What's Going On
Spring 1996

In this column in the last issue, I explained how I was trying to coordinate the racing industry with the Pleasure-Competition -horse industry. My goal is to speak at National Association meetings and at the American Horse Council as well as at State horse fairs.

This is what has been going on in the last few months. In December I attended the Race Track Industry Program. I had asked to be put on as a presenter but didn't have that honor this year. I was told that there was a workshop one afternoon where new ideas could be presented. There it was possible to share my ideas with those interested. Many good contacts were made and I have tried to follow up on them.

The Race Track Industry 1995 Symposium was very well run and every company that made money off of horses seemed to be represented. From builders of race tracks to equine artists to horse health products to racing programmers, all were there to sell their ideas and products.

The presentations were heavily into the gaming aspects and repercussions of casinos and other forms of gambling. Every one seemed interested in getting their piece of the action from the race horse industry. With all of the discussion of how to share the moneys gleaned from betting, there was very little said about the horse, the trainer and the nuts and bolts of race tracking.

Surveys were taken on how to market racing, how to improve the image, how to get more people involved with racing. Since I am convinced that I have some of the answers for marketing racing and changing the image of racing, it was very frustrating to not be able to present my "Marketing of Racing" and "Changing the Image Of Racing" program.

I have given a great deal of thought as to how we can change racing for the better by tapping into the general horse industry and at the same time show the healthy middle America side that racing could be. If any of you readers would like to read my program, please call and I'll send you a copy. I would like the proposal to get into the hands of race track owners and managers. It is very hard to try and do all of this myself and it takes me a lot longer to reach all the potential new owners and trainers without your help.

I did manage to talk to Chris Scherf, Executive Director of the TRA and am hoping to follow up with more dialogue on this subject. The TRA is still the only real group that could coordinate and unify racing...if the members could just settle their differences and apply their energies to presenting a solid front to the public.

There is a great deal of "What's in it for me now...this minute!", in the racing business. Long term plans are not considered when tracks and horsemen are in such bad shape that they make any kind of a deal. In a few years, where the purses are being supplemented by slots and casinos, management and the state will decide that it's too much of an effort to support a money losing business like horse racing. Then where will we be?

It's up to us now to make racing a sport-people pay to see soccer, basketball, baseball and football- these sports don't rely on gambling to survive. There are ways we can tap into this market. Middle American families participating in what has always been a "rich man's" game is the beginning of the change in image that we need. Fair play and sportsmanship can be a part of the message. Racing horses that last and retire sound after their career is an attainable goal. Help me get this message out and you'll see a new infusion of interest in horse racing.

After the December meeting in Tucson, I attended the HBPA National meeting in January in Miami. This was another opportunity to share my ideas with horsemen. I considered this group very challenging because they are "in the trenches" trainers coping with the pressures of track demands, owner demands and horse necessities.

Scott Savin and Bill Walmsley allowed me time to briefly present ideas in the general meeting. No one threw tomatoes at me and I hope their minds were opened a little to the idea that the track trainers could get a whole new source of horses from owner trainers. This is a group of people who would never have considered racing but for the fact that they can do so much of the work themselves. They already own horses and farms. They already have the financial and personal commitment to the animals. They have real jobs and support the horses with other income. We need them in racing. They can do much of the ground work and save themselves thousands of dollars in training fees. But the program is not taking money from track trainers because these people would not be in racing at all under the traditional form. These people can put away three or four thousand to pay for the final training at the track but much ground work and preliminary fitness training will have been done. The horses go to the track at a later age and are more mature. This gives the track trainer a horse closer to running, and the owner gets a break on the day costs of basic training that can be done in other than race track circumstances.

The owners, trainers, and horses are all winners with this program. This April 13th I go to the Iowa Horse Fair. I'll give you an update next time. The horse fairs usually have representatives of all breeds. It will be good to let people know that they can buy a weanling or yearling race prospect and use their own horse to help train him. As with my family, the children can be a part of the program. My children helped me break , load, feed and haul the horses. When we started, we were completely lacking in knowledge; but the kids participated in 4-H horse programs and eventually we overcame many obstacles. It was when the trainer sent the horses back from the track and we couldn't afford to pay trainers that I got involved in racing...purely by default. It has been a roller coaster ever since. All of the children are now adults. They say the demands of the farm and training taught them responsibility and prepared them for the challenges of life...but we all had fun while we did it! That's enough reason right there to go into racing!