Plonk throws down the gauntlet

[Songofthesword]

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/hor...emy&id=5884868

Most lower-end horsemen want to keep costs low, and have lots of chances to race and at least get a small purse return every time they run fourth or fifth in a small field of six or seven horses. They don't want short, high-quality racing meets that boast big fields that appeal to bettors, which have proven successful at places like Keeneland, Del Mar and, most strikingly notable, Monmouth Park in 2010, where they offered half the racing dates as there were in 2009, but betting revenues wound up going through the roof. A similar struggle is going on in Maryland right now, where cutting racing dates could save the racetracks and make a completely spectacular spring season around the centerpiece Preakness, but fearful horsemen don't want to go down that path and are blocking the plans. Can you imagine a collection of golfers ranked outside the top 100 guiding the destiny of the Masters or the PGA Championship?

[Rick1323]

He is right. The last thing horsemen want are large competitive fields. A "living" can be made with marginal horses who finish in the top half of 6 horse fields. I am amazed racing has lasted this long. In the past decade or so, sympathies in the State goverments have changed. It is being seen for the financial millstone it really is to most states.

[Horse's Rear]

I would advise Jeremy to continue not owning horses.