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http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-zenyatta-baby-is-growing-up-fast-20140106,0,160748.story#axzz2pdzJbeMj

Quote from: Dusty on December 25, 2013, 07:25:00 PM
AMEN and BetFair did them no favors

Writers like Andy Beyer have reported that there are huge amounts of money being bet on horse racing through the offshore casino/web sites.  Those sites have NO overhead associated with putting on the actual horse races, paying employees, paying taxes on their property, and keeping their physical plant in working order, and thus can offer big bettors a rebate of up to 10%.

Thus, the "take" on horse racing bets at those offshore casino web sites is something like 10%, while the take while betting at the track or at a betting site on line in the US is around 20%.

Big time betting syndicates (supposedly using mathematically-based formulas calculated with computers) are supposedly capable of predicting racing results such that they lose only 5-10% of their money bet.  Thus, with the rebates they receive from offshore web sites, they actually make a small profit of 5% or so.  They bet so much money that they make enough profit to justify their effort. These are the most serious horse race handicappers and gamblers in the world.  Their gambling money is badly needed in race tracks' betting pools.

However, NONE of the offshore money makes it into the track's pool.  Thus, if Beyer and other writers (Chad Millman, editor in chief of ESPN the magazine, author of several books on gambling, and host of a weekly ESPN podcast on gambling, for example) are correct, as long as the take from horse race bets is 20% at the track and on line through US betting platforms (TVG, etc) and the big time gamblers can get a 10% rebate betting off-shore, betting handle is likely to remain flat in the US.  Its all going offshore to the offshore casinos.

And as expenses for race tracks (and horsemen) go up, the flat handle will be insufficient to support all the race tracks we currently have.

Sadly, many US race tracks are dead men walking, and don't know it or do know it and are just stalling for an extra year or two to live.

. . . with New Year's Day and Shared Belief pointing for the Robert Lewis Stakes at SA on February 8th, per Jay Privman.

Quote from: Zenyatta on December 16, 2013, 06:25:36 AM
You are so predictable re Beyer.  Hey, sometimes he's wtong and sometimes he's right. This time he was right.

I love the way you only say he is right on those occasions when a horse you like earns a high Beyer number!     

Quote from: Man o Taz on December 23, 2013, 01:56:41 PM
If Mucho Macho Man's connections wanted an Eclipse award for HOTY he should have run in and won the Clark Handicap.

Heck, I do not even think he deserves the champion older horse award. That should go to Game On Dude.

The fact remains he raced sporadically this year. It was because of his health. And his connections deserve all the credit in the world for getting him right for the last two races of the season.

BUT - he was healthy after the BC Classic - and they opted to skip the Clark Handicap. How does Mr. Beyer account for this?

Wise Dan, on the other hand, may have started a bit late in April, but he ran in 5 G1 races and two G2 races and he was 7-6-1-0 which is pretty darn good.

Mucho Macho Man on the other hand still ran in 5 races, 3 G1s and two ungraded stakes. He won two stakes at the end of the year. HOTY?

No. Not in my book. I like the horse a lot. He was one of my Derby horses when he was three. And I love that he is still racing. But either you do something spectacular with your wins or you race when you can. And he did not do either in my book.

I agree.

If MMM is HOY, it simply means that whoever wins the BCC is automatically HOY. 

That's not how it should be.

Quote from: The Tin Man on December 23, 2013, 11:40:00 AM
Vic said yesterday that he's sent resumes to about 40 tracks. Said positions aren't commonly open. Calling races is his strong preference. He said any track anywhere.

He also mentioned being a jockey agent ...

But he wants to call races.

I hope he stays in Cali somehow in some capacity. He loves the ponies he calls. He's a good Guy and a great asset to the game.

Thanks for the info, Tin Man.

Hope he can catch on somewhere.  He is a terrific race caller, IMO.  Clear and fast and often exciting.

Quote from: The Tin Man on December 23, 2013, 11:45:20 AM
I told Vic yesterday that I thought he should end the program by saying ...

"Liebau sucks ..  peace out! And then drop the microphone to the ground so you could hear the thud.

He said he was gonna do it ... thankfully for his career, he didn't.

But I'd have loved it ... and I'll bet many other would have ... especially HollyPark workers!   

Look, HP has long been a slowing failing business and --- Sunday accepted --- attendance has averaged under 4,000 this meet.  Handle is mediocre.

If the owners can make more money developing the property, so be it.

Its sad for horse racing fans, but the owners are not necessarily bad guys for wanting to make some money after buying the track years ago for $250 million.

Blame the politicians and voters of California for not approving slots for race tracks.

Quote from: Man o Taz on December 23, 2013, 09:05:54 AM
I had a dream last night of all the still living connections from the recent past at HP that were waiting on the track at the finish line on either side of the path to the winner's circle to greet the horses returning after they passed the finish applauding. I know safety wise it would likely not been practical - but it was a special moment in my dream nonetheless.

Mr. Stauffer's call was as perfect as could be.

Yesterday was quite emotional.

It seemed like there were many more people there for the event than the final tally indicated.

Yes, Vic's call was quite poignant.

Slightly off-point here, but I read elsewhere that Ed Burgart of Los Al says he will call both the thoroughbred races during the day and the quarter horses at night when both run at Los Al.

Wonder what Vic Stouffer will do now.  Try and get race-calling gigs out of state?

Didn't he try being a jockey's agent for a while a couple of years back?  Wonder if he will try that again just to stay local.

I wish him the best of luck, whatever he decides to do.

. . . I was looking for a recent comprehensive article on line discussing the reasons for horse racing's long decline.

Couldn't find anything all that recent, but this article from the NY Times from four years ago hits the big points.

http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/reasons-for-the-decline-of-horse-racing/

LA Times said paid attendance was 13,000, then they opened the gates at 2 pm and let a bunch of people in free.

Love to hear from about your day at HP when you have time, Tin Man.

I see that HP drew at least 13,000 for its final day.

Glad that many folks came out to say goodbye.

I'm looking forward to posts by the Tin Man and anyone else who was at HP for the final day.

Watching the last five races ever at HP on the computer was really sad.  Horse racing in the US is in such bad trouble when an iconic track like HP goes down the tubes.

But just like so many days in recent years, nobody is at the track today.  See the view of the apron before the final raced?  Looked like 100 people were there.  Sure, others in the stands and keeping warm inside, but still, HP drew 7,000 for the Cashcall Futurity last week, 6000 on the final Saturday yesterday, and probably about the same today.

Nationwide, year after year total betting handle is flat, and being split between too many race tracks.  Just my opinion, but the industry needs a bunch of smaller tracks to go under, so that the flat national handle can better support the stronger tracks.

On the positive side, I really liked Vic Stouffer's call of the final race. 

He paid tribute to the equine stars who once graced HP, and the history of HP while still calling the race.

Smart, appropriate and classy, IMO.

Quote from: Dusty on December 21, 2013, 06:27:08 PM
So agree - not a bad crowd today - need to get myself up and out early - from all reports - track should be packed.. geez I do not how I will take this...

"Packed" --- 10,000 people, maybe?