The end of racing in New England

Sadly it appears the end may be near for racing in New England. The HBPA is blocking the NYRA signal as no agreement was reached with the horsemen.  After the worst meet in racing history and no extended gambling passed last year, I didn’t think there would be much chance of racing returning.  I figured Suffolk would just fade away. But as there must be a glimmer of hope for casinos passing in ’11 as there doesn’t seem much point to having another dreadful meet devoid of any quality.  If you went to the races you were among 100 or so of your closest friends. It was very sad to see. The once proud racetrack had become the worst of America’s racetracks. Bad horses running for bad purses in front of tiny crowds. (can 100 people be called a crowd?)

Now, this posting isn’t to blame anyone.   You can hardly blame the HBPA for not accepting the tracks counter offer of $100,000 per day over 67 to 76 days.    No one can make money with that purse structure over such a short meet. Who would come to race there except local horsemen and hobby trainers? It would just mean more of the worst racing on  the planet. Still, Suffolk can’t do much either as they can’t make money in this environment. Believe me, watching the daily product is excruciatingly painful for Chip Tuttle & Sam Elliot as well, maybe more so.  They want good racing, no doubt. No one want to watch $1,000 horses compete for pennies.

The truth of the matter is this, with casinos and legislative help New England racing could again become viable.  But every time a bill seems to have a shot, something happens. Whether it is a felonious speaker squashing a bill or a Governor disagreeing with with his house and senate, something always kills the last gasps of promise.

I m not sure if negotiations will pick up again and a compromise will happen.  Without legislative help it doesn’t really matter.  Racing will end and Suffolk will become an outlet mall or some other uninteresting piece of real estate.  I hope that doesn’t happen.