Quote:
Originally Posted by JustRalph
Ten years ago another member and I (BillW) were sitting at Churchill Downs or maybe Keeneland (I’m getting old) when somebody at our table started talking about how much Racino money was going to be flowing into the game. The guy was celebrating the new money.
BillW explained how in five years the Casino guys won’t give a damn about racing, the field sizes would dwindle because the big trainers would be the only ones with horses etc
He pointed even further down the road and told us how the little guys won’t be able to compete in 10 years, at the windows or on the track. The celebration of new money continued.....
BillW was right.........
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Bill certainly appears to have been spot-on.
So many good trainers have left the game in the last 5 - 10 years. So many names you just don't see any more in the PP's.
Some have given up trying to compete with the big outfits and have retired.
Some have taken the "if you can't beat them join them" route and are now assistants working for the big "super trainers". Some got jobs working for the tracks instead of being a trainer.
When you look at the stakes results every week, it's almost always the same names. The exceptions are few and don't repeat very often.
(Pletcher has won the Gulstream meet 15 times in a row now! Only Brown and Pletcher have a chance for Saratoga anymore. Asmussen in the Midwest. It goes on and on.)
Tracks don't seem to care either. Otherwise they'd be trying to put some limits in place, or do SOMETHING.
But hey, the tracks have got casino dole to pay their salaries and retirement packages - and bonuses.
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Next week is the Derby, so will leave this topic alone for a little while, but, would like to keep the thread open.
But, feel free to keep commenting in the meantime while I sit out.
This isn't going away and I'll revisit this in the future.
Happy Derby next week everybody.
Denny
