First of all, we should all realize that the main reason, realistically, that harness racing has these problems of participation in so many areas—new vocational participation, new ownership, new patrons of our sport—is because most everybody is out for themselves.
If you think that any driver or trainer thinks of anything else when going to the starting gate, you are in dreamland. They are looking at the next one minute and fifty seconds and if that will be good enough to earn a check.
OK, for the “4” claimers, it’s 1:53 and a piece these days—faster than Bret Hanover—but the concept is the same…they, too, are out for themselves.
It is totally understandable!
This is nothing new. There have been warning signs—though subtle—for over 40 years that in all arenas of the sport, from driver-trainers to the elitist of management—most everyone is out for themselves.
(The rest are approaching old age and still working!)
In 1976, when the iconic Washington Park near Chicago burned down, there was never an inclination to rebuild.
In the late 1980’s, iconic Roosevelt Raceway was lost, as “global warming” for harness racing continued ever so slowly and innocently.
Down south in Florida, in the mid-1990’s, the greatest training center on the planet, yes, the one in Pompano Beach, Florida, was sold as the lure of cash—a lot of cash, man, was put on the table to sell, enriching a few who always had professed such a love and caring for the sport.
The hoof prints left on that training track by so many future champions over the years, were replaced with apples, pumpkins or watermelons in aisle one at Walmart.
Many lives were upended and the Van Lennep’s 70-year history and legacy making Pompano Beach the great city it became, was yet another victim of global warming in harness racing.
These days, casinos, heretofore concentrating on gaming, have attempted to become real estate moguls needing the rich funding available because of the value of land.
So, harness racing needs a plan…and casinos must be made to adhere to the deals they made when they were allowed to build with the obvious prospect of taking gaming dollars away from harness racing while fighting for many of those same dollars through and after voter approval.
In other words, when a casino is built on the confines of a harness racetrack property, harness racing, itself, becomes an endangered species and should be viewed in the same light as owls being a protected species.
Is there a difference in protecting a specific animal or bird like the panther or sea turtle or manatee or sparrow or owl…or a historical building landmark and 60-year-old Pompano Park? Didn’t the 10,000 or 15,000 people involved at Pompano Park deserve protection, too, as they become endangered?
Of course, it’s too late for Pompano Park now as building continues at a 1:50 pace as its memory fades away.
The almighty dollar played the key role in its demise as the voters were locked out of the process and only one single Florida lawmaker went to bat for Pompano Park—Dan Daley—but even his muscles were not enough to stop the Governor in signing the decoupling bill.
Even the Director of Agriculture wouldn’t stand up for horsemen and women, though the equine industry is a huge part of agriculture here in Florida.
In places where racing thrives despite handles that do not support racing alone, it’s not unreasonable to ask for $15 or $20 or, even, $50 million a year in exchange for—or partnership in—a venture that will earn $150 or $200 or $500 million a year, or more, in gaming revenue.
That brings us to the 20% plan!
Yes, I realize that it may run up against naysayers and critical thinking people involved with racetracks and casinos, but it’s a plan to, first, alleviate the losses to owners and turn those losses into a profit luring more ownership and, second, to attract new fan participation live on track.
This 20% plan would mean nothing to the first five in the order of finish as that will stay the same. The change would be for the ones that can’t reach the top five and now earn nothing…and this building fun(d) program just might bring our sport closer to our glory days of the past.
First, this proposal is to pay those horses out of the top five a portion of an extra 20% allocated for going behind the starting gate and helping put on the show, as well as building a program reviving on-track participation.
For example, a purse of $10,000 with a traditional 50-25-12-8-5 percentage payout would still show $5,000 for a win, $2,500 for second and so on down the line with $500 for fifth.
But the rest of the field finishing back of fifth place would get $300 per starter to defer costs pertaining to training, feed, shoeing, paddock fees, vet care, etc., taking a bite out of a $2,500—or more—in training bills per month.
Thus, with the 20% percent increase, if there are 10 starters, the race allocation for that race would swell to $12,000 with $1,500 in total distributed to the remaining starters and $500 going into the “building fun(d)” used exclusively for building an on-track fan base…note the “d” is in parenthesis since the idea to be “building fun!”
If there are eight starters, a total of $900 would be added to purse payments—again $300 each for sixth, seventh and eighth—with $1,100 going into the fund.
If a horse starts four times a month—not unreasonable for the hearty standardbred—it’s at least $1,200 and that much less of a bill at the end of a month and that much closer to profitability if and when one finishes in the top five.
So, the remainder of the other 5% would be used exclusively for building a new fan base.
If a track is on the low end of purses pays, say, $40,000 on a Monday of racing with eight races and eight starters per race, the total allotment for that day would be $48,000 with 24 horses getting an additional $300 ($7,200) and the remaining $800 would be dedicated to programs benefitting patrons who attend the races live. Multiply that by 200 days, as is the case at Monticello Raceway and around $160,000 would be available to build a new fan base with all kinds of on-track contests. That amount would even handle the salary for an expert to develop and implement those contests.
For a track paying, say, $100,000 per race day or more, even if there are 12 races with full fields of 10, that would equal 60 horses earning that $300 with $2,000 going into the building “fun” account, meaning there would be a $240,000 budget for the building “fun” program based on 120 racing programs. There may even be more racing days which further enhances that program…and there are certainly tracks paying more than that!
When a casino is in play, the fund can be used to build a fan base for harness racing AND enhance the casino fan base, as well, including slot play.
The 20% “plan for the fan” includes everything from various on-track competitions and sweepstakes to a “golf” handicapping contest to coupon books to newsletters to advertisements to seminars to a unique “triathlon.”
The “plan for the fan” even includes saddle pads!!
It would also include neighborhood businesses that would benefit them, as well, and items to increase program sales, bolster revenue in casino and track eateries and, possibly most important to the casinos, increase slot and table play, especially after the conclusion of the races.
It might be a hard sell in this day and age but, if we all grab hands and go forward, we, as a team, can get it done thwarting any further global warming in our great sport.
by John Berry, for Harnesslink