Riordan on Trump and Thomson

After reading Joe Thomson’s salient observation about the effects of Heads of State on yearling prices (full story here), and noticing that five of the top 10 prices at Fasig Tipton were due to either Canadian or Swedish bidding, I think we would be remiss not to give a nice shout out to Justin Trudeau and Stefan Löfven.

— Jerry Riordan / Halmstad, Sweden

Shouldn’t on-air handicappers bet the tickets they tout?

I started a wonderful discussion on Twitter, when an on air handicapper revealed to me he does not actually put his money on his suggestions. I found that odd. If you are suggesting listeners play from $72-$360 on a Pick 5 shouldn’t you at least bet a 20 cent ticket? Some of the big names in harness racing freely admitted they do bet on their suggestions on these exotics. At least, the fact should be clearly stated that the on air announcer is not betting his suggestion. It’s a lot easier to whack the ALL button on a “make believe” ticket then a real one. In reality, I find it doubtful that a big bettor models his exotics on what an on air announcer thinks. And a regular bettor rarely bets over $10 on an exotic wager. Most bettors would go broke early by risking large amounts in the first race pick 5.

— Al Gatto / Roselle Park, NJ

Is International purse better served elsewhere?

I totally commend the effort in putting together an international field of trotters that went for $1 million. Congratulations to Italy for winning impressively. That being said, if you were given $1 million to promote, advance or support our sport is that where you would have spent it? I do not object that a race of this size is a well-kept secret outside our industry. My main concern is that any money won by Europeans is basically taken out of the North American racing economy. This is very different than when horses are purchased from other countries. In those cases, we are getting goods for our money. I know it sounds very selfish and self-serving to air this analysis. But our industry needs all of economic stimulus it can get. It is not just the million dollars, less whatever is won and remains in North America. It is the velocity of money that would get spent many times and have a multiplying affect domestically. The result is essentially the same as when there is a dispersal, as one that is about to happen in Harrisburg with White Birch Farm, where the proceeds are removed forever.

Again, I commend the intentions and effort involved in putting on this event successfully, but I would have rather seen those funds put into the overnight purse account or any other type of invitationals or stake races so that those funds would be recycled in our industry over and over again.

— Eric Cherry / Boca Raton, FL