The short squeeze hullabaloo

It’s rare that any of my Mane Attraction columns attract the “hullabaloo” that the last one did.

When a subject comes to my attention, I try and give it a forum for discussion so as to air those concerns of today…and 20 years from today.

The “short squeeze” topic affecting the smaller stables brought some sharp response from all sides, but especially from owners of larger stables and those in the difficult arena of being in the racing office trying to satisfy all entities.

On one side of the ledger, there were those that thought the short squeeze column was a “slap in the face” to the racetracks and racing secretaries.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have the utmost respect for those in the race office.

I have very adequate experience in that arena and can tell you all that aren’t involved in that aspect of the business that being a racing secretary is a thankless job with everyone asking for a favor with little thanks—if any—for the efforts.

Yes, it’s a THANKLESS job.

In my eyes, the racetracks and their staffs hosting our great sport and business deserve the utmost respect for their continued support enabling our history dating back 235 years to continue.

Count the racetracks that have closed over the past 40 or so years and we can be thankful that the ones that are still open are weathering storms like the lottery, simulcasting, casinos and sports betting popping up draining possible pari-mutuel dollars away.

Some may think that the casinos are “evils,” but they are necessary evils in today’s world that is changing every minute and we should be thankful for those “evils.”.

Yes, some—in fact, many—have received help…but they are still open, and we should be thankful for that.

I had mentioned Oak Grove Racing and Gaming in my column, which had an outstanding meeting with Stakes events galore coupled with outstanding purses in overnight races.

The race office at Oak Grove did an amazing job.

Yes, some of the larger stables did extremely well and, to the credit of Racing Secretary Kevin Mack and Company, his efforts enabled some of the smaller stables and their owners to reap some grand rewards, as well.

There were instances, in fact, that some “overnight” horses won as much during their two-and-a-half-month meeting as they did in all of 2022, I.e., Reggie Raider (McArdle), a nine-year-old gelding that earned $28,750 after making $28,174 last year and $13,807 in 2021. (Reggie is up close to $50,000 as of now—his best year, thus far, in an eight-year career.)

They also provided a platform for the United States Amateur Driving Club to have weekly events enabling donations to worthy charities to the tune of over $10,000 while providing hospitality that was beyond outstanding.

From Cara Collins to their Starting Judge giving rides in the starting gate to the entire hospitality staff, it could not have been better.

While the smaller owner does have concerns with the proliferation of larger stables coming to where the fruits are ripening, those that are involved with those larger stables are allowed to have their “say,” as well.

One owner put it this way…”When (Lou) Guida began to transform harness racing into a business, instead of a sport, he changed the way the game is played.

“It’s no different than any other business.

“Take typewriters, for example, or rotary phones. Companies that manufactured typewriters or rotary phones have either accepted and joined the technology age or gone out of business.

“We don’t have Edison record anymore…or 78’s…or 45’s. Compact discs are going to be obsolete soon with USB ports taking their place. What’s after that?

“Remember the Xerox telecopier—the machine that could send one single page to a receiver in four minutes? It’s a dead issue now!

“We don’t even have Betamax or VHS anymore…and they were rather modern inventions of 40 years ago.

“Look at the banking industry. Paying bills by mail is getting obsolete. Sending money in the Cash App or Zelle is instantaneous.

“Just look at the Yankees and Orioles in baseball.

“The Yanks just decided to rest on their laurels and reputation of years ago and the Orioles made changes and look at the difference. Yanks in last place…Orioles on top.

“There’s a thousand more…10,000 more!!!

“If an entity or company can’t recognize the changing times and adapt to the changing times, they are programmed to fail.

“Here, in harness racing, we have continual new technology in the form of sulkies and record keeping and so many other things and the big stables owners have the money to outbid all the smaller owners, leaving the rest of the claiming stock for the smaller owner.

“Owners that stuck with old time sulkies were left at the gate.

“It’s called progress and, if one can’t adapt, they are going to be left behind.

“A two minute mile is obsolete…and 1:55 is getting very close to that’s same fate.”

Another owner chimed in saying, “I see a consolidation over the years ahead as bands of people come together to buy some of those more expensive and well-bred yearlings to compete. I see a lot more “Alagna” type stables coming together serving dozens of owners consolidated into these stables.

“I also see a shrinkage of stock on the racetrack with very few horses going past the age of six or so with speed taking a toll or just not enough overnight purse money to sustain full fields.

“I see the smaller owner not being able to compete much longer, so change and larger partnerships will provide shrinkage in terms of ownership.”

Racing Secretaries have the obligation to fill racing programs with quality entries and put on a product that is deemed to be excellent and competitive.

Stakes racing does exactly that and guarantees a quality racing program day after day.

In Kentucky, they have their three tiers for the juveniles and sophomores that offers very good purse money and many classes…and they all fill the front tier of the starting gate…(well, there were a couple of short fields.)

The problem for the “overnighters” is…when the condition sheet comes out and a small stable owner has one entry in a particular class, he or she has to rely on that six or seven or eight others have to have a horse that fits the same class…or, if a class doesn’t quite fill, the horse has to go up a notch to a tougher spot just to get raced.

Filling a stakes race is guaranteed…filling an overnight event is not!

Therewith lies the problem…for the Race Secretary AND the smaller stable owner.

I understand completely the plight of the thousands of smaller stable owners of the world but they, too, are caught in the www *world-wide-web” of a changing world.

Believe it or not, the situation is spreading to the larger stables, as well.

I remember the days with the 2:10 two-year-old list!

Just a few years ago, a 2:00 two-year-old trotter was considered pretty darn good.

So far this year, we have well over 20 juvenile trotters with a mark of 1:55 or better with Allegiant (Tactical Landing) at 1:53.2.

Very impressive, indeed!

Two of the top five speed wise are UNDER 1:54 and neither has banked $25,000!

Between a yearling sale price and training bills, thus far, that’s most certainly a losing proposition for the owners.

What’s more important? It is the 1:53.4 mark or the earnings?

Of those two dozen on the 1:55 list, 16 haven’t earned $50,000 yet and the question arises whether owners may get tired of having two-year-olds with a trotting mark like this and still show red ink on the bottom line.

The two-tear-old trotting filly, Baby Flash (Southwind Flash), has 10 wins in 11 starts with $45,939 in bounty to go along with her mark of……..2:01.3.

Hocuspocusnfocus (Dejarmbeo) has nine wins in 13 starts with four seconds and $18,071. So what’s this filly’s mark? It’s 2:08.2!

There are many other similar examples, as well.

On the pacing side of the ledger, we have a sub-1:50 two-year-old gargantuan named Geocentric (Sweet Lou) with a 1:49.4 mark…A TWO-YEAR-OLD WITH A 1:49.4 MARK! (The old 2:10 two-year-old list would look Encyclopedia Brittanica…which, today, is also obsolete in this changing world.)

One guy joked, “You’d probably find the definition of “SULKY” on page 6,364,767 of a dictionary today…but I think I’ll just “google” it!

There are close to 50 two-year-old pacers with marks of 1:52 or faster so far, this semester.

Some 18 of them have banked under $50,000—one has a mark of 1:52 with $7,846—and, again, the question is…What’s more important—the 1:52 mark or the earnings?

And, with all that is going on in the speed world of harness racing, what’s a mark of 1:52 worth in next year’s yearling sales market?

The two-year-old filly Classic Amy (Riggins) has nine wins already in 13 starts and has a 2:00 mark…and has earnings of $18,658, as of this writing.

Another filly, Fengshuiprosperity (Somestarsomewhere), is seven-for-eight with $18,500 on her card to go along with a mark of…2:02.2.

How does one classify success…SPEED or EARNINGS?

So, one can readily see, that the “squeeze” doesn’t JUST affect the smaller owner, it’s beginning to have an effect on the owners of younger owners, too, but they haven’t realized it yet.

So, after all the yearling sales and introductory training miles beginning at 3:00 or so, it all falls in the lap of the Race Secretary.

So, here’s a toast to Kevin Mack and all racing secretaries serving our grand sport.

Lift your glasses, folks!

“There sure is enough SPEED to go around…now let’s get enough PURSE money to go around to all, as well!”

by John Berry, for Harnesslink