As you watch the Kentucky Derby this weekend, you’ll see all of the pageantry and excitement of the largest horse race in the world taking place in front of hundreds of thousands of screaming fans. But don’t let that fool you: Almost all of those fans are there for the spectacle of race day more than the actual race itself (and also there to get plowed on mint juleps and puke in the infield). In truth, horse racing is in a deep decline that is starting to look like a death spiral more and more every day.
Case in point: Hollywood Park in Los Angeles is one of the most famous tracks in the country, and is currently in the middle of its spring 2009 meet. But for the first time in its history, the LOS ANGELES TIMES said it had to cancel racing today because there weren’t enough horses to fill the field. Apparently, Sarah Jessica Parker wasn’t available to help fill out the vacancies either. She probably would have gone off at 12:1 odds for the fifth race.
The LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS says that Hollywood Park has been running extremely light on horses for the entire meet: On opening day last Wednesday, they averaged less than six horses per race. And at times, the “horses” was actually the Pantomime Horse from “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” cleverly substituting for the real thing.
But don’t worry, horse racing fans, there’s hope. Hollywood Park general manager Eual Wyatt Jr. says that it’s not time to send the horse racing industry to the glue factory just yet - you’ll still be able to feed your gambling addiction without having to learn the intricacies of poker. But having to cancel a race isn’t great, either:
“This isn’t a bump in the road,” he said. “This is a large pothole.
“It’s also not a catastrophe. The world isn’t coming to an end. We’re not out of business and we’re not asking for a stimulus package.”
I don’t think that the Obama Administration should be giving any “bailout” money to the horse racing industry, either. But I have a hot tip on the fifth race at Aqueduct tomorrow, so if they could just spot me a few billion dollars, I think a nice trifecta bet could get this country back on track.
So, where have all the horses gone? Longtime California trainer and owner Bruce Headley points the finger straight at the rise of online and Off-Track Betting, which is now where people go to place their bets - but is not where owners see any money from.
“It’s like having six blood suckers on you,” he said. “They’re like panning for gold because everybody takes and nobody gives back.
“They have never changed the percentage that the horsemen have gotten from off-track wagering, and if they did change it for ADW, we don’t know how much. Obviously it wasn’t much, because our purses have not gone up.”
So if you happen to head down to Louisville for the Derby this weekend, really make sure you enjoy yourself. At this rate, it might be the last.
2:46 am on May 1st, 2009
The truth is, we don't need all of these horse tracks. In Hong Kong — where horse racing is king — they only have two tracks Sha Tin and Happy Valley. And horse races are run only twice a week, not five times like in the U.S.
The Hong Kong tracks are packed and $10 million is bet on every race. In fact, American bettors such as William Benter moved there because his $200,000 bets per race moved the odds board so much in America that he killed his own prices.
I remember about 15 years ago Sports Illustrated did a story that said that in the future the U.S. would probably only have tracks in Florida, NY, Chicago, Kentucky and California. Then the signals would be televised throughout the country to betting parlors.
The problem with Bruce Headley and other horsemen is that the tracks negotiated themselves a bad deal when simulcasting started in the early 1990's. Today, the tracks get about 7 percent of every dollar bet from off track, whereas ontrack they make 19 to 30 percent.
When they bargained for the deal it was like found money because the tracks were packed and they never imagined the nightmare that exists now where the only sound you hear between races is crickets chirping.
It seems that most track managers were never horse players and they don't want to get to know their customers either. So it's no surprise that they haven't figured out how to get people to the track.
Everyone is playing in luxurious off-track betting parlors because they are sick of paying for parking, admission, gas money, programs and bad food at the track.
Why pay when all of that stuff is free in Vegas and other off-track betting sites. And sometimes you even get service with a smile.
According to the CNBC report aired tonight, $10 billion was bet on horse racing in 2008, which is more than all movie tickets bought for the year in the U.S. So the sport is far from dead
The press points to the older people who play and say that when they die nobody will be there to replace them. But senior citizens were in the grandstand 30 years ago because they have what it takes — lots of spare time and a fairly large bankroll of disposable income.
Most younger people are busy having families and don't have the extra money.
But when teachers, firefighters, cops and mailmen retire, what do they do?
Many of them cash their pension checks and try to double it by betting the ponies.
5:35 am on May 1st, 2009
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