Re: Teflon Todd (518 Views)
Posted by:
sighthound (IP Logged)
Date: December 29, 2006 03:31PM
There is no "general public" for horse racing. Gamblers view themselves on the outside, but they are not, they integral to the sport. Gambling boycotts in demand of clean racing, good. Tracks using "private property" to keep their local tracks clean, great.
The current business model works against clean racing. There is more money to be made off the track (sales, shed) than on it. Owners who want to race another year sell out to the breeding shed, they can't financially refuse. Big name horses appear and flame out.
So far it appears all we're talking about are methods to shift the power bases around within the current paradigm. Great, but can racing survive on it's current income? Doubtful.
That is what has to be changed. More money has to be obtainable on the track, racing, than off it. Clean racing will by necessity follow.
In this year of Barbaro, nobody on a national level in racing was smart enough to run with that and use it to advantage to ultimately push the turnstiles. Not surprising, they didn't take advantage of "Seabiscuit", either.
Push the turnstiles = bigger purses and a fan base that demands to be satisfied. They won't stand for their Barbaros to be defeated by a horse with a TCO2 >37.
There will be no large general public fan base for horse racing until racing embraces the public attending tracks and following the sport outside of gambling and handicapping, and enabling that involvement.
Follow the KEE and SAR models for getting families to attend race days. Develop a national magazine, website, TV programs of soft, mushy stories, following horses careers, trainers, the horses on the road to the TC and BC.
There are half a million people following Barbaros every move daily on websites. Why don't they know Santa Anita opened this week? Why aren't they there, pushing money at the sport? Demanding clean racing for their horse stars?