Quote:
Originally Posted by Benny
" the programs have sometimes drawn criticism for providing incentives for horsemen to start unfit horses in races and for rewarding mediocrity or worse," per DRF Hegarty article 1/30/14
Look what happened in NY when the claiming purses skyrocketed when slot money came in. with so many fatalities on track. No ?
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lol everything in racing has drawn criticism. The idea that unfit or injured horses will suddenly start appearing in the entries because of 600 bonus is stupid and not related to reality.
What happened in NY had very little to do with purses or incentives in almost every case. It was simply random occurrence as most breakdown spats or lack thereof are. There was a bad year for breakdowns 10 or 11 years ago in NY with numbers exceeding last years with little to no purse raises/incentives or publicity. The chances that a sore horse can win because a purse is higher is laughably sad.
People who criticize how horsemen divvy up their money should buy a horse and get back to us. The idea that a horse running 5th or worse is due to "incompetence" as quoted in the story is exactly why we see fields scratched down to 5 all the time. That logic doesnt elude trainers who would rather not be labeled as incompetent for taking a shot in a race where they wont be one of the top 3 choices.