Just two weeks after horseplayers announced a boycott of the Santa Anita thoroughbred race meet, the early handle figures are being called a "disaster".
According to an article on espn.com by Bill Finley, the opening day handle at Santa Anita was off 21.5 per cent from last year and was the lowest opening day mutuel bet since 1992. The two days that followed were equally discouraging.
The dreadful handle figures follow a decision by the California Horse Racing Board to dramatically raise the takeout rate at the California track. While the move was aimed at generating greater revenues for participants, the plan prompted horseplayers across North America to stage a formal boycott of the Santa Anita product. With early results tallied, it appears the CHRB decision may have backfired dramatically.
"It looks like that message is being sent," wrote Finley, "and even the dense and ignorant people who compromise the California Horse Racing Board are not going to be able to ignore what is happening."
"If the handle continues to go down by 21 to 28 percent every day at Santa Anita the ramifications are going to be felt throughout California racing. A drastic purse decrease will soon be necessary and horsemen are going to have to flee to states offering them better deals. That will mean worse racing in California, which will mean still more declines in handle. It's a cycle that will never end."
To read more about the boycott, click here.
Now just suppose the horse
Now just suppose the horse players were to boycott the "product" until all pools were 10% or less takeout? Finally there would be progress!!