ACROSS THE BOARD by Steve Davidowitz
for TrackMaster - October, 2009

Recently, I wrote a letter to horse owner Satish Sanan, who not only has been the man behind highly successful Padua stables, but has dedicated his next few years to help Thoroughbred Racing solve some of its most pressing problems.

Sanan believes he has workable ideas that will help realign the sport into a new era of cooperation that will cut across state lines and provincial interests. I not only wish him luck in the endeavor, but have volunteered my support to the extent he wants it.

Yet, as any of us know - those with any experience playing this game or having been involved on any administrative, or operating level - there are powerful pockets of resistance that stand in the way of any noble attempt to change the way things are done. Fact is, the declining attendance and handle figures that have industry insiders worried, began before the economic downturn that has exacerbated problems faced by virtually every aspect of American horse racing.

The resistance and political infighting touch every level of the game. . .Even the Breeders' Cup that will be run for the 26th time next week, is ruled by political considerations that led to the double use of Santa Anita (and its Pro Ride synthetic main track). While franchise problems led to Belmont Park being skipped over when dates for 2008 and 2009 were assigned, Arlington Park, Woodbine and Lone Star Park were eliminated from consideration due to internal Breeders' Cup politics.

This year's Breeders' Cup will be a good show as it always is, and the strong European presence will be one of the big stories, as it was in 2008. But Europe's very best horse See the Stars is not coming, having been retired after his scintillating victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

The top filly and probably the top horse in America - Rachel Alexandra - is also not going to be here after she dominated the best 3-year-old fillies, the best 3-year-old males, and several older males in her final race of the year, the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga two months ago. Yes, her final race of the year was two months ago, time enough to have her compete in the Breeders' Cup. Clearly, the reason Rachel Alexandra is not going to participate has more to do with owner Jess Jackson's unwillingness to have her compete on the Santa Anita Pro Ride surface.

As we have been told, Jackson blames Curlin's fourth place finish in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Classic on Santa Anita's "plastic" surface, even though Curlin made a very solid move on the final turn to get to the lead before he seemed spent, perhaps "over the top" as the European's like to say.

Too bad. In a year that produced a pair of all time greats - one in Europe and one here in America - the people who control both of these magnificent four legged athletes have kept them away from the biggest stage the sport has to expose its best to the world.

The Breeders' Cup and some of its policies serve as a backdrop to the many issues Satish Sanan says he wants to unravel with help of carefully selected representatives from different segments of the American racing industry. He told me in a phone conversation what his basic pitch will be and details will surface after he makes his formal presentation to his group next week - Breeders' Cup Week.

I wish him well. I hope he really has some ideas that attract serious support. But even if he does, he will find, as I wrote to him, a long list of problems that have been ignored for too long and very little communion to resolve them. . .While I am not pessimistic by nature, I am not sure there will be any real progress made on any of the key issues facing this game until we see more than lip service addressing each and every item listed below.

The major problems as I see them, as written to Satish Sanan:

1: Race Day Drugs. . Therapeutic or otherwise, they are a stain on the game, a threat to horse welfare and the most important reason why the public at large has lost credibility in the sport. Like it or not, the loss of credibility coupled with extra exposure given to high profile catastrophic breakdowns on TV and other mass media unfortunately accents potentially inhumane aspects of racing (which also trace to drugs in many ways). This, in my judgment is the single most potent fact above all others that is bringing racing down. This, while too many horse owners, horse breeders, track owners and track officials seem to be blind to the net effects of burying their collective heads in the sand.

1A: As a corollary to the above, it must be realized by horse owners especially, that vets who regularly prescribe corticosteroids to horses, (which somehow remain legal despite the recent rulings in various states to ban (anabolic) steroids, that corticosteroids inevitably break down the joints that natural fluids try to protect. You can only use the corticosteroids for so long before it will increase the breakdown rate in the horses who are repeatedly treated with them.

2: The pari-mutuel takeout is exorbitant and non competitive with other forms of gambling that have siphoned away dollars that used to go to horse racing. There needs to be widespread lowering of the takeout which several studies have shown will not cost money in the long run. In fact, lower takeouts can be an instrument of higher handles through greater churn.

2B: The resistance to lowering the takeout rate is penny wise and pound foolish. A racetrack game with fair takeout rates can be used and promoted as the greatest, most intellectually challenging game man has ever invented. There are a multitude of ways to do that. . . Handicapping contests are among the best (promotional) tools to consider, but even in this growth area, the sport has failed to take full advantage.

3: Too many state organizations that represent different segments of the game are too self interested in their own private areas to mesh together, to work together to really solve the issues that are rapidly threatening to bring everybody in American racing down.

3B: Like it or not, the only way this roadblock can be broken through is via some Federal presence, some instructions and guidance and/or effort to crash through state barriers that should not even exist for a sport that operates as inter-state commerce. . .Like it or not, the various segments of the racing industry and the various state level politics and rule making bodies will not give up their provincial control without some force, without some intervention by Federal agencies. While I wish this were not so, it is so, and as we saw with Major League baseball, the presence of the US Congress was needed and proved very effective in getting all the baseball owners and the players organizations to tighten their drug policies, improve testing and rid the sport of steroids. No less an effort might be needed to help racing straighten itself out, as it must in many areas. The big whip that Congress has at its disposal that it may use to help racing in spite of itself, is the threat that the Feds could take away or severely restrict simulcasting across state lines, if reforms are not unilaterally adopted.

4: There are too many tracks, too many racing dates and too much direct competition for top level horses on the same or similar race dates.

4B: Forced contraction by way of substantially reduced attendance and handle that will lead to closures is one way for this to occur, but it is a most destructive way that can and should be pre-empted by racetracks themselves. Unfortunately, at this point, very few racetrack executives and racing commissions really are willing to act before the angel of death comes to that track's doorstep.

Del Mar, which wisely went to five day race weeks this summer, could not have supported anything close to the wagering and attendance levels of six day race weeks of its prior seasons. But even with five day race weeks the field sizes at Del Mar still were smaller than they used to be, while the quality of daily fare included too many cheap races for the esteemed reputation of this beautiful racetrack. Moreover, the long term solutions have yet to be addressed by Del Mar and/or Santa Anita and or Golden Gate Fields, regarding the overall downslide of California racing. I have some ideas here - including a rotating state wide schedule for each year that would involve Northern and Southern Cal tracks - but I'll save the details of this idea for another discussion.

5: There are unethical practices involving the preparation and sale of yearlings which damage the sport's ability to attract potential buyers while simultaneously poisoning the experiences of those who are investing in the game.

5B: While some sales companies have been responsive to reforms to protect the horses and potential buyers, it is appalling to me, an outside observer, that anyone with the love for horses (that most people involved in the sport have) would sacrifice that love to permit excessive use of growth hormones and to encourage the practice of making these very, very young athletic prospects turn in very fast and essentially meaningless 1/8 mile workouts in 10 seconds or so. My thought here is that there needs to be stricter guidelines at each sale site as to what can and should be permitted at the risk of removal from the sales catalogue.

6: Horseplayers are entitled to accurate information about many aspects of the game and yet the tracks, the information providers and the racing commissions are not really on the same page to properly fulfill that need.

6B: Just a few samples of the holes in this info. . .At present, there are inaccurately clocked workouts, because tracks have not utilized the 'Trakus' system for workouts and rely on hand held stop watch clockings. Moreover trainers themselves are relied upon to identify horses coming through the gaps to work. Likewise, accurate margins and fractional splits are unavailable for all horses behind the leader at all points of call, because the Trakus information is not used at many tracks. Moreover, where Trakus is used (Del Mar, Keeneland, Woodbine and a few other places) the margins and fractional splits are ignored by Equibase for result charts and past performance lines. . .Another example on a smaller scale, even 'blinkers on' for first time starters is not provided anywhere, despite the fact that blinkers must be noted on the official entry slip provided to the racing office at time of entry.

Frankly, there is a long list of things that racetracks and racing officials should insist upon providing the horseplayer who is the lifeblood of the game...To merely protect their large investments in the sport, horse owners and breeders should be fighting hard to improve the lot of the horseplayer, yet for the most part, they remain silent, or focus mostly on their own issues that are serious to be sure, but cannot be resolved without an upward tick of interest from the customers - loyal ones and potential new ones. As a side note to this thought, how many horseplayers do you (or anyone) know that have ever been invited to participate in a Breeders' Cup Committee meeting? Or, Graded Stakes Committee, or in sessions that involve serious policy decisions, and rules for wagering that need to be updated or changed.

7: Fan educational efforts are sporadic and poorly designed in most places where there is any marketing budget for it.

7B: While there are pockets of good fan educational forums, at Oak Tree at Santa Anita (with James Quinn); Canterbury Park (with Jeff Maday); Arlington (with Scott McMannis); at Monmouth Park (with Brad Thomas) and more recently at NYRA tracks (with Andy Serling), most track executives have no clue what would be most effective in this arena. Frankly, it is most vital to have true professional teachers of the game on staff, or invited professionals to set up proper, effective fan education programs. . .It is interesting and most disappointing that track promotions tend to involve giveaways of T-shirts, hats and bobble-head dolls, but very rarely will there be a give away of a good handicapping book, or a way for the player to learn and be enticed by the fascinating aspects of the game and/or its history.

Question: What does a T-shirt do to bring a new customer from the turnstile to the Racing Form, to the wagering window? Not much, if anything at all.

8: The vast majority of tracks want to have slot machines on their premises to boost purses and improve cash flow.

8B: While slots have helped some tracks such as Delaware Park, Penn National, Mountaineer and a few others and NY tracks in particular should have their fair shot with them after legislation passed to permit slots several years ago - is there any doubt that slot revenue is sure to be taken away eventually from the tracks to pay for government programs?

In my judgment, the racing industry is missing the opportunity to promote itself without slots via an aggressive effort to create lucrative handicapping contests that go beyond the DRF/NTRA competitions and many other smaller events. I also believe the game's failure to promote its core essence - the handicapping challenge - is a self defeating embarrassment. . .Slot machines? When we really look at them, they are but a short term panacea that rip off the majority of people who play them.

When Satish Sanan and I discussed the above, he agreed on all counts. Now it will be interesting to see if this honorable horse owner can convince his select audience to do something constructive. At the bottom line there is plenty need for serious minded racing people to roll up their sleeves, shake up the establishment and really try to make a difference.

//Steve Davidowitz
davidwtz@aol.com

Please Note: In addition to these monthly Free Access Columns on TrackMaster, Steve Davidowitz provides weekly 'Handicapping Hints and Spot Selections from the Saturday Simulcast Menu', under 'Best Bets' on the TrackMaster website, posted Friday nights. . .For the Breeders' Cup, this year, Steve will file separate analysis for the Friday Nov 6 card on Thursday evening and the Saturday Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup card on Friday evening. Both files will include Steve's much sought after notes on the workouts of many Breeders' Cup contenders.