A chat with Eric Cherry, Part 2
by John Berry
In our last Mane Attraction, innovator and prominent owner and breeder Eric Cherry was kind enough to share his thoughts on where harness racing can flourish in the future with some foresight and innovative ideas to propel our sport — breeders have already taken the standardbred horse to its current heights — into the future for next generations to enjoy and participate.
Here is Part 2 of the HRU chat with Eric Cherry.
I’ve seen a lot of big races — and I mean races that have eliminations to determine the finals of, say, a $500,000 or million-dollar race — and it almost looks like some are just trying to make the final or get into the top four or five, just enough to get in the big one.
“I am glad you brought that up. I, personally, think that there should be an incentive for any horse that wins both their elimination and the final — maybe a 15 per cent or 20 per cent bonus.
“If that can’t be done, then make them non-betting events. You just can’t have any event where there is even a hint of an entity not giving 100 per cent effort for the bettor.
“Everything should be modeled for the bettor if you want this sport to survive.
“We need more action in the races — racing is supposed to be exciting and single-file racing is not very exciting.”
Well, we have the passing lane at some tracks, so why should a guy in the 2-hole pull when he knows the passing lane will open up at the top of the lane?
“For horses in the so-called “garden spot,” they would not be allowed to duck to the inside in the stretch. If they know they are going to be locked in, it will force them to move — to be more aggressive.
“Also, I don’t think a driver should get paid for finishing in fourth or fifth place. Some drivers are complacent these days in just getting a check. This will create a more competitive race… and the money they would earn from finishing in fourth or fifth place should go to the winning driver.”
With regards to the bettor and betting, I don’t think we have done enough — or very little — in the arena of the handicapper. We do have a whole menu of exotic bets, but I haven’t seen any prop bets here. I even suggested prop bets on Time Trials, which are perfect for prop bets — win, lose, time by quarters, etc.
“Oh, yes. I really believe that we are missing the boat on stuff like this.
“The first thought would be “On The Number.”
“Sports bettors are used to betting totals and we could have numbers placed at the top of the program page — that number based on the number of horses in a race. Players would get three number choices to place ‘over,’ ‘under’ or on the number. All they’d have to do is add up the numbers — head numbers — and make their choice. It’s already programmed with United Tote.
“The next might be ‘Bet Your Last Quarter.’
“Bet the official time of the last quarter of a race. There might be 11 choices, for example, with a range of :27-:29 in one-fifth-of-a-second increments… maybe even as many as 16 choices as there are many races coming a last quarter in :26.
“Anything faster than the numbered choices would be ‘under’ and anything over :29 would be the ‘over.’”
Do you think prop bets on drivers could be another?
“Yes, but probably not in the way one would think. This would not, necessarily, be predicated on the number of wins a driver has on the card.
“Every driver programmed would be included in this wager with the bets encompassing the entire card — from the first race to the last race.
“This one tallies the pari-mutuel payoffs — not the number of wins.
“A driver with the most wins may not be the winner of this bet as a long-shot or two might very well determine the winner.”
Over the last 50 years, our great breeders have improved our standardbred horses to a speed that was thought unfathomable and they have set the stage for an exciting future, if we can keep up with innovations for the bettors to match their advancements over the years.
“We just need some of our sport’s movers and shakers to get it done. We do have a future, you know.”
Expanding on your thoughts on modernizing the wagering process, there has been a lot written about Fixed Odds Wagering. What are your thoughts on this?
“Well, there has been plenty written about this but, maybe, a modified version could work somewhat better.
“Say, at 5 minutes to post time, you can lock in the first two favorites… but not any of the other entrants.
“This may be a bit tricky in the programming but the basic advantage is people get to bet horses that might be 4-5, instead of sitting on the sidelines because the last flash might drop them to 1-5, generating grunts and groans from the bettors.
“If a bettor sees 4-5 or even money on a horse, the potential profit is 80 per cent or 100 per cent. If it’s knocked down to 1-5, the profit is only 20 per cent.
“At even money or 4-5, you’re taking a huge chuck of their profit away when that last flash winds up at 1-5… and that’s not too good for the bettor or for racing.
“Yet another idea is an innovative wager that I call ‘Place Plus.’
“The idea of this is to combine place and show wagering — kind of eliminating show betting, which is a minute percentage of all the betting pools, anyhow.
“The bettor selects the horse that will finish in the top two (2). It pays the same way that a place payout does, but, if the horse finishes third, the bettor gets a voucher for another bet.
“If the horse goes off as the favorite, it pays the same way.”
You know, there is hardly a “bad bred” horse today and 1:53 and 1:54 pacers — and trotters that go in 1:56, too — are nothing but claimers these days. And not many small breeders can compete with the big farms these days and not many owners can compete with the top tier of horses — even a 2-year-old that can go 1:51 is hard pressed to get a good check. What say you to those folk?
“Well, there could be a series of races for horses with $20,000 purses with a final of $50,000, or so. It could be limited to stallions whose stud fee is under a certain limit — maybe $3,000. This would prevent the second and third level stallions from having their foals beat up on the top level.”
That is the reason that many small breeders have exited the business.
“Exactly. Many ‘backyard breeders’ have left the business because they cannot compete against the top tier of breeders and their offspring.
“Without encouraging people to breed some sort of stakes horses is where we are losing the overnight horses of the future… and, without those overnight horses, we will lose races and field sizes for those races.
“That leads to more decrease in handle and less on the way of larger payoffs.”
This industry considers you a major owner/breeder and you’re up against the big boys in the business. It seems the odds of winning a big race are pretty long.
“That’s correct. My suggestion for the largest stakes events for 2-year-olds allow an owner multiple horses for one slot.
“As of now, many larger owners do not pay to enter their 2-year-olds.
“As an example, if a race has a purse of $500,000 and all the payments add up to $2,500, you allow an owner to add up to four additional horses at $500 each, but can only start one of them.
“Currently, I do not keep horses eligible to big races for the 2-year-olds. Since we have about 60 of them so it is not economically feasible for me to keep them eligible simply because I don’t know their ability to compete at the top level yet.”
So, how do you — and our entire industry — overcome this situation?
“Implement a ‘B’ season — a second season that would run from July 1 through the end of the year. They would have their own stakes races.
“This would help mares that foal very late or are barren when the season closed, not to miss another year, especially if they do embryo transplant and then can breed again for the next season.
“In this way, mares would be able to have multiple foals per season by different stallions utilizing embryo transplant.”
This would give more stallions opportunities, as well.
“Yes, and it would also help diversify the genetic pool at the same time, increasing crop size.”
Anything else?
“Yes. Our sport is special and it should look special to those watching.
“We should have some sort of dress code to go into the winner’s circle — maybe an official track shirt for all caretakers and they should look the part when going into the ceremonial winner’s circle.
“I could go on and on… but this is a start that I hope gets some serious attention.”
May The Horse Be With You!
