Improving the product

[Cannon Shell]

I think all of your ideas are good except #4 which is a little too simplistic. If you eliminate a lot of tracks breeders will produce far fewer horses. Assuming that you would be in favor of eliminating the smaller tracks, you will be left with the bigger track horseman who are far more likely to not run or scratch than their cheap track counterparts.

#8 would be better dealt with more formal education of stewards rather than the 3 day course that now serves as accreditation. Also forcing them to make public the reasons behind the decision would be helpful. The rules are pretty much the same everywhere but allow for too much individual latitude.

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I think all of your ideas are good except #4 which is a little too simplistic. If you eliminate a lot of tracks breeders will produce far fewer horses. Assuming that you would be in favor of eliminating the smaller tracks, you will be left with the bigger track horseman who are far more likely to not run or scratch than their cheap track counterparts.

#8 would be better dealt with more formal education of stewards rather than the 3 day course that now serves as accreditation. Also forcing them to make public the reasons behind the decision would be helpful. The rules are pretty much the same everywhere but allow for too much individual latitude.

#4, I did say at all levels of racing, meaning high level, mid level, and lower level tracks. There should be a pyramid no doubt. As for breeders producing far fewer horses, I'm not sure this is really a bad thing for anyone but breeders. With the foreign buyers now, I don't think it would hurt that much. I'm pretty sure the game will survive without Indiana, Ohio, and Texas bred horses and the like.