Reasons for the importance of the horse racing industry
Sports that make use of animals for competitive purposes have been regarded warily by the general public. The foremost targets of such suspicion and in many cases, criticism have been sports like horse racing and greyhound racing. The common perception holds
these industries guilty of exploiting the animals for purposes of financial gain and amusement.
While some of the accusations in this regard are true, that is not the complete picture. There is another side to the story as well which should be considered without prejudice. This is the story that we are going to tell and it is a tale of how the horse
racing industry helps the communities it is associated with.
Ranging from small towns to large communities, the horse racing industry has a big role to play in their economies. Apart from creating jobs that are directly linked with the industry, horse racing also boosts the employment level indirectly.
Direct jobs provide livelihood to trainers, horse-racers, track-keepers, veterinarians, grooms, saddlers, harness makers and many more. Other than that, the horse racing industry also gives rise to businesses such as restaurants and bars, hotels, grocery
stores and feed stores to name a few.
So if someone talks about taking the horse racing industry out of the equation, they are also looking at shrinking and often eliminating the revenues of the businesses it affects indirectly. Of course, the direct jobs will disappear completely.
This phenomenon can be clearly illustrated by taking the example of a small town named Evanston, Wyoming. The town supports a small population of 11,329 individuals. Wyoming Downs was once a popular place for the people of Evanston to hang out every five
weeks in a year. However, the locals have been deprived of this opportunity because the race track has not been operational for the past year.
When the track was conducting live horse racing, several small and medium enterprises boomed. There was a significant increase in the revenues of the local hotels, gas stations, recreational vehicle parks and various other businesses. As gambling is inextricably
linked with the horse racing industry, Wyoming Downs attracted crowds of bettors who invested huge sums on the races. With Wyoming Downs no longer functional, all the gambling has also dried up.
Most people strongly voice their opinions about the ill effects gambling has on a community. However, the fact of the matter is that gambling contributes towards the economic development of a community. All the money that is bet is taxed. Therefore, a significant
portion of the cash ends up in community support projects like education and building of infrastructure etcetera. Other than that, betting provides a cyclic mechanism through which a part of the betting money returns back to the purses. This allows the horsemen
to keep on racing their horses in the future.
Wyoming presents a microscopic image of the sorry state of affairs the entire American horse racing industry is in. Race tracks all over the country are closing down because they do not have the finances to keep them up and running. This is making the rate
of unemployment in the country rise. The tracks that are running are barely able to do so. All the bad media coverage and the exaggerated stories told by animal rights groups are contributing to the problems for racetracks.
What needs to be done is to work collaboratively in order to revive the horse racing industry in such a way that it is in a position to propel the economy, while eliminating the problems associated with it.
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