Industry needs to act on Nancy Takter’s open letter

Nancy Takter’s recent letter about the future of harness racing deserves more than a few days of discussion and agreement. It deserves action.

I am a relatively new owner in harness racing and a partner with Frank Calabrese at Chain Lightning Stables LLC. I came into this sport for many of the reasons Nancy describes. I didn’t get involved because I saw racehorses as another investment. I got involved because of the competition, the horses and the possibility — however remote — of someday being associated with a truly special one.

That is the dream Nancy is talking about, and I can tell you from the perspective of a newer owner: it is real.

So are the problems she identifies. I won’t re-litigate her whole argument — everyday racing built as a wagering product, coordinated post times, major events protected and promoted as showcases for the sport. She’s right about all of it. I’d rather use this space to push one point further and add one of my own.

Is more racing actually better racing?

If too many races spread our horses across too many tracks, create short fields, dilute wagering pools and exhaust the people who make this sport possible, then the answer isn’t to squeeze in another card.

The answer may be fewer, better races — with fuller fields, stronger pools and a product worth watching.

Right now, tracks compete with each other for the same horses and the same bettors instead of growing the pie together. We need to stop thinking of every racetrack as a separate product and start thinking of harness racing itself as the product.

If the overall sport keeps shrinking, everyone eventually ends up with a bigger share of something worth less. That’s what has been happening.

The ownership experience is the product we keep underselling.

The industry talks about economics — purses, breeding incentives, handle. Those matter.

But as a newer owner, what struck me is how much the excitement matters, and how little we sell it. It’s easy to take that for granted if you’ve been in the sport for decades. But for everyone who hasn’t experienced it yet, that’s the hook.

The winner’s circle. Bringing friends to watch your horse race. Following a yearling as it develops and wondering if it might become something special.

Most people capable of investing significant money in this sport aren’t looking for another investment — they already have plenty of those. They came here for something money doesn’t usually buy: a shot at owning something great.

That’s the dream, and we’ve largely stopped selling it.

Major event days — the Hambletonian, Meadowlands Pace, Little Brown Jug, North America Cup, Breeders Crown and our other premier events — are where that selling has to happen.

Tell the stories. Show the owners, trainers, drivers and caretakers. Build the rivalries. Let people see the emotion of an owner watching a horse turn for home. Show what winning means to the people who have invested their money, time and emotion in these horses.

That’s how you turn spectators into fans, and eventually some of those fans into owners, or a part of the sport.

None of this is easy, but it has to start somewhere.

Harness racing is fragmented — tracks, horsemen’s associations, breeders, owners, regulators and wagering companies all have legitimate and sometimes competing interests.

But there has to be a point where we recognize that our common interest is greater than any one participant’s interest.

So here’s a concrete ask:

Bring together a small group of racetrack executives, horsemen, owners, breeders, wagering experts and people from outside the traditional harness racing establishment who understand marketing, technology and how to attract new customers.

Give them a mandate to develop an actual plan for coordinating racing schedules, improving the wagering experience and creating a national calendar of premier events.

Then test it.

Pick several racing jurisdictions. Coordinate their post times. Create a common digital presentation. Select several major weekends, protect them and promote them aggressively. Measure handle, attendance, digital engagement and owner participation.

If it works, expand it. If parts of it don’t work, change them and try again.

We don’t have to redesign the entire sport overnight.

But we do have to start.

Nancy ended her letter by saying that what harness racing is missing isn’t effort — it is coordination, presentation and fun.

I agree.

We have magnificent horses, talented horsepeople, passionate owners, great racetracks and more than a century of history. There is still something magical about standing along the rail and watching a standardbred you own turn for home.

I know, because I’m one of the newer owners who discovered it.

Our challenge now is making sure more people discover it too.

Gerry Parker Chain Lightning Stables LLC

Hambletonian sadness

The Thursday (Aug. 13), news that the Hambo was being moved to Indiana was both saddening and angering. I’ve loved the sport since my dad took me to the races at Yonkers as a little kid way before the advent of slot machines, racinos, and Historical Horse Racing gimmicks. Year after year, the sport figures out dumber and dumber ways to commit suicide. The Meadowlands, even in its current state, still out-handles other tracks by a ton. Hoosier has bucked the trend of declining handle, but their pools are still paltry compared to The Meadowlands.

The worst part to me is everyone is to blame, except the folks in Indiana. As Mr. Brown noted, they wanted the race and got everyone from horsemen to government to tourism behind the push. That being said, the survival of The Meadowlands is being horribly thrown aside. Why a compromise couldn’t be reached for a year to give the long shot casino ballot a shot is beyond me? Now, I can’t imagine any way the ballot succeeds. It was already a long shot, especially given Mr. Gural was so sure it would lose this year, it was pushed to next year. Whether you like or dislike Mr. Gural, it won’t matter when he decides to finally shutter the track. Unfortunately, that’s where my anger lies with him. His public threat, whether real or designed to force monetary aide (i.e., his operating costs, and losses) started the exodus of the Hambo. By stating that he’s on the precipice of closing he forced the initial opening of the bidding. Why the Hambo Society and Gural couldn’t try to resolve their issues behind the scenes and not in public totally baffles me. It’s made both parties look bad.

I never thought that years ago that living on the East Coast would be where harness dies. Even when Michigan and Illinois had decent racing everyone felt moving east was the move to the big time. Once The Meadowlands officially closes (IMO, it will happen earliest this year latest end of next) all that will remain are slot tracks with no pools, no handle, and no attendance, simply biding time on life support until the state governments decide to redirect money from a dying industry to their own pet projects.

Christopher Fenty / Westchester, NY