Was it the decision not to broadcast races on network TV, the spread of state lotteries and Indian casinos, endless industry infighting, changes in demographics, or even the relaxation of clubhouse dress codes as this writer suggested?

Regardless, the most pressing question is whether or not racing can ever recover?  I believe it can, but it requires total commitment to the core product of horse racing.

Instead of focusing on horse racing, in the sprirt of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” tracks are pursuing slot machines with reckless abandon.  And why not? They provide a steady stream of revenue, and for many tracks, a lifeline.

But the “racino” revolution caused a crack cocaine-like epidemic within the industry.  Profits haven’t created more racing fans and bettors, only more racinos.

While tracks spent millions building slick casinos, horseplayers were relegated to crowding around faded TVs in a neglected corner of the track to bet the races.  Tracks simply replaced one group of gambling degenerates with another, because they’re all the same, right?

Wrong.  The Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA) membership poll indicates their supporters are generally well-educated and, you might assume, have high incomes as well.  I’d wager your average horseplayer represents a more appealing customer than the average slots player.  A target market with expectations for quality, customer service, and unlikely to frequent tacky slots parlors or “all can-eat” buffets for that matter.

However, racinos are the new reality.  In most cases, slots machines & poker rooms are the difference between a race track’s profitability or bankruptcy.  And as more and more states legalize slots, it’s spawned an arms race of sorts.  For instance, fearing slots in neighboring Maryland, West Virginia approved table games and Delaware approved sports betting.

Where does it end?  Perhaps with states legalizing every possible casino game imaginable.  For state politicians facing overwhelming state budget deficits, raising money through legalized gambling is more palatable than raising taxes or cutting services.

Given this situation, you must wonder if anyone in the horse racing industry truly believes in its own product?  Yet for horse racing to become a viable and vibrant sport again, re-focusing on the core product is essential.

Horse racing is a great game, I believe the greatest.  But it’s not the easiest for newcomers to appreciate, or even understand at first.  In order to grow, racing must become more customer-friendly and accessible.

However, with a neglectful industry in disarray, horse racing is adrift. Those most likely to still believe in horse racing’s product–the horseplayers themselves–are the best qualified to spark its revitalization.

To that end, I’m creating WirePlayers.com - a boutique, customer-focused ADW site that will feature a first class internet wagering platform. Admittedly this is only a small step, but I hope one that’s in the right direction.  While I can’t guarantee success, I can say with certainty that WirePlayers.com is betting on horse racing.  Is anyone else?

Take a look at referee Tim Donaghy, who made thousands of dollars betting NBA games and alledged that league officials intentionally influenced the outcome of games.  He not only made money on games he officiated, but on games he wasn’t involved in because he knew how they’d be “called.”  By “called” he meant how a referee’s grudge against certain players would influence foul calls.

Donaghy (and the mob) profited as referees waged secret vendettas against players and teams.  He correctly won a phenomenal 75-80% of the time against the spread in games in which he wasn’t involved.

The real bombshell from Donaghy is that league officials influenced playoff games by instructing referees to favor marquee, big market teams over smaller market teams (e.g., Kings vs. Lakers in 2002 playoffs). When teams took commanding leads (say 3-0), referees also took steps to make playoff series last six or seven games.

If players were involved in fixing games, there’d be a federal investigation.  But instead of players betting a few thousand bucks, the league apparently manipulated the outcome of games to make millions.

Donaghy’s accusations strike at the heart of the NBA’s credibility and call into question how fairly other sports are officiated as well.

This may explain why professional leagues are run like Stalinist dictatorships in which owners, players, and coaches are punished for criticizing officials.  It makes you wonder if a “racing Czar” is really such a great idea for horse racing.

College football is another sham.  The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system favors major conferences (e.g., SEC, Big 12, PAC-10, etc.) over smaller conferences for the national title, and more importantly, millions of dollars in TV and sponsorship revenue.

This year, five teams went undefeated: Alabama, Texas, Cincinnatti, TCU, and Boise State.  To no one’s surprise, Alabama (SEC) and Texas (Big 12) are in the BCS title game while TCU (non-BCS Mountain West Conference) and Boise State (non-BCS Western Athletic Conference) play each other in a glorified exhibition?  This is particularly egregious for a TCU team that dominated their competition all year.

After it’s all said and done, horse racing could be the only honest sport in America.

There’s no pretense that gambling is woven into the very fabric of horse racing.  There’s honesty in the fact that wagering is ever present and financially undergirds the entire sport.

Racing isn’t perfect, but its dirty laundry is out for all to see: lenient medication rules and lax enforcement; outdated tote infrastructure; and industry infighting and chaos.  These issues hinder the sport’s credibility as proven in the latest NTRA poll.

During this period of relative mainstream anonymity racing should enact reforms to shore up the sport’s credibility.  This will pay dividends down the road and position racing for a resurgence.

Blogger Amateurcapper provided a link to some rules of the Japanese Racing Association.  Judging by the 100,000 people at the Japan Cup, they must be doing something right.  Shouldn’t US racing aspire to similar standards of integrity?

Some JRA measures may be over-the-top, but at least integrity is taken seriously.  And if you expect the public to collectively wager billions of dollars, gaining and maintaining public trust is vital.

Given the sullied sports landscape, horse racing has a chance to become the only honest sport in America.  Now wouldn’t that be ironic.

“We are the ones we have been waiting for” – it gets to the heart of something that’s been bugging me about the state of racing, and the racing industry, for a long while now.  There are millions of racing fans and horseplayers out there who are die-hard followers of the sport.  And most of them are pissed (it’s true, read about it here) about the sport’s current state of affairs.  However, the simple fact they haven’t completely abandoned the sport altogether demonstrates how great the sport is and their dedication.  This is a powerful resource that should not be underestimated.  Furthermore, the “racing industry” tends to take horseplayers for granted and lump them into a generic category of habitual gamblers.  This is particularly insulting as horseplayers are on average more intelligent, sophisticated, and passionate than your everyday casino denizen (especially compared to slots players).

Furthermore, there’s been endlesss discussion, hand-wringing, blog-posting, meetings, symposiums, summits, and so on and so forth about what is going wrong in thoroughbred racing.  Everybody and their mother knows things are bad and change is needed, the only point of contention is where to start first: the inconsistent medication rules or the lax enforcement?  The excessive takeout or the poor customer service?  The ineffective marketing or the need to do better PR?  And don’t even get me started on industry fragmentation and infighting (“ADW signal wars” anyone?).  Not to mention its less than stellar record on support for thoroughbred retirement and backstretch workers, and the industry’s apathy toward the issue of equine slaughter (except Suffolk Downs!) are not helping its PR issues.  The list of problems goes on and on.  Everyone wants to figure out who is going to clean this mess up?  Some have called for federal intervention and/or the establishment of some form of “racing czar,” however,  this may lead to a case of “be careful what you wish for.”

Instead we have to quit sitting on our hands waiting for someone else to come along and solve these problems.  The people and organizations that are in charge, whether they have good intentions or bad, whether they are competetent or incompetent, are only going to keep doing what they’ve always done.  And what they have always done is to protect their turf and pursue their own self-interests to the detriment of the sport.  We are the ones who must drive change.  It’s up to us to make the things better.  The efforts of HANA to create a grassroots organization to engage the industry and lobby on behalf of horseplayers is a great example.  I believe we can take it to the next level.

Wise words indeed.  In fact, the elders’ philosophy aligns closely with the objective of this site - self-empowerment, interaction, participation, cooperation.  As everyday brings another bit of bad news, it’s finally time to stop waiting around for someone or something to “save” racing.  It’s time to act.