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The first thing that people who have been to the races a time or two say is"I will never go again because you can see the drivers holding the horses back". Does anyone have an idea to change PUBLIC PERCEPTION?
I would add "breaking" to the list... over the years I have taken many people to the harness track for their first time... the ones that make their first be on a horse that breaks usually never make another one.
It's a great question and there are innumerable answers. The answers and the solutions come from a variety of aspects of the sport and the industry. Yes, the t-bred game can still produce monster days and handles. 50 to 75k people and 50 million plus handles. But in both games on track handle and attendance are down and will continue to go down. It's the new norm. On track handle can no longer be the goal. It has to be all in handle. But the monster and handles days can still be a part of a stable, healthy, successful business, and not be an anomaly or exception.The future of sport and industry is going to be entertainment venues, and yes, will include other forms of gambling. If a casino company owns it, they will want out of the racing business. They will lobby for decoupling. Unless it's a Gulfstream, and unfortunately there's a casino not too far from them. But at the Meadowlands, yes, give Gural a casino! My opinion is he will not only not seek decoupling, but he will continue to support the racing side of the facility. Unlike Yonkers. Good thread.
Often the horse track wont exist without the racino but the horse racing then becomes a neglected sideline business where anything goes.
the perception of the two breds are light years apartwe know the problem with harness racingand i am not suggesting tbreds dont have their issues behind the scenes with trainers etcbut watch the races, the tbreds always look like they are flying and they tend to be more in a pack at the finish, harness usually pass each other rather quickly , you will see some tbreds race as a team or a threesome for half the stretch right to the wirealso because there is no bike it never looks like tbreds are in a box they cant get through( although not true)tbreds race much less so seems they need to try every race to make moneycompare the races , to a casual fan they look nothing alike and everyone would say they prefer tbreds
Yea, Newbies are horrified when they see their selection break stride in front of the grandstand- theres a collective gasp, when in reality you often can get better prices on trot races because they do break more.