Is horse racing a dying sport?

Question

Some tracks are having to add slots to support themselves.

It's really sad because I would love to work in the racing industry. What is your opinion?

Answer 1

I don't think it is dying.  But I think that it is a very expensive sport so there aren't a whole bunch of people into it.  I mean horse racing is pretty big in my family so it doesn't seem to be dying to me.  But it doesn't seem as big as it used to be.

Answer 2

I really do not think so.  I do believe that more tracks need to involve the family.  During the summer meet,  at Lone Star Park in Texas, there are always lots of families out on the lawn. It is great to see.

Answer 3

The problem with racing in this country is the way it's marketed. For example, Keeneland has a couple of meets and has a Sunday morning workout event where you watch the horses work and eat breakfast - it's toted as something for the family. That just sucks as a family idea, what kid wants to watch a few horses at 7am in the cold and then eat crusty old scrambled eggs? If that's the best that one of the top tracks can do to attract people, it's very sad.

In England, courses like Newmarket have evening racing every Friday throughout the summer and after the last race at 9pm, they have a band playing - we saw Belinda Carlisle, Bjorn Again (ABBA tribute band - was a blast, crowd went crazy) and a few others. Fantastic nights, everyone has a great time and most people there have no interest in racing, they go for the social aspect but the track is making money. Then after the band has finished, there are coaches waiting to take you into town for free and they drop you off at a nightclub so you can drink at the races and not have to worry about driving. They also have fair rides. One course Newton Abbot has a go-cart track in the center of it.

Racing over here needs something to appeal to families as a day out that doesn't involve just betting, something that gets people to come out and want to come back.  Even dog racing in England is marketed for families.

I don't think racing is a dying sport. Last week, Darley shelled out $10.4 million for a broodmare, the highest price ever and the daily averages at Keeneland were bucking the trend for the economic climate but I think for the small time owner and trainer that runs at the little tracks, life is going to get very hard. It's sad but a fact none the less.

Answer 4

I have seen it with my very own eyes here in NJ. Once they opened the casinos in Atlantic City; horse racing took a huge hit in the state; Atlantic City racecourse has gone under as well as Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, after they rebuilt it into a beautiful track and facility; the Meadowlands has very small fields and some breeders are selling their farms for economic reasons to developers. Very very sad for those who love the sport of kings.

:(

Answer 5

Yes unfortunately it is. It a costly sport, The sport of Kings..... I have personally been involved with rescue of retirees (OTTB) Off Track Thoroughbreds for many years. It's sad to say but without gambling to help the tracks i see the smaller tracks shutting down. :(

Answer 6

It's been dying for like the last 50 years.

As late as the 1950's, horse racing was the #2 sport in the US, behind baseball and ahead of boxing.

I think that there's been a bit of a turn back upwards in the last few years as gambling has become more mainstream (thanks largely to the poker fad).

The horse racing is doing more to hurt itself however, with an overabundance of drugs (legal and illegal) in horses, breeding with too much emphasis on precociousness (speed at an early age), and early retirement of star racehorses.

Answer 7

The sport needs help.  It has to  attract a younger crowd.  Racetracks that add casino games and finer dining can attract younger crowds to not only bet on the races but go to the track as a multiple amusement facility.

regards,

Mark

Answer 8

i feel if it takes slots to keep the game going..then put in the slots...

horseracing will survive!!!!!!

Answer 9

im from dubai and its like the horse racing capital of the world

and is taking huge steps to making horse racing popular again.

if every country takes intrest i think it can be.

if you wanna work in horse racing dubai is the place to be. for sure

Answer 10

the ans is ......

depends on who ans your ques. horse racing, like everything else, has it's pro's, and con's. Some people believed the end was there during the great depression, through, the advent of off - track betting, now the casinos. Doesn't that tell you something? Maybe some of the smaller tracks, that were struggling, any way, may have a hard time, and fall. I believe there will always be a following of race horses. The main reason, for the tracks to get  into the gaming area, is they are so taxed. Check it out, you won't beleive how much money is poured into state, and fed coffers.