The Price Of The Pudding

[TGJB]

Hey Jake-- The DRF fact checking department called me, since they know that a lot of those who read your board read this one, and it would be a a waste of time trying to put something up on your board that you don\'t like. They wanted to point out that 100% of the top 50 trainers, owners, and jockeys use the DRF pps-- in fact, pretty much all of them do. And that based on an informal poll, most of them would still do so even if they tripled the price-- what\'s $15 if you are dealing with a six figure horse?

I\'ve said it before, but just so it\'s clear-- I turn down somewhere between 50 and 100 requests a year from horsemen asking if we\'ll do the same type of deal you do-- they want to pay us for a sheet on their horse with the most recent number, etc. We won\'t do it-- we have the best record of buying and managing horses in the industry, good enough that we work on a commission basis, and won\'t cheapen the value of our consultations by selling raw data and \"advice\" for next to nothing, as you do.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

What am I missing here? The horsemen want to know how fast THEIR horse just ran or someone else\'s horse? If its their horse I guess knowing the figure can be of value. Having a general idea of how his past efforts stack up with the division or knowing if he just peaked. Still, knowing one horses efforts doesn\'t really tell you much. I don\'t think thats what you\'re talking about though.

[TGJB]

That actually is one of the points I have to make when people call, and one of the services we offer is that of looking at how a horse stacks up against other nominees for a stake, horses in that division in another part of the country, etc.

 One problem comes when a horse is for sale, and the caller is \"just curious\" about its last #, whether he is the buyer or seller. I\'m looking at those same horses for my clients, and if I give away the data I\'ll shoot myself in the foot with the few that actually are worth buying-- either someone else will beat me to the good ones, or the seller will raise the price. This is not a problem for Ragozin-- their success (as opposed to that of their \"customers\") is at the Hot Wells level, so they don\'t have clients who will pay serious money in commissions for their data or opinion. They are selling bulk data to horsemen at wholesale prices-- but it does enable them to claim lots of high profile \"customers\", so it works from a marketing point of view.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Thank you,

The second part of your response is what I assumed you were talking about.