Dwight Drane Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Yes, this is a great thread. The best in a long time. I cut my teeth at Fort Erie. You know Fort Erie still has one of the best infields around. Gorgeous with three lakes and lots of landscaping. Woodbine of course.Here in SoCal I follow Santa Anita, Hollywood and Del Mar. Del Mar's season is way to short, but really big purses. Are you ever going to ship horses to the SoCall circuit? If so, let me know we can get together. I used to go to Fort Erie as a teenager and bet and drink. I was a big kid, so nobody knew I was too young. If I hit a really good trifecta, I would have to get someone else to cash it for me. I've been to Santa Anita and I hope to go for the Breeders Cup this year. We've never run a horse ourselves out west, but we do have horses end up out there after selling them or having them claimed. Out your way the only one running now is Your My Boy Blue. He won at Golden Gate Fields a week or so ago. He never panned out to be as good as I figured, but he's still winning races at a lower level. The horse industry is getting pinched now like almost any other industry though. Inflation in feeding them, shipping them , people betting less. I'm in a big pinch because the financial part of my job is pretty much frozen due to the pending bank disaster, so the horses have been the main source of income for a while now. That makes it tough because the secondary market isn't strong either. We own a beautiful filly that is a half sister to Hemmingway's Key, a horse that came in 3rd in the Preakness a few years ago. I bought her at auction for $30K last year. A few months later someone offered $40K before she even ran a race in order to breed her. In October, the offer was $30K. In January, $16K. Now if we want to cut our losses and sell her, we could only get $10K without really shopping her. The asset plunge is happening to more than just houses! Like Cincy said, slot machines were thought to be the next big thing, but as more people are introduced to more levels of gambling, they start to educate themselves and learn they probably aren't going to beat the machine over the long haul. Unless a track can compete with Vegas type payouts at 92-98%, people are going to get sick of losing their quarters pretty fast. Down in Florida, Gulfstream Park actually loses money by running a casino and did so from almost day one. I'm not sure where to get new funds for racing other than for everyone involved in the sport to be a positive ambassador. It's easy for a younger person with a modest upbringing in Buffalo to do so than many involved in the sport that think they are brilliant because they can spend more money than anyone else. The greatest thing about the sport is that I can pick out a horse for $20,000 and then have that horse beat the horses of Kings and Millionaires that payed $750,000 or bred a $5 million horse. They call it "The Great Equalizer". If anything relevant pops up over time I'll try and share. If I end up in Saratoga the same time others are there, it would be fun to hook up in the morning for training or for a beer at the races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Sounds like the trainer is starting to throw Desormeaux under the bus: Looks like someone forgot to tie Big Brown's shoes. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/new...e=ESPNHeadlines Who's job is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Who's job is that? A certain bookie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 A certain bookie. I thought a furrier shod horses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 If anything relevant pops up over time I'll try and share. If I end up in Saratoga the same time others are there, it would be fun to hook up in the morning for training or for a beer at the races. please do - i'm fascinated by the horse industry even though i don't know anything about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 please do - i'm fascinated by the horse industry even though i don't know anything about it. If you've ever seen the movie Let It Ride with Richard Dreyfuss.....that's it in a nutshell. EVERYONE has "just missed" stories. Most of the people involved at most of the tracks aren't rich and famous. Just hard working types trying to make a few bucks at something they like. Some of the guys at the very top think their doo-doo don't stink, yet some are down to earth and will crack a beer with you. It's a very small world where everyone knows each other and is surprisingly tame and friendly considering everyone is in direct competition. The one thing I have figured out is that I do much better usuing my own handicapping skills to bet than to listen to all the hot info going around the barns. It helps to be on the inside to know when NOT to bet, but it is impossible to make a horse win. You can have a great feeling and something minor goes wrong throwing it off. The best part about the job to me is being right when everyone else is wrong....finding the diamond in the rough. I don't make killer money since 90% of owners lose cash in the longrun and I will only take money from someone if the horse does great for them. There are a lot of people who take tons of money from unsuspecting people, but I'm friends with everyone that I partner up with and feel guilty if a horse doesn't do well.To show you how unpredictable it is...I've purchased horses for 6 figures only twice, and one never made it to the track and the other isn't a world beater as of yet. My best picks were $20K and $30K...which is a lot of dough in the real world, but small stakes in racing. We sold the horse that was $20K right after buying him and the horse went on to make $500K for Jamie Lynn Siegler's father. Then Sheikh Mohammed from Dubai bought him. All the Sopranos came out for a few of his big races. Some day I'll get them to sign a winner's circle photo, but I never seem to be around on the same days. In the same sense, I picked out a horse for $25K and he never finished better than 5th for us and we sold him for $2,000. That is why I don't push anyone. I can get 10 people from this board to put up $2,000 and pay $200 a month for training, and you would have the time of your life if we had the first horse. If it was the second horse, you would never talk to me again and probably not want to go to the track again either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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