The foal crop is obviously an issue but wasn't the decline less than 3%? You also mentioned that racing needed more than 7 tracks. Agreed, but bad management will kill tracks faster than the declining foal crops. I'm not going to look up the exact dates but Colonial and Delaware had weekend cards in the past month that were filled with stakes races. The problem was they scheduled these days in conflict with insurmountable competition. To steal a phrase from Gordon Gekko, track management has become survival of the unfittest.
All true. The issue with the foal crop is that HISA and stricter vet protocols are taking more horses out of the population than anyone foresaw and to maintain the current slow drain of races, we’d need a greater number of horses to be produced. Some tracks are managed in a fashion that it’s difficult to tell if they are incompetent, intentionally tanking or some combo of the two.
Listening to this today and you guys are always so spot on. Although I do not agree with your take on breeding. Yes breeders need to stop the madness. Also QH trainers have had a huge influence on the breed because look who these bozos are. Assman, Pletcher, Lukas, Baffert, etc. They have had a huge impact on the distance of races carded, horses to buy, and the stallions. Worst thing about the game. The infiltration by these guys. And no stall limits is #2.
Thoroughbred racing in the US is not as appealing as it is overseas because of dirt racing. It’s just 2nd class to grass. Everything about our tracks & facilities is just 2nd class.
The foal crop is obviously an issue but wasn't the decline less than 3%? You also mentioned that racing needed more than 7 tracks. Agreed, but bad management will kill tracks faster than the declining foal crops. I'm not going to look up the exact dates but Colonial and Delaware had weekend cards in the past month that were filled with stakes races. The problem was they scheduled these days in conflict with insurmountable competition. To steal a phrase from Gordon Gekko, track management has become survival of the unfittest.
All true. The issue with the foal crop is that HISA and stricter vet protocols are taking more horses out of the population than anyone foresaw and to maintain the current slow drain of races, we’d need a greater number of horses to be produced. Some tracks are managed in a fashion that it’s difficult to tell if they are incompetent, intentionally tanking or some combo of the two.
Listening to this today and you guys are always so spot on. Although I do not agree with your take on breeding. Yes breeders need to stop the madness. Also QH trainers have had a huge influence on the breed because look who these bozos are. Assman, Pletcher, Lukas, Baffert, etc. They have had a huge impact on the distance of races carded, horses to buy, and the stallions. Worst thing about the game. The infiltration by these guys. And no stall limits is #2.
Thoroughbred racing in the US is not as appealing as it is overseas because of dirt racing. It’s just 2nd class to grass. Everything about our tracks & facilities is just 2nd class.