The way I see it is there are two perspectives.
If you earn a living buying or selling horses, you have a right to be feeling squirrely about the stuff. Uncertainty brings about anxiety. No doubt.
If you're a horseplayer and a fan, you really could care less whether Keeneland Sales revenue goes down or not. You merely decide if the meet is worth playing and, if so, you try to be smarter about it than the next person.
Joel's dad owning $600k worth of horses and the effect of Polytrack on their value is not a lot different than owning $600k worth of anything when the factors effecting value -- seen and unforseen -- change. That's just the way it goes, especially for such a speculative-type investment as race horses are.
Personally, I don't care for the stuff, but I'm not a Keeneland or Turfway or Cali bettor so it has, at least for now, less impact on me than on others. I do agree it's sad that we'll soon open our Racing Forms and see on Page 2 the fastest Artificial Surface Beyers for the year.
When the industry people come out against Polytrack as a cause for slowing the sport's growth, that's true. But, like any mature industry, the successful folks will adapt and prosper. Those who have either ridden along or have just gotten by will find something else to do.
I'll be interested to see the meet's handle figures vs prior meets.
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