SALVATION OF RACING LIES IN TRANSPARENCY

TDN
Letters to the Editor: Sam Ferguson

It’s amazing really; we either don’t get it, or, to paraphrase WC, “When we’ve exhausted all other possibilities, we will do the right thing.”

The success of racing isn’t about raceday medications, or federal regulations with the U.S. Yada-Yada whatever watching over us.

It’s about people, fans, bettors, interested in an emotional endeavor, a racehorse bound with unsurpassed beauty, power, and spirit trying to win a race.

People, probably dulled through their daily grind of an existence, seek something interesting and entertaining.

Sports don’t attract people with corrupt business practices, shady dealings, drugs shot up into innocent horses, or even gimmicks.

Sports attract people with knowledge, which leads to understanding.

It’s not about the car going around the track; it’s about the knowledge of all that goes together to make it happen.

Nothing explains it simpler than NASCAR. And people involved with the NFL want to know everything about the players, as much as the emotional aspect of the game itself.

So really, racings salvation lies in transparency.

And that’s a bitter pill to swallow.

From the sales ground where horse’s sale from “Jack n Jill Farm” to “Up the Hill with Water Stable,” to the racetrack where the innocent horse, at least 85% of them, are trapped in an upside down economy running once every two weeks trying to sustain a living.

But bitter pill, or no bitter pill, transparency, across the board is our only out.

Give horses an advocate and you give them a chance.

Hong Kong goes up 5%, we go down 5%. It’s that simple.

www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/letters-to...editor-sam-ferguson/

You are so right Don that transparency needs to be promoted around every turn but there is one further element that will round off the exercise perfectly.

We need to return the fun factor to racing which is partly access to all relevant information and partly format. Games that showcase the excitement of racing, that provides value for money involvement and decent rewards to players and that gives everyone a solid run for their money are the cornerstones of building new and lasting capacity.

Stop trying to kill the golden goose by only concentrating on churn and increases in per capita spending of your loyal patrons. Turn racing into a growth industry again where customers are king and where expanding your base is a primary driver in business decisions.

Give racing the same weighting as every other diversified offering and don't look for non-racing solutions to fix a solvable problem.

Doh