Op/Ed

Bill Finley penned in the January 17 TDN an editorial that is the most chilling piece of racing journalism in a long time. For import and vision, the only comparison I can make was a piece Jimmy Kilroe wrote for "Sports Illustrated" in 1967, when he said one day nobody would go to a track to see the races, but would watch them at a tele-theatre. Who could imagine such a thing ever happening?

Fort Erie is like a lot of racetracks. It has slot machines, which make money, and horse racing, which doesn't. It seems that's no longer okay with the track's owner, Nordic Gaming Corporation, which is vying to end live racing at Fort Erie, a lovely little Canadian track that's been around since 1897. The slots, though, may not be going anywhere.

The new year begins with fresh hope and an opportunity for breeders to set an important example for the industry. As announced recently, The Jockey Club has established a “check-off” program for breeders to make voluntary contributions toward the care of unwanted or retired Thoroughbreds. Responding to requests from Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) and the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), The Jockey Club will begin collecting monies from breeders at time of foal registration, and will distribute the funds through the TCA and TRF. Despite limited funding, both well-established programs...

The last few weeks have been an important time in the history of Thoroughbred racing, with the announcement in New York of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance. As both the executive chair of the NTRA and the president of Turfway Park, I often find myself viewing the Alliance from two distinctly different points of view. From the broad perspective of my role with the NTRA, I am exceedingly gratified that so many subsets of our diverse industry were able to put individual issues aside and collaborate for the good...

Immediately following the Keeneland April this year, Jay Kilgore and I, who are partners in a company that offers selection services at the two-year-old sales, decided to take a look at the rationale, market and schedule for these venues. We sensed something was in the air, and no one was really addressing some issues that needed to be discussed.

With all apologies to John Lennon...all I am saying is GIVE IT A CHANCE! And what is it? Filly Friday Oct. 24 at Santa Anita. There's been a lot of angst about the repackaging of our female division's championship races, but hey, in less than two weeks--it's going to happen. And the sport will be better off for it. That is, if we care about attracting more attention to our Championship event.

When assigned a marketing project, you gather all the facts and then write a situation analysis. If you are good at it, the analysis gives an accurate picture of where things stand on four key items--the product, price, distribution and marketing communications. In a TDN Op/Ed piece on July 18, I addressed the distribution and pricing of racing and concluded it was upside down. This time, let's look at the basis issue--the racing product.

I don't know Larry Jones. Never met him. But am I surprised that he has had it up to here (I am pointing just north of my own Adam's apple)? No. Not at all. If not Mr. Jones, it surely would have been somebody else. Larry Jones, it seems clear to me, is probably not the first, but certainly the most notable example of a racing figure that has decided to chuck his lifelong passion because he chooses no longer to participate in a culture that has made him a...

There's not much more I can say about the silliness of "humane" whips and counting the number of times those whips are used to hit a horse in front of fans, would-be fans, and out-raged critics, when the real folly is not the whip, but the act of whipping. Somewhat modifying the use of the whip is a bit like trying to put band-aids on a deep, three-inch gash. As I have no more to say on that important matter, however, I will speak out in this essay about an...

There's been a lot of high-profile, loose talk floating around lately about how we are allegedly producing weaker, softer, more fragile Thoroughbreds. A Congresswoman from Illinois said so in a Congressional Hearing. Randy Moss announced it to the nation on ESPN. And veteran story teller Bill Nack even made up a story about it. I'm not sure what qualifies any of them to weigh in on the issue, but I know for sure that they speak from hear-say or anecdotes, and personal opinion, rather than from supportable or researched facts.

In 1978, the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA) became law. It legalized wagering across state lines. This gift of distribution could have taken Thoroughbred racing to a level unimaginable today; however, there was a catch. Racing would get nationwide expansion of its monopoly on legal wagering, BUT the law would take away control of its product and distribution by empowering the weakest segment of racing with "approval.” It was a curse.

Are you uncomfortable with turmoil and controversy? I say, bring it on! Embrace it. Work with it. Use it. Winds of conflict also carry with them the seeds of change, and the possibility that an eventual resolution of conflict might actually produce a better circumstance.