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If Harness Racing is thriving then why do they need the welfare money from the casinos ?
Saratoga just had their biggest opening day handle EVER! Gabe Prewitt brings record handles wherever he goes. Successful horsemen are making fortunes! The game is in great shape despite the negative Nancys false claims.
ECONOMIC INDICATORS ON U.S. RACESFebruary 12, 2026: $3,065,719 2026 2025 % ChangeTotal Wagered $118,152,118 $130,471,945 -9.44%
240 mil lost in last two years alone. But they all bang on state capital doors screaming for more welfare because they create jobs. Their worst nightmare is now the public and those politicians that were elected by them is being educated. Opening that can of worms with people asking why are they funding a criminal industry that uses living beings which are discarded like trash after the fact. While people are starving, homeless, veterans, etc who actually deserve a leg up. Not non stop welfare to fund a dead industry that does nothing to improve anything. Slowly the veil hiding what has been done for decades is being pulled back. It's called reality and accountability. Five years, that's the timeline. You'll have plenty to talk about here.
In 2025, $483,239,570 was distributed in purses in 33,412 races over 3,070 race days,1.3 billion in handle. For simple comparison in California alone 12 billion was handed out in food stamps. Let’s not compare an industry that provides jobs and tax revenue to simple welfare. The slots agreements are a tax on casinos not the public.
Stan, the question I always ask is " How many tracks would be able to actually thrive without some sort of help?" I think that while a few tracks might make it without the "help", most would not. And what is harness racing's prospects in the years ahead? No gambling "venture" can survive if it is viewed as corrupt. And while harness racing's poor "policing" of its fixers and horse abusers chases away new fans, the loyal old ones are getting less and less. Racing here in Maine, a once "thriving" example of small track racing, is in sad shape. I feel for the honest horseman trying to make a living in a sport very few people under the age of 50 really know. But harness racing's officials need only look in the mirror to see who's to blame for the demise of harness racing.
Animal abuse, cruelty, cheating gamblers is not a job nor a living, it's a crime...a pack of inbred gypsy retards
Saratoga is doing just fine and I agree with you.