but as Chuck said the long term effect is an erosion of racing's hierarchy and a padding of the superstar trainers' pockets. And eventually, when everyone has slots, when do governments start to re-write laws to eliminate the "racing requirement."
The Sheikh buying horses was considered awesome at one point... big money into horse racing, breed the next big Sheikh purchase. Well, short term, that cash infusion was great. Long term? As Andy said, where have all the good horses gone? (not that it's entirely their fault, but I think a meaningful portion of it is).
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06-29-2010, 03:37 PM
Hybrid Mode
