Op/Ed

In September of 2010, a round of applause broke out at a meeting of the California Horse Racing Board. A call from the Governor's office came in, informing the California racing braintrust that the takeout increase they asked for earlier that summer had been approved. Everyone seemed happy.

We currently are experiencing "a jobless recovery" in the broader world where contraction and consolidation places greater wealth and power in the hands of fewer people, and drives a stock market that churns along on corporate earnings while long unemployment lines remain unchanged. The gap between rich and poor grows daily as more people on the bottom drop below the poverty line, while the rich get richer and many corporations sit on a hoard of cash.

Two reasons define the Breeders' Cup as the American organization with the most leadership potential: (1) Unlike other groups that may bark but have no teeth, the Breeders' Cup can establish rules for participation related to drug use, whipping, and other practices in need of reform, and then actually enforce compliance; and (2) by attracting a greater number of elite international stars to its signature event, the Breeders' Cup may eventually stage a true “World Championship” that will secure an important American presence in the rapidly evolving globalization of top-quality...

Recently, it has become very trendy to offer opinions as to how to solve the drug problem in our industry (note that I did not say sport). As someone who has been fighting this fight since long before most of those who are now offering opinions even knew there was a problem, who worked with the only group that has ever made a serious attempt to deal with the problem (The Jockey Club Safety and Integrity Committee), and who will be dealing with the issue--the real one--long after most of...

Racing needs to wean itself off race-day medication. Various reasons have been proffered for the elimination of drugs on race day, but there is one rarely mentioned that encompasses another major problem hurting the well-being of our industry--a lack of owners willing to play to game.

Considerable debate has gone on in recent years about whether the Breeders' Cup would best serve its purposes by establishing a permanent base for its annual two days of racing. Having followed and written about racing history for many years, I have been keenly interested in this debate. In my opinion, a number of individuals who have not been in the game for more than 25 years or so might be overlooking at least one aspect of the history of the Breeders' Cup which I believe should take the permanent-site...

I happened to watch She'sawontontomato win the 6th race at Golden Gate on Saturday, June 4, as two of my favorite commentators celebrated Russell Baze winning his ninth race in 11 starts. Winning without honor, however, is not winning. After 30 strikes with the whip, I lost track of the number of times Baze hit the filly from the quarter pole home. The TV analyst's comment was, "He [Baze] had to work for it."

The other night, I was watching TV and a few wild dogs were trying to bring down a buffalo. They were having trouble until they were joined by more dogs and, lo and behold, they brought the buffalo down.

I had a call this week about a horse. Like all of the other calls, this one started with an ex-racehorse at an auction somewhere, and ended with the imminent threat that the horse would be sent off to the slaughterhouse if someone didn't step in.

I recently came across an article I wrote which was published in Pacemaker in February, 1997. On the one hand, I felt that it had been a bit prophetic; on the other hand, little has been done to correct the situation in the 14 years since.

At last, exchange wagering, a wildly successful concept in Europe and elsewhere, is on its way to the U.S. Governor Chris Christie signed a bill earlier this week that, among other things, authorized exchange betting in New Jersey. Once exchange wagering begins in the Garden State, which could happen as soon as the beginning of the 2011 meet at Monmouth Park, New Jersey will be the first state in country to have exchange wagering. What is exchange wagering and what might its advent mean to the racing industry?

When Tampa Bay Downs out-handled Santa Anita one day last week, it seemed that the world of horse racing had officially turned upside down. Some 10 years earlier, Tampa--then a cheap track no one cared about or paid any attention to--doing more business than mighty Santa Anita would have been unthinkable. Now it has happened, and it will likely happen again before both tracks conclude their 2010-2011 winter meets.