The state of racing with my rose colored glasses on is just fine. It's just peachy keen.
What's all the hub hub?
The state of racing across the country is marvelous.
The San Gabriel Mountains still look over the Great Race Place, as Stronach predicted when he bought the place back, well, a long time ago. They are still racing there.....
Gulfstream is still around, hasn't been swept away, yet, by torrential rains, not even a tsunami could affect that beautiful Tapeta.
You went to Saratoga in June, so come on, that was pretty grand, you and 100K people crammed in that venue, and you had plenty of monies to wager with since everything else was by debit and credit card only. You had more to bet with. Who had it better than you?
Nobody.
Golden Gate Fields is no longer there, they have raced their last card, their tombstone reads 1941-2024. It was 83 years young, you can even buy a piece of history, equipment, like everybody wants to own their own SAM Machine.
You can have your friends over, put on some old races and take their monies, good times for all.
I may go up and buy some sod from the turf course for the dogs and even the Tapeta is ornamental around your plants.
About a tractor with a gallop master in your front yard, be the first on your block to have one.
The NTRA, yeah the NTRA does a yeomans job in the industry, through advocacy, integrity and leadership.
Two out of three ain't bad, like Meat Loaf sang:
I understand two out of the three, advocacy, I have no idea what the $@#% that is.
Integrity, well, through my rose colored glasses, yes, do I find integrity? well, looking for it, but who needs it.
I wouldn't have used Advocacy, for 'A' I would have used for Apathy, because when I take my rose colored glasses off, most of the racing industry doesn't fucking care.
They shove those videos of humans talking to us about who they like. That's like having old white man modeling lingerie in a Victoria's Secret Catalog.
Well, then, maybe, we can change it all
As Amy Kearns told me, everybody needs to eat more broccoli, it all comes down to broccoli.
We need a healthier mind set for the game thru our own eyes, so add some carrots as well.
"I buy the five pound bag of Broccoli,'' said Amy, and "I will put 10 or 20 of them on a cooking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil, and cook in the over for 20 minutes,'' she proudly exclaimed.
"My [Hatomoto} {her significant other], told me i am going to turn green'', tagging her statement.
Amy is right, us as horseplayers we need to change the game ourselves. We need to take a stand, and make our own broccoli for our healthy nourishment, as we spend endless hours bitching and complaining but not doing anything about it.
If they believe that we would eat [bet] anything, then we must prove them wrong.
Golden Gate Fields, Arlington Park, are two examples, for some of you, closing day was the last time you wagered on their product, duh! right?
When did you play their cards before that? most of you probably can't remember.
Arlington Park went under for a number of reasons, one of them was the synthetic main track.
Golden Gate was synthetic as well. Southern California's racing woes began with the move to synthetics.
Synthetics cater to the slow horses, last I looked horse racing was about fast horses, not horses running on a pogo stick.
Even, a caveman, would tell you 'even me know synthetic is not dirt'.
In Asia, the only track with Tapeta is in Tasmania, that's right Tasmania, where the famous Tasmanian Devil, movie star came from.
As a horseplayer, I am sure I can confidently say that none of us reading this blog has played the races from Devonport, Tasmania.
Japan has had some training centers with Tapeta, or synthetic but don't believe for racing.
Santa Anita is considering running races on the newly installed inner training track, and just because they might run on that bullring, it doesn't mean I will play it. In fact, I will tell you, Hell no!
If you as a horseplayer and you don't like something, the law of supply and demand comes into play.
If there is no demand for the product, there is no need for the supply.
We have the power to steadfast, if we don't like something and don't buy it, the lack of demand kills that products existence, but if we play it or buy it, we are feeding the tumor and it grows larger.
If you like synthetic racing, then play it but don't you dare complain about it.
If no one watches the videos of 'let me tell you who i like' you aren't feeding the malady, but if you do and follow it, then don't bitch when they pick nothing but chalk.
We should be getting more videos about horses, how they train, move, from yearlings on, learn what a good moving horse ae, because, not many know what they are looking at. Advantage YOU!
We need to be better at controlling our own urges of where to play, reward tracks that deserve it and those that don't, well, let them stand on their own two feet.
"Give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything'', remember that commercial? That's us, horseplayers.
I recall the day when my buddy, June, yes his name was really June, called me and he was all excited: "There is a carryover at Hollywood in the Superfecta pool!'' he exclaimed.
I had to look it up, it was $3K. Yup, Three-thousand dollars.
"Are we going to play?" he asked.
Horseplayers are classically conditioned, ring the bell, this case say carryover, and we salivate at the mouth.
We got to be better than that. We need to exercise some control.
Watch how quickly this game changes and for the better if we start dictating what we want.
We are not going bet on anything, and everything but be more frugal of where and when we spend our monies.
Some tracks are like Field of Dreams, 'If you open the doors they will come', Saratoga, Del Mar, Keeneland, are at the top of the list.
All three of those tracks, have turf and dirt. Good racing, good jockey colony, the best trainers, and good horses. We gravitate torwards those variables and factors.
We support those tracks full heartedly.
So, as I put my rose colored glasses back on, there is nothing that needs to be changed at all, we need to change.
