This is what can be expected when a sport becomes primarily a business so that, from a strictly business point of view, it was the right decision. The problem is that for racing to continue to exist as a business it must be perceived by the public as a sport whose participants are not solely acting in their own self interest. What is lacking in racing is a powerful central governing body whose primary interest is the protection of the sport. Instead we have the inmates running the asylum.
I\'m not sure I remember this correctly but I once read that the German Jockey Club, in addition to never having raced on performance enhancing drugs, a horse must also have raced for 2 full seasons before it can stand at stud. Other sports have powerful central bodies for their own protection. That\'s why athletes in other sports would never be considered for their Halls of Fame after only playing a few games. In addition, this is what racing needs so we can have uniform drug laws as well.
In which sport are \"participants not solely acting in their own self interest\"?
bobphilo Wrote:
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> This is what can be expected when a sport becomes
> primarily a business so that, from a strictly
> business point of view, it was the right decision.
> The problem is that for racing to continue to
> exist as a business it must be perceived by the
> public as a sport whose participants are not
> solely acting in their own self interest. What is
> lacking in racing is a powerful central governing
> body whose primary interest is the protection of
> the sport. Instead we have the inmates running the
> asylum.
Bob, if you go back ten and even more years on the TG board (or any other
place where thoroughbred racing is discussed) you can see similar comments, all
difficult to dispute. The one continued piece of news in the racing world that
I have been reading is that handle is UP almost everywhere. The
breeding/auction/pinhooking industry is seemingly going strong. There is
activity at the claim box. New shooters are coming into the game via
partnerships, syndicates and \"racing clubs.\" Of course, Racing can always be
improved, BUT as long as the vital signs (especially handle) are positive (and
the \"inmates\" do not care where the money is coming from, the mythical two
dollar bettor or the Bots), the motivation to change will not be strong. To
burst the bubble surrounding a common misconception, the \"crowd\" at any live
racing venue is very young, in many cases too young to bet, or even read. So
young people are being exposed to the races. To be generally negative about the
sport/business of thoroughbred racing is almost a reflex at this point and
probably needs reexamining.
> I\'m not sure I remember this correctly but I once
> read that the German Jockey Club, in addition to
> never having raced on performance enhancing drugs,
> a horse must also have raced for 2 full seasons
> before it can stand at stud. Other sports have
> powerful central bodies for their own protection.
> That\'s why athletes in other sports would never be
> considered for their Halls of Fame after only
> playing a few games. In addition, this is what
> racing needs so we can have uniform drug laws as
> well.
There are many ways a stud book could be \"edited\" for lack of a better word.
The question is whether it is appropriate to use the stud book to make changes
in the way races are run and the way racehorses are managed. Hypothetically,
one might be inclined to restrict the stallion register to promote endurance
and soundness (with the ancillary benefit of keeping racing stock in training
longer). Establish a certain minimum number of starts necessary for a horse to
enter stud, or say that a horse must race at least once as a 4YO before being
admitted to the stallion register. Under those restrictions, two lightly raced
sons of Northern Dancer (Danzig and Compliance, each of whom raced only three
times)(Compliance never broke his maiden but went on to sire Fourstardave and
Fourstarsallstar, among others) would never have stood at stud.
Lots of other unsound racehorses became successful sires. Raise A Native, Hail To Reason, Kris S, Hoist The Flag...
richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> Bob, if you go back ten and even more years on the
> TG board (or any other
> place where thoroughbred racing is discussed) you
> can see similar comments, all
> difficult to dispute. The one continued piece of
> news in the racing world that
> I have been reading is that handle is UP almost
> everywhere. The
> breeding/auction/pinhooking industry is seemingly
> going strong. There is
> activity at the claim box. New shooters are coming
> into the game via
> partnerships, syndicates and \"racing clubs.\" Of
> course, Racing can always be
> improved, BUT as long as the vital signs
> (especially handle) are positive (and
> the \"inmates\" do not care where the money is
> coming from, the mythical two
> dollar bettor or the Bots), the motivation to
> change will not be strong. To
> burst the bubble surrounding a common
> misconception, the \"crowd\" at any live
> racing venue is very young, in many cases too
> young to bet, or even read. So
> young people are being exposed to the races. To be
> generally negative about the
> sport/business of thoroughbred racing is almost a
> reflex at this point and
> probably needs reexamining.
>
It\'s been 16 years since handle was up more than 1% year to year, so if handle actually skyrockets this year it would certainly be surprising. Actually it would be shocking on the level of KMart suddenly posting record profits in 2018.
Guess it\'s all that late whale money.
TGJB Wrote:
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> Lots of other unsound racehorses became successful
> sires. Raise A Native, Hail To Reason, Kris S,
> Hoist The Flag...
And this unsoundness continues to by passed down to future generations to the detriment of the sport.
\"It\'s been 16 years since handle was up more than 1% year to year, so if handle actually skyrockets this year it would certainly be surprising. Actually it would be shocking on the level of KMart suddenly posting record profits in 2018.\"
Actually, this would be the one year where it wouldn\'t be surprising, owing to the change in the IRS\'s withholding rules. Some optimists even predicted handle gains approaching 10%.
A reliable source - https://twitter.com/o_crunk/status/1013585931482386432 - shows handle up 5% through the first half of the year.
What other sport does an athlete retire before he even reaches his prime?
What occurred here is a major issue for me more than take out or the bot guys.
They are breeding immature animals and they wonder about soundness issues?
I hope he pulls a Battle Of Midway and shoots blanks just so they do what is best for the horse. ðŸ˜,
\"What is lacking in racing is a powerful central governing body whose primary interest is the protection of the sport.\"
Right. This retirement never would have happened if Bowie Kuhn were still alive.
I read he had a suspensory ligament tear. Depending upon how bad it was, they don\'t always come all the way back from that.
It\'s not like they retired him right after the Belmont and said C-ya.
Apparently not by the stallions, at least based on their own soundness. There are stallions who throw crooked horses (Theatrical etc.), but that does not appear to tie to their own ability to get to the track, at least anecdotally.
True, sound horses can produce unsound offspring just as unsound horses can produce sound offspring. All fast horses do not become great stallions.The tendency to unsoundness,like all other physical traits, can skip one or more generations. However, horses that are themselves unsound clearly have these genes and are more likely to contribute them to the gene pool than sound ones who may or my not be carriers.
He was never racing again after Belmont. I felt like there was an off chance he’d run in the BC classic fresh no prep, either that or be retired like he was. I think this was the most likely outcome regardless of injury.
LANDA: Oooh, that\'s a bingo! Is that the way you say it? \"That\'s a bingo?\"
RAINE: You just say \"bingo.\"
LANDA: Bingo!