by Trey Nosrac

A fledgling business startup named The Vapes of Wrath recently opened in a desolate strip mall less than a mile from my house, the sixth business to occupy these premises in the last 15 years.

Each previous business, a tanning salon (Tantastic), a baseball card shop (Cardofile Collectibles), a tattoo parlor (Inkfinity Studio), a used clothing boutique (The Retro Rack), and a pizza restaurant (Crusties), began with high hopes.

Each time I noticed a new sign above the doorway, I imagined a new occupant with a new dream setting up shop in the building and smiled at the enterprising nature of the new owners. Then, my thoughts were a sobering wish for good luck on your difficult road ahead. Let us salute them all. These new owners may have temporarily failed but are in the game, not on the sidelines. We should always salute folks chasing dreams.

Participants in harness racing, gamblers, drivers, owners, or breeders have much in common with those now defunct businesses, a group of people who come wired with a need to try something against the odds, striving to find a way to reach a distant goal.

A short definition of an entrepreneurial personality is a dreamer who acts. They are people who put vision into practice, who tend to be action-oriented, believe they can deftly navigate obstacles, and love opportunities and challenges. I would add another adjective to entrepreneurs and potential racing converts – rebellion. Don’t we all buy, claim, or raise a young horse with a little chip on our shoulders? We silently say to ourselves, watch me do the impossible, or, this horse didn’t work out, but I will do better with the next one.

When we imagine the future of our sport, folks with this entrepreneurial gene and confidence may be valuable assets and our most likely targets for recruitment. The flip side of this theory is that we should not use time or resources to appeal to risk-averse people.

Suggesting that a novice observes a few races and falls in love with our sport will rarely get traction. Framing our sport as a unique business challenge has possibilities. Can you take X amount of money to do Y and, within Z years, turn a profit, is a siren song that calls to millions of people in thousands of fields. In gambling, ownership, or the breeding business in our sport, the personality of the potential player is of utmost importance.

Ask yourself why you play this game. It does not matter if this is your first dance around the racetrack or if you have participated for 50 years. For many of us, the answer that spurred us into action and keeps us in the game is a burning need to prove we can do it. We all have a bit of “hold my beer and watch me” when we hear statements like these:

“Very few shrewd gamblers can turn a profit gambling on harness horse racing. Turning a profit may be impossible.”

“Not many people could purchase a stable of five yearlings, recruit owners and trainers, race the horses, and turn a profit.”

“Unless you are a commercial breeding farm and know people in the business, no backyard breeder can raise and consign a yearling sales topper.”

“The chances of a Hambletonian winner purchased for under $20,000 is science fiction.”

Introducing our sport using clear, measurable challenges might get traction because the words “You can’t do that” will set a specific type of person on fire. Money is not the end goal. It is merely a measurement. Satisfaction is doing something nobody believes can be done.

IT AIN’T THE GOLD

It ain’t the gold

That keeps you on the highway in the cold.

It ain’t the gold

That keeps your wheels a-turning when you’re old.

It’s not the end, it’s the beginning,

Here’s to Errol Flynning, mmmm,

It is the winning.

It ain’t the gold

It ain’t the fame

That keeps you on the highway in the rain.

It ain’t the fame

That keeps the warhorse playing in the game.

It’s not the end, it’s the beginning,

Not the fall, it’s the pinning,

It is the winning.

It ain’t the gold