Handle Decline Continues...

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Split Rock

"....the sport is going into the s.hit.ter" To think it's not is absurd. It is not people like me and all my doom and gloom that is the problem. It is people that make excuses for those that cause it to be all doom and gloom. I've followed horse racing since 1986. I can tell you the game has never been as blatantly corrupt as it is now. You can choose to think it isn't or choose to think that doesn't affect the state is in now. I choose to believe it does. If it isn't the main reason for the start of the decline of horse racing, it certainly has contributed to it.

I'm sure many that read my posts will think I just have an axe to grind about the drug issue. Well, whenever I look at PP's and see guys winning with broken animals and instead of going to prison where they belong for committing a felonious act of tampering with a pari-mutual wagering event, they are praised, it sickens me.

The game is on the decline. Unfortunately, I cannot do a damn thing to stop it short of taking symbolic stance.

You are laughable. Nice attempt to take what I said out of context in a futile attempt to save face. No one condones the cheating and drugging, but it has to be taken in context, particularly with regard to the issue of the decline in handle. You stated matter of factly that the real reason for the decline in handle is the cheating by trainers. This is simply not true, it is merely a factor amongst many other factors of which many of the others are the main reason for the decline in handle from this time last year to this time this year which is what the drf article was about.

Once again, you continue to insist that cheating is a new thing which is simply wrong. Drugging horses has gone back a long time and was done and known to the public well before decline in handle. In fact, race fixing in addition to drugging was a much larger problem years ago than it is today. It amazes me that people spout out nonsense and then continue to insist they are right while attempting to belittle those who correct them. If you have been following horse racing since 1986 you obviously haven't learned much. There was plenty of drugging going on then and this suggestion that it started sometime in the mid 1990's and drove big gamblers away is absurd.

Cheating is simply part of human nature and will occur anywhere humans are involved. It is not just horseracing that has cheaters using drugs to gain an advantage, but baseball, football, hockey, cycling, Olympic sports, you name it. Why isn't the cheating driving fans away from those sports?

Instead of posting before thinking you might try the opposite, you just might post something worth reading. Stop being a fan of horseracing, thank god Zenyatta has brought many new fans to the sport, it can afford to lose one!