ROB WHITELY

[high roller]

One of my friends Rob Whitely who has bred or co-bred over 200 Stakes winners is leaving the business (out of financial necessity)- He wrote an op-ed piece on the 10 things racing needs to do to survive. A must-read.

It is Monday\'s TDN Internet Edition.

[Boscar Obarra]

Interesting, but sorry he didn\'t say a thing about takeout.

 Players bust out too.

[TGJB]

Yeah, I read that in TDN, as well as his earlier pieces. Very sad we\'re losing guys like him. From what I heard from a friend in Ky a year ago, something like 75% of the farms were bankrupt.

[TGJB]

Pretty sure he DID talk about lowering takeout-- probably the first Ky breeder ever to do so.

[high roller]

Take-out was one of his main points

[Boscar Obarra]

Whoops.  Didn\'t have time to read point by point, so a quick scan missed the takeout part.

 Was so expecting to see it, I didn\'t.

[phil23]

Regarding his point #5 (Host track should get lions share of simulcast money from racing at their facility) - I remember when I first learned that this WAS NOT the case. I could not believe it. It makes no sense. None. Zero. It is insane. It is like they are giving their product away to the vultures (the adw\'s and off track joints).  

I cannot believe that this situation continues to exist.

He says they need to revise the IHA to keep more than 50%...hell yes, like as in 90%! How racing can operate like this is beyond me.

And of course his follow on point about cutting takeout IN HALF (or more!) is the only way to have racing compete with casino and other forms of gambling that offer better bang for the buck.

Exchange wagering, imo, is a bit of a red herring. It\'s not the ability to back OR lay a horse that makes it popular in UK, it\'s the far lower takeout. If Betfair operated at 120%, nobody would give a damn that you can lay a horse. BUt it operates around 102%.

We don\'t need exchange wagering here, we just need massive takeout reductions in the tote. And let the friggin tracks keep the money. The Vultures be damned.