It's the season of giving and sharing, of goodwill, infectious carols and afflatus. It's the Season of Joy, but here's what passes for joy these days in horse racing: an unsustainable compromise that the "Baltimore Sun" calls a "Pyrrhic victory."
In Maryland, after much hand-wringing and after the politicos finally realized the state was about to lose thousands of jobs, the racetracks, the horsemen and the regulators reached an agreement this week to keep the Maryland Jockey Club, founded in 1743, and its two racetracks, Pimlico and Laurel, in business. And so the Preakness will remain in Maryland, for at least a year.
But everywhere you look, the story's virtually the same. The sport depends on balancing the interests of the racetracks, the horsemen and the fans, but there's no balance anywhere. Santa Anita opens Sunday with purses projected to be higher, but at the expense of the fans, who'll have to pay more, in the form of a higher takeout, for the privilege of betting. And so it goes: Without balance the sport's listing like a palm tree in a hurricane.
Racetrack mismanagement and government indifference are largely to blame for the problems in Maryland, where this week's agreement appears to be just a tourniquet. The racetracks are hemorrhaging cash, and so they'll receive somewhere between $5.2 million and $5.7 million from the horsemen's associations and, most of all, from a special fund earmarked for capital improvements, just so the Maryland Jockey Club can be assured of breaking even next year. How long do you think that can last?
National handle, or betting, has declined more than 7 percent from a year ago; New York Off-Track Betting has sunk to the bottom of the bureaucratic ocean, while owing the state's racetracks and horsemen millions; New Jersey racetracks are projected to lose more than $17 million next year. The sport clearly has to change. Without leadership and harnessed to government regulation, horse racing is incapable of moving quickly, but it finds itself in an economic environment that demands swift action.
Here's one of the problems: a horse shortage. The national foal crop -- that is, the number of thoroughbreds born -- is projected to be 27,800 this year, according to The Jockey Club. That's down 11.8 percent from a year ago, down 20.67 percent since 2005 and down 46.71 percent since 1986. But while the horse population has shrunk by more than 20 percent in five years, the number of races has declined by only 5.5 percent.
And still some horsemen think they're entitled to the same sort of extended seasons they enjoyed many years ago. In Maryland, for example, they'll race 146 days next year. How long do you think that can last?
In Texas, of course, the situation is equally nonsensical. Some horsemen scream for more race dates even while the racetracks go broke and the foal crop continues to plummet, down about 50 percent since 1998.
Some Texans own racetrack licenses but never have built a racetrack. You think they have any real interest in racing? Other Texans who have owned racetracks have managed them into oblivion.
And yet state law requires that only a Texan, or a partnership with a Texas majority, can own a license to operate a racetrack. Given the history of racing in Texas, wouldn't it make more sense to ban residents from owning a majority of any racetrack license?
But this is the Season of Joy, and so don't think of horse racing's problems. And on Sunday, after you've had your fill of garish clothing, useless gadgets, "It's A Wonderful Life" and holiday meals, after you've jingled your last bell, downed your last eggnog and shaken your head one more time at the Cowboys, then you should pause to remember that it's still the Season of Joy because, after all, Santa Anita's opening.
Big Lew
Santa Anita opens Sunday with a new dirt track and two major stakes races: the $250,000 Malibu for 3-year-old colts and the $250,000 La Brea for 3-year-old fillies. A new surface creates uncertainty, and it's amplified in this case by six days of rain.
"We don't know what to expect," said trainer Bob Baffert, who'll send out Alcindor in the Malibu and two horses, Always A Princess and Bonnie Blue Flag, in the La Brea, "with a new track and all the rain. But we're all in the same position."
Because of the heavy rains, the track has been closed to training for much of the week, but Baffert said his first impressions of it are positive.
Alcindor is named after the great center from UCLA who went on to become the leading scorer in NBA history. And like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, aka Lew Alcindor, Alcindor the horse is huge and athletic. Unbeaten in two races, Big Lew has, Baffert said, "star power."
Also among those entered in the Malibu are Smiling Tiger, who ran third in the Breeders' Cup Sprint; Noble's Promise, who ran fifth in the Kentucky Derby; Twirling Candy, who won the Del Mar Derby; and Thiskyhasnolimit, who's owned by Cathy and Bob Zollars of Dallas.
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