A new initiative – “Fill it or Kill it!”

I hear from members of harness racing’s BDHC (Broken Down Horseplayers Club) and Send It In Army all the time as they complain about short fields, drags between races and post times after 10:30 at night as many have to get up at six or seven in the morning and go to work.

Last week, I noticed a bunch of six horse fields, some “fives” and even a couple of four horse fields in pari-mutuel events.

That got me thinking…

But, first, some groundwork.

Having worked in the racing office for a number of years, I can tell you, firsthand, what a difficult job it is.

It’s a thankless endeavor with the juggling involved almost impossible to comprehend day after day after day.

Everyone wants a “favor”, and this is where the delicate balance becomes difficult…VERY difficult.

On one hand, horsemen are continually seeking a good spot for their entry to satisfy an owner’s thirst for success, as well as their own.

That’s where the familiar phrase, “I’ll see what I can do” comes into play when a trainer asks, “I’m a few bucks over…can you help me out?” …or “my horse didn’t have a good week, can you put him in a lower ‘open’ class?”

There are never any “thanks” for a favor…but there’s plenty of complaining if it doesn’t work out.

But…“I’ll see what I can do!”

Sometimes, if a race is short (less than eight, nine or 10 entries in an event, depending on the track, a racing secretary might be able to “stretch” a condition a bit to help out.

That’s good in a way…and it’s not-so-good in a way.

An extra entry is always a good thing to fill a race but, if that “stretched” entry is allowed in after it beat the living daylights out of the same group last time out, it might NOT be “better for the bettor,” as it may be 3 to 5 at post time and spoil the “pudding,’ so to speak, of a competitive race for the bettor.

After all, “hardly a man is now ALIVE who paid his mortgage at THREE TO FIVE!”

Of course, the race secretary has another option with the tag “higher money winners assigned outside post” and that could be an equalizer.

But those unseen faces of the bettors want something else…a competitive full field event offering some value when plunking $2 or $200 down.

Yes, we’re talking about the faceless fan, whether he or she is in the comfort of their own home, a simulcasting facility or, very rare these days, attending the races live at the track.

Pari-mutuel racing is still a spectator sport and racing secretaries can do one of two things—create races for the benefit of the horsemen and let the handle continue to decline or put together challenging races that feature a group of well-matched horses for the persons that still keep the sport on life support—the bettors.

With the horse population shrinking as speed takes its toll—whether it be by injury or age—the fan base is drying up as age takes its toll on all of us, as well.

That is a combination that is putting the future of a great pari-mutuel sport in jeopardy.

Oh, a few tracks do well, yes, and can stand on their own four hooves…but most need help from casinos, legislatures and now, sports betting to sustain purses…and owners.

On a recent Saturday night, a track up north offered purses of about $137,000 complete with two Open events.

The total handle for the night was barely $150,000 and the betting on the two Open events was less than the purse money offered with not one single race showing a $20,000 handle.

In the “old” days, purse distribution would have totaled, maybe, $7,500 for the night.

At another major track, the “overnight purses” were $101,000 (with two other rich Sire Stakes events on the card not counted in the total.)

The total handle was a bit short of $700,000 with all race handles counted meaning that help from the casino elevated the overnight purses paid to that $101,000 figure instead of an estimated $35,000 without the “help.”

The highest three handles of the program ($94,116, $91,679 and $87,328) featured fields of 10, 10 and nine while the lowest race handle ($19,205) was in a $22,000 Open event with a field of six.

At yet another oval, the purse total for the Saturday night was $176,000 with a handle right around $390,000 for the night…meaning that the raw handle without “help” would barely cover the purse for one single race.

Yet another track with over $280,000 in purses up for grabs, the handle was well under $600,000 for the 16 race program with the $33,000 feature having a race handle of only $21,000 and change…with that mile going in 1:48.3.

Based on handle alone, maybe $30,000 would have been in the purse pool for distribution.

How lucky are the few owners, trainers and drivers—caretakers, too—going for that kind of money…and in some fields numbering five or six entires.

The horsemen, of course, love it. The bettors hate it!

The vast concentration of horses has, of course, migrated to those few tracks that get the help needed to sustain lucrative purses—with no guarantees that will continue for the future (even with supposedly solid contracts.)

The proof of that pudding was in Florida when, in 2004, the voters authorized the construction of casinos protecting racing—called racinos—but, last year, the Governor then ignored the rights of the voters by signing the “decoupling” bill with the historic thoroughbred venue, Calder Racecourse, biting the dust and Pompano Park, yet another venue that put that city on the Florida map 60 years ago, also sustaining the final nail in their coffin.

That destroyed the standardbred industry in that State, costing many thousands of jobs in the process.

At any rate, yes, there are many tracks alive with the breath of help from outside revenues and legislative assistance but there are others that are in critical shape—not only for themselves, but for the patron.

When a $20 wager can cause a big downtick on your odds board, that’s not a good sign and, at a track offering $22,000 in an Open event with a win pool of $4,684, THAT’S A PROBLEM or, as one BDHC member said, “a horse I really liked was 9 to 2 on the board, so I plunked s double saw ($20) on it and, the next flash, it was 5 to 2…not good!”

The culprit is the short field, say five or six entries, and, at one track on a recent Saturday night, the four races with six horse fields all had race handles below the purse!

And those aforementioned four horse events, well, our “punter” says“ fuhghedaboutit!”

Add to that the high takeouts—some exotics 25% or more—and it’s no wonder the action is being driven away from our sport.

With purses the way they currently are, racing secretaries should really concentrate on writing conditions dedicated to the patron.

With some tracks offering as many as 16 races on a single program…and some races going off as late as ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT, the idea for the benefit of the patron is to make full fields, competitive programs that, as one patron complained, “DON’T GO TO POST AT MIDNIGHT!”

The Red Mile has just announced a “fan friendly” takeout as low as 12% on some exotics and that’s a start and their breakage has been reduced to a penny, instead of the traditional nickel or dime, but more needs to be done for the fan.

That, plus some “five-figure” guarantees on some exotic offerings, helps.

So, there’s the “groundwork.”

But is there a solution to this industry wide problem? I think “yes!”

My new initiative is “FILL IT OR KILL IT!”

This new initiative idea has three major items…1) eliminate short fields, 2) have nighttime tracks  shorten their programs so they finish before 10:30 which, in turn, will 3) strengthen pari-mutuel pools.

Casinos (racinos) and some legislators have given horsemen and owners a true gift at many venues with these generous purses and it’s about time the “blood of our sport”—the bettor—gets a bit of an infusion.

After all, five, six and, sometimes, seven horse fields can take the “perfect sting” out of pari-mutuel wagering…and a single scratch can cost many thousands of dollars in handle.

Thus, the initiative is for race secretaries to institute a ”FILL IT OR KILL IT” program with no race on the pari-mutuel program without sufficient entries, meaning anything under eight horses.

The race in question would be labeled with the minimum number of entries for the race to “go.”

Example: (half mile track) “$12,500-$15,000 Claiming (with allowances) …Minimum of eight starters to go (FILL IT OR KILL IT!)

Example: (five-eighths mile track) NW4001 Last 5 Starts—A.E. NW $5,001 Last 5 Starts draw outside. Minimum of eight starters to go (FILL IT OR KILL IT!)

Example: (once around tracks) NW 3 Pari-Mutuel races—A.E. NW 4 Pari-Mutuel races draw outside. (Minimum of nine starters to go (FILL IT OR KILL IT!)

Conditions would be “stretched” to help meet the “fill” requirements with, again, the optimum result being to eliminate short fields, infuse pari-mutuel racing handle and make racing programs shorter with fewer races and eliminate post times after 10:30 p.m. (barring unforeseen situations such as inquiries, accidents, etc.

In the event that race secretaries would STILL like to accommodate short fields, they could be raced after qualifiers without pari-mutuel wagering with 45 minutes to well over an hour being sliced off a nighttime schedule.

Yes, some State statutes have a specific number of races necessary to classify as a full racing program but, you know how “polly-ticks,” a stroke of a pen can amend that number.

And there are, of course, regions that are suffering acute shortages of entries, so they would have to do the best they can do in filling races but, in the concentrated areas with 12 to 16 races and purses severely are uncovered by dwindling patronage and handle, might the FILL IT OR KILL it initiative be the start of a positive trend? WE HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE!!

Yes, times are changing…and not just on the racetracks.

From Major League Baseball’s pitch clocks and other rulings to shorten the games…and, of course, the NBA’s 24 second shot clock, the world of sport is becoming more compact and harness racing better start keeping up with the times, as well.

So, the racing secretaries of North America have the power to make harness racing “BETTER FOR THE BETTOR!”

The FILL IT OR KILL IT initiative just might be the “pari-mutuel” ticket for a big payoff in the revitalization of our grand sport.

I hope this FILL IT OR KILL IT initiative can get to the starting gate…but, in reality, with the state of the industry today, I do doubt it…

by John Berry, for Harnesslink