Much ado about nothing.

Every time TGJB asks for the board to return to TG and handicapping issues, we get innundated with more and more fluff.

For every overhyped superstar that is retired early, there are being foaled 20 or 30 New York Breds who never should have been bred in the first place. In 3 years some of them will come together in a NY Bred maiden race in the dead of winter at Aqueduct that will be impossible to handicap and will produce a chaotic result. There will be less than 2000 people in the stands on that day and god willing I will be one of them.

I agree of course that it is much more fun to handicap and watch a card with the quality of the Belmont day races, but too many horses are being bred and too many races are being run for this type of racing to be anything but the exception to the rule.

Racing can survive without superstars, and can survive without the casual fans who are only drawn to the Triple Crown and Breeders Cup Day races. There are more and more ownership syndicates bringing new owners into the game, owners who could never have afforded participation in the game are now in. Delaware type
(read "slots") purse structures (8K claimers running for 15K purse money) will make it easier for owners to stay in the game.

Technology has turned every living room in the country into a potential OTB parlor.

So put away your tissues and respect TGJB's anti- fluff edict. If you are really concerned about retiring horses, don't worry about Smarty and Ghost and Alex... they will be fine, and maybe we should all pay a little more attention to the Excellers and the Ferdinands of the racing world (and many lesser known animals
facing similar predicaments), and make certain that their fates are not duplicated.

EDIT-- oops, sorry guys, I didn't realize that this was the Berkshire Hathaway
chat room.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2005 11:29AM by richiebee.