Sunday’s Akron Beacon Journal tells an all-too-familiar tale (New York, West Virginia, Indiana, etc.) of a “drying up” racing industry being propped by the corporate welfare that is euphemistically referred to as a “state-business partnership.” It goes something like this: Horseracing, especially harness and claiming, is finding it increasingly hard to compete with full-service casinos and state lotteries. But instead of quietly fading away like so many other industries that time passed by, racing demands, arrogantly, to be saved.
In 2011, Ohio racing found itself on the brink. Enter Video Lottery Terminals, and the birth of Ohio “racinos.” From the article: “Thanks to big dollars being pumped into the sport by slots-like video lottery terminals (VLTs) at the state’s horse tracks, the Ohio horse racing industry is rebounding after at least a decade on the wane.” The “big dollars,” a 9%-11% cut of VLT operations, are funneled directly to race purses. So purses that were once $2,000-$5,000 are now $5,000-$25,000. People come to play slots and – unwittingly, for the most part – line horsemen’s pockets. Nice deal if you can get it.
Of course, anytime subsidies are questioned, racing indignantly reminds that the industry is more than breeders, owners, and trainers. Kill the subsidies, so their argument goes, kill a host of workingman jobs – farriers, groomers, walkers, farmers, tack dealers, etc. Even the white-collars would suffer. One veterinarian from the article, Dr. Michael Latessa, happily reports that the new economic model is a boon to his profession: “As far as our business, we’ll be busier as vets obviously because there will be more horses coming in.” More racing: more prescriptions, more injections, more injured bodies, more euthanasias. Hard to imagine anyone going to vet school for that.
Yes, jobs are at stake, but let’s not pretend that the horsemen care about anyone’s economic future but their own. The larger point, however, is that industries come and go; if your product is no longer viable, find a new product, a new line of work. It’s not within government’s charter to revive the obsolete. In fact, it’s patently unfair. Grant the casino licenses, but without the mandated percentages to those who have done nothing to earn them. This would leave more for education, the intended beneficiary of state-sanctioned gambling. Let racing, like the vast majority of American businesses, fend for itself.
Now it will take longer to fade away. And speaking of Ohio, there was a horse called Catlaunch that raced most of his long career in Ohio. He had 108 starts, earned over a million and was still racing at almost 13 years old. His last race in 2013 was a DNF. I have been unable to find out what happened to the old warrior ?
Rose, I believe he went to Old Friends in Lexington for his retirement. He would have been a hard one to make “disappear” since he won a lot of money.
Mary, thank you for your reply. I sure hope he got to retire. He sure earned it.
Yes, Catlaunch was a grand old warrior – he had been retired to Old Friends – I visited in May and he seems to be doing well.
Interesting to me that Blood Horse and, the now defunct, Thoroughbred Times had articles on Catlaunch when he was racing and still winning minor stakes at 11 yrs. old. Yet, when he had a DNF in his last start (his 108th) there was nothing about him in any racing publication. He just seemed to disappear like so many old and not so old track warriors.
I’m glad to hear he got to retire. I hope he is in reasonably good shape so he can enjoy being a horse after 12 yrs. at the track.
He looked happy & healthy to me, he has a lot of buddies to romp around with
Reblogged this on Pass the SAFE Act! and commented:
And here is your proof that we are all are paying to destroy these horses.
Thank you ! We just have to keep on for the sake of the horses.
Thank you for your kind comment Rose! Much appreciated! Please be sure to share everywhere you can to create more awareness, which of course in turn will give them even more voices chiming in to write, share, etc.!
Indeed! We must! Thank you for that kind comment!