Mike:

Was absolutely being sarcastic when I said Polydrek would increase handle and attendance.

The Polydrekization of racing will not affect my wagering all that much. I would say that bets I make on racing outside of New York account for less than 2% of what I push through the machines, and most of that would be live appearances at MTH and some Fair Grounds wagers.

If Polydrek came to the NYRA tracks, they probably lose me altogether. The only place Poly might have a place at NYRA is if they try an experiment and run over Poly instead of the Inner Dirt (some people would say that the Inner surface is also synthetic) for a couple of winters

The other problems facing the Game are much larger than the surface on which the Game is played. The lack of growth in the fan base is a problem. Another aspect of racing as it is which bothers me is that breeders and pinhookers are doing better than most successful owners and trainers; the reason that this bothers me is that young animals will be asked to show bursts of speed before they are ready; this will result in additional medication being administered to 2YOs. The proliferation of cosmetic surgeries which make crooked yearlings look "straighter" will also I believe be part of the problem.

There are of course racetrack ownership issues. There's Mr. Stronach, who I think will eventually leave the racetrack ownership business altogether. You might convince me that he would liquidate all and hold on to the Shoppes at GP and try to acquire NYRA (Didn't he put a brand new surface down at Santa? And now he's being told he has to replace it?). But if the construction of the Aqueduct Casino continues at its present pace, Magna may not even be interested.

I am going to try to get some stats. In the last 20 years, how many racetracks conducted racing? How many races were run at these tracks? Next question: Number of foals born each year over the last 20 years? Question 3: How many of these foals ever make the races?

My guesses: Less tracks, less races. As many or more foals, but a smaller percentage of them making it to the races. I'll report back.

I think what bothers me is if that all the money in the T-Bred business is being made on the Green Monkeys and the home-run pinhooks, the end user, the owners who purchase racing stock, will end up with lots of expensive stock which will never be capable of winning out purse-wise on the track.

Today's brainstorm: Honey Ryder, a big favorite in the Sheepshead Bay Hcp today at Bel, is 0 for 5 over Belmont turf courses, including a 5th place finish last year in the Sheepshead Bay (DRF says that race was run over Widener Turf Course last year??). A vulnerable highweighted favorite at odds of 6/5 or so? We shall see.