Was there a time when you did see young faces at horse races? I am asking because I have never been to a horse race and I have no idea if young people are interested.

 

It seems to me that it is an event more older people would enjoy as a source of entertainment than young people. The reason I say this is that placing money on a horse race strikes me as something people do who have more discretionary funds available. It takes some time to accumulate discretionary funds, hence fewer young people with funds to spare on the races.

 

I am an older person, but I am way too cheap to enjoy losing money on a game of chance. I do not find that entertaining at all. That is just my personal preference.

 

On a side note, I was in Ann Arbor, MI yesterday and was surprised as heck to see some folks setting up for a Derby Party at a small university. They had a big tent set up, with what looked like an amply supplied bar, and valet parking with well-dressed valets. There is more interest in the Derby than I expected.

 

When I was in my 20’s and 30’s I would go to Keeneland once or twice a year and that was about it. After raising my kids and becoming empty nesters, we started going more regularly, and have made a point to travel to see different tracks. It is something we enjoy.

 

I will say Keeneland has a lot of young faces, but Turfway Park is predominately older folks. Of course, Turfway Park is a dump. Hopefully Hard Rock will take an interest in fixing it up. Jack Casino certainly didn’t.

I contend that the events, yesterday, will increase the interest in horse racing. Nothing stirs up curiosity more than a good controversy.

Horse racing is irrelevant to the general public 362 days a year. Sometimes more.

 

As are most sports.

 

In the US alone their are +2 million jobs provided by the racing industry, one might find it interesting to know, and the taxes generated are in the teens of billions. So while it might be irrelevant to some, it is relevant as a piece of our economic makeup and in some areas, the cultural makeup.

 

Thoroughbred racing is growing dramatically in Japan as was shown in a special clip during the Derby broadcast about the Japanese entrant. It is already quite large in the UK and Australia.

I contend that the events, yesterday, will increase the interest in horse racing. Nothing stirs up curiosity more than a good controversy.

 

I haven't see the minute-by-minute results, but this was apparently the highest-rated Derby since 1991. Have to imagine people tuning in during that agonizing 15 minutes of Inquiry review was a big part of that.

0.0000001%

 

You should check out some statistics. As I already replied there are over 2,000,000 people employed in the industry in the US. Presuming they care about the industry in which they work that is .06%, and the dollars generated by the industry even more significantly.

As are most sports.

 

Not true at all. NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, UCL etc. are all more popular year round than horse racing has ever and will ever be.

Not true at all. NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, UCL etc. are all more popular year round than horse racing has ever and will ever be.

 

Maybe in your world and in the modern world of TV. Once, horse racing and boxing were two of the most followed sports along with baseball.

Not true at all. NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, UCL etc. are all more popular year round than horse racing has ever and will ever be.

I’d say any major pro sports league has more year round interest than horse racing. I’d add NHL, UFC, and PGA to that list as well. That doesn’t even include college sports. You would have to put horse racing below college football, basketball, and women’s basketball. The derby has its day, but the other 364 days on the calendar I’m not sure horse racing cracks the top 12 most popular sports in America.

Don’t forget the Dustin Johnson penalty in the PGA championship a few years back.

I’d say any major pro sports league has more year round interest than horse racing. I’d add NHL, UFC, and PGA to that list as well. That doesn’t even include college sports. You would have to put horse racing below college football, basketball, and women’s basketball. The derby has its day, but the other 364 days on the calendar I’m not sure horse racing cracks the top 12 most popular sports in America.

 

I would doubt it does. My dissent for the other post was the "ever" part. The growth of most of these other sports has been post WWII as well as in the coincident growth in televised sports.

I would doubt it does. My dissent for the other post was the "ever" part. The growth of most of these other sports has been post WWII as well as in the coincident growth in televised sports.

 

Horse racing has never been more popular than any of those other sports mentioned currently are and it's because of technology. If you're arguing pre-1945, you'll have an even harder time convincing someone that an event was the biggest to ever happen in all of sports.

Horse racing has never been more popular than any of those other sports mentioned currently are and it's because of technology. If you're arguing pre-1945, you'll have an even harder time convincing someone that an event was the biggest to ever happen in all of sports.

 

Horse racing was bigger than most of those pre-1945, eg. the NBA. That was my point.

Attaching a picture that clearly shows Maximum Security coming over and impeding War of Will almost causing him to go down.

I honestly thought that because of the magnitude of the DQ, and that Maximum Security was the best horse on the sloppy track in this race, that they would make it official and give Luis Saez "days" for a careless ride, despite the fact that it probably wasn't his fault. That would have appeased the masses.

I feel bad for the connections. Gary and Mary West are longtime supporters of the sport.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]68391[/ATTACH]

 

The head of War of Will is shown to the left of Saez's head, and his hindquarters are shown to the right side of Maximum Security. There is a good chance Saez wasn't even aware of what was going on behind him.

 

By rule the stewards made the right call.

Where do you draw the line? If there is no DQ then the Derby becomes the wild, wild, west where anything goes, and then someday a massive spill takes place and someone gets seriously hurt, or worse.

.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words. I don't know how you can see this picture and not think the stewards made the right call.

Let me throw one out of the blue. By no means the biggest but may have had the biggest impact to it's sport: How about the kid that won and then got DQ'd for cheating at the Soapbox Derby back in 1973? Used magnets to give his car a head start on the field. The Soapbox Derby in Akron used to get crowds of tens of thousands and made national news every year. Back then, it was a big deal. It had lost Chevy as a sponsor the year before and this helped quicken the demise of the event. I think it's now on it's way back a little but it will never get back to where it once was.