John Furgele for US Racing writes that harness racing had another good year. Handle was up, wagering per race was up, and the top pacers and trotters performed admirably, as usual.
With 2021 in the books, we’re moving forward with some forecasting and setting goals for the new year.
Here’s my wish list:
How about more fixed-odds betting? In the old days, when gambling was illegal everywhere but Las Vegas, fixed odds betting was not allowed. In horse racing, you’re betting against the other bettors. The only thing the “house” did was set the morning line odds, leaving it to us to set the final odds and because of that, it was a legal endeavor.
The house gets some money for processing, but the rest is divided up among the bettors. Sports move fast with lots of action. And, with so many betting options, it requires attentiveness. Harness racing, however, continues to move at a slow pace. Why? Does the sport lack young, energetic people with fresh ideas? Or has it adopted the “it is what it is” mentality and because of that refuses to change?
How many times do you really like an 8-1 shot, but right before the gate rolls away, the horse ends up 4-5? Now, instead of winning $45 on your $5 bet, you’re only cashing $9. Other sports allow it, why can’t harness racing? Let me lock into the rate I want and then see what transpires. And the reverse can also happen. You may lock in at 8-1, and at post time, the horse may be 12-1.
Horse racing will always be a pari-mutuel sport but offering more betting options for those willing to wager is never a bad thing. Fixed odds can help provide that and we’ll also see which handicappers really know their stuff, adding more intrigue.
Shorten the race card
End the five-hour race card. On Sunday (Jan. 2), Northfield Park carded 16 races. The first went off at 6:08 p.m. ET; the last 11:48 p.m. That’s five hours, 40 minutes for 16 races that take about 32 minutes to race.
Is that a progressive approach? The reasons are simple they say — we need to spread things out because there are other tracks racing; we need to give bettors time to make exotic bets; we need to maximize every betting opportunity.
Those are valid points, and because most of the betting is done off-track, what’s the harm? That said, if you want people to invest in the sport, to like the sport, to want to attend in person, speeding things up is paramount. For some reason, those that run racetracks think longer is better, but if you look at the numbers, that’s not the case. At places like Yonkers, the longer the card, the less is bet. At some point, they tune out and move on, sometimes, to bed.
Bettors will adjust. Those that study the cards will do so with more intensity, knowing that they don’t have 20 minutes — or more –between races. With newer people, the faster paced action might make them want to come back to the track a second, third or fourth time. Why can’t a race finish and one minute later, the field for the next race get on the track and get ready to go. Why can’t we have five races per hour?
To read the rest of the story, click here.