Re: Leave the Hanicapping Materials at Home Too (617 Views)
Posted by:
Thehoarsehorseplayer (IP Logged)
Date: January 11, 2006 12:44PM
You know if you're going to be spending your afternoon at such a ritzy place as the new Gulfstream do you really want to get ink all over your hands handicapping races?
As long as we're taking the emphasis off of the live racing products, why doesn't the "Sport" move to a betting model that de-emphasises the hard work of handicapping. Maybe something like horse roulette. You can have odd and even bets with the winner determined by the the numbers of the first three finishers. The house would pay even money but sweep the board for totals of zero or one.
Or the track could offer more exhorbitant odds if the bettor chooses the tally for the first five finishers. And by bringing in the fifth place finisher into the race don't you make the game that much more exciting?
I'm only kidding here. But... But I do think that unless this game starts getting it's studdishness back, starts believing in itself again, starts celebrating it's own magic, instead of whining about it's disadvantages (which are real, but surmountable) this is the direction we're going guys. The noble game which once was about dash and daring will further devolve into some sort of horse bingo, a mere side attraction to lure people out to the mall.
Yeah, why not horse bingo? Works for simulcast racing. Sell cards and the first person who gets six winning numbers in a row, is the winner. I can hear the senior citizen in the back now jubiantly yelling "HORSO!" or maybe, in honor of the visionary Mr. Stronach, "FRANKO!"