The moment they let them go to training centres and private farms was the moment the sport lost it's integrity and therefore, its future. The various commissions are useless and incompetent and along with the various racetracks have had no solution. I sometimes wonder if the exec's even cared at times. A once great and thriving sport has been reduced to 20 or so owners taking 80% of the money out of the game using primarily 10 trainers. The final salvo might be RonBurke on the supply side and the CAW issue on teh demand side---can't see any new bettors wanting to play this game and 80% of that demographic is aging old white people who have either stopped gambling or are about to die. I used to think this game is bullet-proof but i no longer feel or think that way anymore. Hopefully Kentucky can learn from Ontario, NY and Ohio on what not to tolerate and structure their thinking more in the lines of Hong Kong--which is to say, protect the horses/fellow horsepeople and the bettors at ALL costs. That's the blueprint and we couldn't be further away from it. Why other horsemen don't ban together to put pressure on the various tracks and commissions is beyond me. I suspect most just are trying to ride it out to retirement.
