Published:
March 24, 2009 09:59 am EDT
In advance of next month's Standardbred Wagering Conference in Windsor, Ont., Trot Radio takes a closer look at the surprising fact that three months into 2009 wagering on Canadian harness racing is up from this point one year ago
.
Host Norm Borg discusses wagering with Woodbine Entertainment's Jamie Martin and Great Canadian Gaming's Chris Roberts.
Episode 7 - Harness Handle Is...Up?
Running Time: 13:15
Audio Format: MP3 audio
Host: Norm Borg
Guests:
- Jamie Martin, Senior Vice-President, Racing, Woodbine Entertainment Group
- Chris Roberts, Director, Racing Operations Ontario, Great Canadian Gaming Corp.
Tags
gentlemen, wonderful
gentlemen,
wonderful discourse indeed...
very excited to hear jamie, chris and norm excited about the start so far this year..
i'd love to do some work for you harness guys in Toronto's GTA, 'guerilla-style' no doubt, where I work in the radio industry fulltime,,,,Im a big fan of the harness game, and dont mind playing once or twice a week,,,both at Champions in the city, or on-line....
((have hosted gambling show on air in the not too distant past too, complete with open line and stretch drive calls, pick the winner, win a prize stuff too, along with the usual array of pro sports, lines odds, etc..)
The harness game is a straight forward game, with action that rivals anything the thoroughbred side has....AND THE FACT, that this country allows us in with 20 cent win fours and superfectas,,,AND SHOULD LET US PLAY 50 CENT TRIS TOO., makes lots of sense,,,,though Im not sure all the Champions' players I run into know about it, or care enough to this point to try it.
When Im at Champions, in the city (Warden/Steeles, among other locations) I cant tell you how many Chinese might play if they had more of a clue about it...and yes I know the Asian and Carribean ties to thoroughbred racing are heavy and tough to break,,though there is defginitely some crossover for these hardcore gamblers)
But the biggest thing, and I know you'd all agree is the LOST GENERATION (or TWO) that the horse game (and the standardbred game) has not been able to corral.....you know, the 20's and 30's who walk out of variety stores with mittfuls of pro line hockey and football and soccer action night after night, week after week, but wouldnt take a chance on a horse race, something they know nothing about, if you paid 'em.....AHHH, here's a wacky concept,,why not PAY them to play one night,,,either in person or on line....and to do that, well, exchange losing proline ticket for betting voucher (OR is that against the law, and it might just be).
..or,with the power of FACEBOOK (and twitter these days), why not form gambling groups ('seeded' with lots of horsetalk),,,and to be frank, in these much tougher times, you might just find lots of people out there willing to take some 'orignal'chances.,if they knew such a game existed...
..and the fact you have LEGALIZED ON-LINE HORSE BETTING is the number one reason you guys should really be firing up momentum...I DONT HAVE TO LEAVE MY HOUSE TO PLAY,,,hell,I could play from work, if gaming sites arent shutdown by the administrator.
..PROGRAMS ARE AVAILABLE, BOTH TYPES OF RACING IS AVAILABLE, ALL TRACKS ARE AVAILABLE, EVERY HARNESS TRACK STREAMS LIVE,,even great handicapping games (1-2-3).....there are really no excuses,,,,you have the internet in the mix,,,what more do you want,,,,,the key is to get the new player to take a peek under the tent.
*The excitement caused last year by Somebeachsomewhere and the remarkable angle to the story that there were web cams in his stall and that 4 different connections to the horse, in four different timezones, took turns clicking on the barn to make sure he was ok, is a phenomenal younger generation story......
AND THIS IS WHERE I might come in,,,guerilla-style as i said earlier,,,,I live in Scarborough, looking for sidelight work,,and am prepared to converse with anybody who has an interest in gambling,,,,(coming out of variety store with lottery/pro line tickets),,young guys looking for something to do,,etc.....nothing dangerous or life threatening,,,just good old sales type,,"hey, how youre doing..."..Hell, I'd even take MY new found friends out to Woodbine or Mohawek or Georgian...group night!! if it made sense.
HERE'S A FAVORITE IDEA or TWO more...you've just got to find a way with the lottery corps to do the bi-sport wager (pick winners 3 soccer games-pick winners 3 races..YOU WIN THE POT)...or MAYBE ITS AS SIMPLE AS 50/50 DRAWS,linking up a charity of the week,with the results from saturday night's first five races, every saturday night..if the digits of the five winners, match their ticket, they win (a la Sweden)....FIND CHARITIES, FIND COMMUNITES AND DO IT. (heck, maybe the untired Tamils and Africans would like in...never seen 'em at the track)
anyway thanks for letting me 'shoot from the keyboard'...Contact me, if any interest, Im looking to be involved.
[email protected]
jim cauchon