Horse Racing: "Sport of Kings" is alive and well

Well, I'm back after a bit of a hiatus. Change of job, a PC, and... let's not go into all the details. Let's just get right to the racing.

Here's my high points of 2002:

Thoroughbred racing handled over $15 billion in 2002. That's impressive and important. Handle runs the sport, we survive on it.

The Breeder's Cup (World Thoroughbred Championships) was a great success. Yes, it was. It was good racing at a cold climate, an all-around success.

The industry has made strides toward uniform drug regulations. Yes, they have. The old mentality is gone and state associations are now looking at making themselves "cleaner."

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is still in existence and is actually helping the industry. True, from my columns several years back I was critical, but they have helped.

Gulfstream Park is running full cards. Yes, that is also true, but merely a sideline for personal reasons.

We have a lot to be thankful for in 2002 in the horse business. It has not been all a bed-of-roses, as we have seen the implications of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome* (MRLS) and the bad economy at the sales, but racing is in good shape. We have a lot of personalities and a bunch of star performers in the game and that makes interest.

Bobby Frankel was absolutely great in 2002 and wouldn't it have been nice to walk his shed row and see all the Graded winners. Jerry Bailey was, as usual, a great rider on some of them. All the big stars in the game had some moments this year and we all need them. Almost without exception, it was a great year for thoroughbred horse racing.

Almost to a man, racetracks got their act together in 2002. A good bit of slot legislation is in the works for some tracks, and we saw no real racetrack failures in 2002, except Sportsmans. The Meadowlands had problems, but an un-receptive government will continue to haunt them.

All in all, I'm looking for bigger and better in 2003. What I would like is a national internet gaming law that will protect local horsemen's associations, but that will come. The legislator's just have to realize that they are getting zero also from off-shore wagering. I trust our politicians to realize where they are losing income.

Meanwhile, I'm betting the new full fields at Gulfstream and having more fun than fishing for marlin in the real gulfstream. A good exacta is like hooking a big one.

* - Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS) is a syndrome that caused the loss of about 30% of the foals in Kentucky the last two years.