“Horses and racing, by their very nature, evoke strong emotions.
“When you are a fan, you shake, you shout, you do everything you can to urge your horse home first. When you are part of the sport, you shake and shout for a very different reason. Much of the time, you want to scream in frustration.
“Racing, it pains me to say, is far from reaching its potential. It is, in many respects, an ailing industry plagued by infighting, backward thinking and overall lack of vision.
“This was clear to me as I served three-plus terms as president of the Jockeys’ Guild, from December 1989 through 1996. Regrettably, nothing has changed since then. I fear for the future if the sport doesn’t alter its course soon.” — From “Against the Odds,” by Jerry Bailey with Tom Pedulla
Posted by JC in Readings on 10/15/2005 @ 10:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Joe O’Donnell is sitting out the Massachusetts slots debate (Boston Herald):
He has plenty at stake in this latest, and perhaps last run at getting slot machines into Suffolk Downs and the Bay State’s other racetracks.
O’Donnell holds the controlling share in Suffolk.
And there is strong belief in some circles that his considerable juice is required to get Gov. Mitt Romney off his absolute-veto pledge against slots.
But the Hub’s leading power broker (see Boston magazine) says he won’t be calling in any favors on Beacon Hill.
Says O’Donnell: “Personally I think [slots make] all the sense in the world … But I don’t want to take a personal leadership role in this. I have a personal relationship with, and am very fond of, the governor, the speaker and the Senate president. They’re all friends of mine.” Cynically I wonder if it’s more that O’Donnell — a real estate developer partially responsible for the Shops at Suffolk Downs mall built on land previously owned by the track across the street from the barn area — is interested in something other than slots or horseracing.
Posted by JC in State Issues on 10/15/2005 @ 9:55 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
The NTRA is launching a new advertising campaign with the slogan, “Who do you like today?” replacing “Go, baby, go” (Blood-Horse). Patrick of Pulling Hair & Betting Horses thinks the new tagline puts too much emphasis on wagering, but I think it says more about the social aspect of the sport than the gambling. I’ve had a lot of racetrack conversations that start with some variation on the slogan — “Who do you like here?” or “Any tips today?” — followed by a couple of minutes talk about various horses or that day’s races. It’s companionable, and it’s one of the things that makes going to the track more fun than staying home and watching racing on TVG. I hope the ads convey that. Of course, whether or not tracks successfully capitalize on any response to the ads is another matter …
Posted by JC in Media/TV/Film on 10/13/2005 @ 4:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
