Time to change -- no kidding

Sounding like a politician on his “Straight Up” blog, Alex Waldrop says, “It’s time to change.”

No, it was time to change 10 and even 20 year ago. The question isn’t whether change is necessary; the question is whether change will suffice at this late hour to save horse racing.

National handle was down 3.7 percent the first half of the year, and in the months since then the situation has only plunged more deeply into the Black Forest. Three of the premier meetings in the country have concluded with sharp downturns in handle: Churchill’s fell more than 11 percent, Saratoga’s 10 percent and Del Mar’s 7 percent.

And so many in the industry, like the CEO of the NTRA, are calling for change. But unlike Waldrop, many of those calling for reform are the very “leaders” who long ago steered horse racing into the woods.

Frankly, many of horse racing’s “leaders” are as dumb as lawn furniture – too dumb to come in from the rain. Having derived authority from wealth, generally inherited, they have resisted change for decades, viewing it as an assault on their position. Many years ago, their like opposed plans to put horse racing on television. They originally opposed all manner of improved distribution, such as off-track betting. Some even opposed the formation of the Breeders’ Cup. More recently they opposed the Thoroughbred Championship Tour.

More than 20 years ago, speaking at the Arizona symposium, I suggested that the country’s regulators should all be locked in an air-tight room and kept there until they came up with uniform medication rules. For more than 20 years, I’ve argued that racing will prosper only to the degree that it has the trust and goodwill of its fans. For more than 20 years, I’ve railed against racetracks and horsemen who have forgotten why horses race – for the entertainment of the fans in the grandstand. And for more than 20 years, the sport’s “leaders” have taken horse racing into the forest.

Long before the Pick Six scandal at the Arlington Breeders’ Cup, the potential security problems with the tote system were known. Safety was an issue long before the breakdown of Eight Belles; integrity was an issue long before all these high-profile suspensions; medication was an issue long before fans ever heard of milkshakes and steroids. Even before breeders routinely robbed the sport of its brightest stars, the quality of racing was an issue. And long before this year’s sinking handle and declining popularity, customer service and fan satisfaction were issues. But they were all issues that the industry’s “leaders” largely ignored.

And so now we have round tables and summits and committees galore, and, I admit, I find it ironically amusing to hear the “leaders” call for change. But their call sounds more like a desperate plea for forgiveness, and for the moment the sport’s fans don’t seem to be in a forgiving mood. 

Comments

[Halsey Minor]

I want to own tracks. If I own tracks no one can make me deliver bad service, or build the grandstands that point backwards to better accommodate the slots parlor or generally act like we are ignorant of the fact that we compete against other sports -- not casino's. In 2002 in the Bloodhorse I wrote that we are a Sport with a capital S and sports live and die by fans.

At that time my proposal was met head on by another "industry" proposal that to anyone who understands media and building audiences was an 18 headed hydra. One cancelled out the other.

That is why i want to own tracks. As hard as the industry may try they cannot stop me from designing an experience that people will truly want to enjoy.

If Frank Stronach and I were in the same room I would be terrified of what would happen. We are matter and antimatter. He wants slots, and malls, and bolling allies all mashed together.

I will fight till the end if it comes to that for the purity and the beauty of the Sport. No gimmicks. No Cindy Lauper concerts. Just well run, contemporary horse racing that transports patrons back into something noble, regal and gentile. Something that reminds people that for 6,000 years we and the horse have co-evolved in the process of building the society we all now enjoy. The horse is not like a rabbit or a cow. It has been our partner and that is why the latent passion is still there waiting to be tapped.

I wish I could buy 10 race tracks but I can't. If i can work with John Brunetti at least Hialeah can be a start.

[Mary K]

You have a wonderful concept. True racing fans will support you if you deliver the experience you envision, as long as its guiding principle is "Do what's right for the horse". A quiet exemplar of this principle, John Hettinger, left us yesterday. You have the opportunity to honor his memory by operating tracks where horses are free from drugs, race on a safe surface, and are taken care of when they can no longer race. Invite CANTER in to handle adoptions and police the backstretch of kill buyers, fund a Finger Lakes' like adoption center, and hire a vet who is serious about enforcement to stop the drugs, and you will be unstoppable!

[Leslie]

Mr. Minor. I wholeheartedly agree with you. The "sport" has been lost! But how do we get it back when the best horses are retired just when they start to build a fan base? How do you prevent Sheikh Mohammed from retiring 3 of the top racing stars like he did last year, for no other reason than to cash in and add to his stallion roster. How do combat that aspect???

[Equestrian Eddie]

Yeah, the sport has definitely been lost. It's hard to call it a sport because it's mostly the horses doing the work.

[Equine Paparazzi]

Build it and they will come.
They will come on foot and auto and aeroplane.
They will come from the Northest tracks and the tracks out West.
They will come to see what racing is supposed to be like.
And when you are done and you have fullfilled your promises they will build a statue of you because you have a vision and the courage to follow through.