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Originally Posted by Cannon Shell
So it would be better if there was just a casino and the money that goes to purses could just go to the politicians pet pork projects?
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If there were "just" casinos, there would be no Presque. There would also be no new racetracks in New Mexico and no new harness tracks in Ontario. It's a joke what the purses are at these places compared to handle. Other than supporting bad horse racing, what single good thing does racing there or at the other slots tracks do for the sport or the bettors? Did racing improve at Woodbine? At Mountaineer? At Gulf? No. Did takeout go down at any of those racetracks? No. It does zero for the bettors, who are the reason why racetracks exist. If you want to cast stones at people who benefit from what I think is a bad concept, don't leave out the horsemen. They are certainly also responsible for creating these artificially high purses for what I consider bad horse racing. As to your question, my answer is I disagree with your premise that these slot macine places would exist without the approval of horsemen. They wouldn't. They shouldn't exist, period. That said, if you are in the business, you can only take what they give you and I certainly have no problem with people getting paid as much as they can. I just think they're bad for racing.