that many can participate in on different levels.
youre right. its the beauty of our sport.
I'd like to own the Yankees and hang out on the field with my players, but I can't.
But I can buy a racehorse and be involved in caring for my equine athelete, groom her, rig her, jog her and watch her compete on race day. I can even get an ameteur license and race her myself...
For a city boy who watched races for years, getting involved in a couple of exhibition races (jog carts, no whips) was as exhilarating an experience I've had..
And even though everybody on this site has a different story, we fell in love with the sport.
And then there were more bad races, low payoffs, more potent PEDs, less respect for our horses...
The lovers of the sport becaume skeptics, cynics, and bitter.
Some left the sport....and all landed on horseplop
the decline of the fan base , respect for the races , disgruntled gamblers and fans have left harness racing no longer self sufficient, dependent on state subsidies racing at tracks owned by gaming corps that could care less about racing.
Harness racing did it to itself, but it doesn't make it any less sad or painful
-Mike
