tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post2665536294207390357..comments2024-02-27T17:43:37.207-05:00Comments on View From the Racetrack Grandstand: Getting Horses to Race Longer - Just Do ItThat Blog Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15487597769210721585noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-8098001407215711732009-10-15T11:48:10.801-04:002009-10-15T11:48:10.801-04:00Pacingguy sounds good. It is a great idea to add p...Pacingguy sounds good. It is a great idea to add purse money to the older horse stake races and to create new stake races. We do need to see our horses around longer. Who doesn't like seeing Mr. Big, Shark Gesture, and Won the West duke it out? It is great. And to think right now we could possibly have a Lucky Jim, Dewey, Muscle Hill, Donato, and Buck I St Pat FFA trot. How cool would that be? <br />Could maybe our first move to be having a breeders crown open? Instead of older pacers/trotters and a separate 3yo crown, cant we just have an open?riceownz2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-16415951023570085022009-10-14T17:15:58.329-04:002009-10-14T17:15:58.329-04:00I am not saying this will stop racing horses at tw...I am not saying this will stop racing horses at two; that is not the intention. It is to bring the purses down to levels where we can reward the horses that stick around longer. If you look at a lot of stake races, the vast majority of the money comes from the owners; the added money just allows the purses to get even bigger or guaranteed. <br /><br />Remember, added money is coming from the horsemen's purse account. Don't you think the money should be spent in a way that benefits the horsemen that race at the track all the time? Shifting the money is one way to make it benefit them more. After all, they may have the next Lucky Jim. <br /><br />This topic has been going on and on for years and no one wants to give. Well, this is a totally legal way to do it without any anti-trust problems. You can keep retiring at three years old if you want to and have them bred but there will be bigger rewards if you keep racing. If you want to leave money on the table and don't want to race at four or five, there will be plenty of other horses that will be happy to race for it.<br /><br />What if we had this rule this year. Lucky Jim was a late bloomer. He was done once the Meadowlands closed because there was nothing left for him to race for. If we had late closing series for older horses at other tracks, Lucky Jim could have kept racing through out the whole season. Would that not have benefited racing? Our 'Forego' would be getting publicity all year. <br /><br />Yes, I don't take it lightly that small breeders may be hurt more than a larger breeder, but if we do nothing, there may not be anything to breed.That Blog Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15487597769210721585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4684463172854959042.post-6364132725477623412009-10-14T16:59:47.212-04:002009-10-14T16:59:47.212-04:00Let me play devils advocate for a moment. Are we ...Let me play devils advocate for a moment. Are we asking for too much Pacingguy? If your an owner, don't you want the most bang for your buck and for most owners that means racing at two? I doubt that reducing the purses a small percentage will reduce the amount of horses racing at two, we will still have the same problems, horses will just earn less and the small breeders may be forced to do another line of work.<br /><br />I would love to see our stars race longer like it used to be to a lesser extent. I wish it was as easy as saying "Just Do It". The owners are probably saying "Been There, Done That".Degenerate Bloggernoreply@blogger.com