With American Pharaoh’s spectacular claim of the Triple Crown last weekend, thoroughbred racing diehards breathed a sigh of relief. But will the win be enough to save the “Sport of Kings” and its legacy, which has been on the down and out for years?
I asked myself the same question around this time last year, when California Chrome, a charismatic horse with controversial Breathe Right strips, teased us by winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness but fell short at the Belmont Stakes. My conclusion then was that even if California Chrome had won all three, the Triple Crown would not have been a sufficient catalyst for Americans to once again embrace thoroughbred racing.
Attending and betting on horse racing events lost its nostalgia long ago, and changing demographics and new entertainment options have limited equestrian sports, mostly, to a small realm of elites and to people who grew up on horse farms. New types of wagering have given punters plenty of other venues in which to try their luck, while casino owners have realized that a slot machine has much lower capital and maintenance costs than a stable of horses and a racetrack.
This year, I have shifted my stance slightly. Now that we have a Triple Crown winner for the first time during my life, I am more optimistic that Americans indeed still see horse racing as important in their culture.
This position is qualified: drastic measures must be undertaken to clean up the public perception of the industry. Poor oversight, inhumane treatment by trainers and breeders, and rampant doping that would put Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong to shame, have all contributed to the sport’s problematic image.
Freak injuries to premier racehorses, such as Barbaro, who shattered his leg in the 2006 Preakness, and Eight Belles, who was euthanized after collapsing after the 2008 Kentucky Derby, are ugly sights that haunt the memories of spectators. One does not need to be a card-carrying PETA member to object to abusive treatment of horses.
I offer two possible, though non-comprehensive, solutions to these problems. Many of these issues would resolve themselves if greater publicity and attention were paid to what happens behind the scenes in the horse racing business. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously remarked, sunlight can be the most powerful of disinfectants. People always move quickly to clean up their acts when they know they are being observed.
The obvious problem here is that there is not sufficient interest from the public or the authorities to provide a high level of observation. The average American probably can name, at best, two out of the three races that compose the Triple Crown, thinks that Secretariat was the most recent Triple Crown winner before last weekend (it was actually Affirmed), and can offer nothing else of any substance about the sport of horse racing, other than they’ve not been to a race in decades, if ever.
Clearly, despite numerous track closings, an enormous supply glut still exists in the world of horse racing, with more than 100 racetracks in operation across the U.S., and four of every five states currently offering pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing.
While state governments may be reluctant to lose racetracks because of the revenues they provide, albeit in shrinking amounts, further rationalization in the number of rarely attended and poorly maintained facilities is desperately needed. Reducing the number of races held would assist in rebranding horse racing as the desirable product it was in its heyday.
Attempts to improve the business model of slumping racetracks by creating racinos with slot machines, or incorporating sports betting, as New Jersey’s Monmouth Park is desperately attempting, have simply diluted the value of these establishments. Instead of heirlooms of a majestic tradition, these venues are now widely seen as seedy slot parlors.
Clearly, the economics behind this new business model, given the sagging consumer demand for horse racing, are inherently unfavorable. The costs of maintaining a track, and a stable of horses, plus regulations such as drug testing, are enormous and are difficult to sustain, regardless of what other frills or attractions may be co-located.
Still, America remains infatuated by horse racing for three weeks each year. Last weekend’s Belmont race had its third-highest television rating ever. The prestige of the sport is timeless. Horse racing just needs a massive makeover to restore its premium image
