illinois derby....a perfect example of whats wrong in racing
Apr 18, 2014 23:20:09 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2014 23:20:09 GMT -5
everyone wants to sit on here all day long and wail on about how to fix racing. how to make it more popular. how to bring back the crowds. well this race is a perfect example of how not to do it.
regardless of what some on here want you to believe, the biggest problem in racing isn't drugs. yes, it is a problem, and yes it needs to be dealt with. but the biggest problem is plain lack of interest and lack of competitive racing. your average once a week or so fan who is already hooked on the sport or even the ones who are getting there, really could care less what is being fed to the horses to make them run. oats, barley, vitamins, hormones, PED's, Viagra,........whatever. as long as they are convinced everyone is trying and the races aren't fixed, they don't really care what is being used to get the best out of a horse.
however, what they do care about is competition and excitement. I wont even get into the gambling aspect of it right now. lets just look at it from a fans point of view. there are no rivalries anymore, and the best horses rarely face each other. and races like this are the reason. when a horse like midnight hawk (who I don't even like) can drop off the derby trail and still run in 500k dollar races against fields like this, there is no incentive for his connections to do anything other then run in this race. now im not saying he would be a threat in the derby because I don't think he would have been. but he had his ticket punched and would have been somewhere in the mid range odds-wise. but instead they run him here, which is fine for them. it is the smart thing to do. it is what makes bob the best at what he does. knowing where to place his horses to get the money and win the races. but what about the public? do you really think they want to watch a 2/5 shot run against a bunch of rats for 500k? look at this field. no one in this race outside of the favorite has earned the right to be competing in a race worth this much money. but yet every weekend you see one, usually at some off the wall B or C track trying to get their name in the spotlight once a year. all this does is dilute the competitive racing and enable top horses to keep from facing each other because they can just hop on a plane and run next weekend somewhere else for more money against worse horses. I mean seriously, look at this field. a maiden, 4 horses still eligible for NW2L, 2 horses who did get past that level in optional claimers, and the chalk. this purse should be no more then 150k, at best. where do they get the money for this race? is hawthorne a casino funded track? if so, is this really the reason to invite the devil into your home? so you can afford to card races like this? if it isn't, then how about lowering the takeout, because it is obvious they have way too much excess money on their hands and don't need to be sticking it to the gamblers as much as they are.
regardless of what some on here want you to believe, the biggest problem in racing isn't drugs. yes, it is a problem, and yes it needs to be dealt with. but the biggest problem is plain lack of interest and lack of competitive racing. your average once a week or so fan who is already hooked on the sport or even the ones who are getting there, really could care less what is being fed to the horses to make them run. oats, barley, vitamins, hormones, PED's, Viagra,........whatever. as long as they are convinced everyone is trying and the races aren't fixed, they don't really care what is being used to get the best out of a horse.
however, what they do care about is competition and excitement. I wont even get into the gambling aspect of it right now. lets just look at it from a fans point of view. there are no rivalries anymore, and the best horses rarely face each other. and races like this are the reason. when a horse like midnight hawk (who I don't even like) can drop off the derby trail and still run in 500k dollar races against fields like this, there is no incentive for his connections to do anything other then run in this race. now im not saying he would be a threat in the derby because I don't think he would have been. but he had his ticket punched and would have been somewhere in the mid range odds-wise. but instead they run him here, which is fine for them. it is the smart thing to do. it is what makes bob the best at what he does. knowing where to place his horses to get the money and win the races. but what about the public? do you really think they want to watch a 2/5 shot run against a bunch of rats for 500k? look at this field. no one in this race outside of the favorite has earned the right to be competing in a race worth this much money. but yet every weekend you see one, usually at some off the wall B or C track trying to get their name in the spotlight once a year. all this does is dilute the competitive racing and enable top horses to keep from facing each other because they can just hop on a plane and run next weekend somewhere else for more money against worse horses. I mean seriously, look at this field. a maiden, 4 horses still eligible for NW2L, 2 horses who did get past that level in optional claimers, and the chalk. this purse should be no more then 150k, at best. where do they get the money for this race? is hawthorne a casino funded track? if so, is this really the reason to invite the devil into your home? so you can afford to card races like this? if it isn't, then how about lowering the takeout, because it is obvious they have way too much excess money on their hands and don't need to be sticking it to the gamblers as much as they are.
