Pebble Beach deservedly earned $500,000 with his North America Cup victory on June 18th, and his connections were ecstatic. So were his fans, as well as the betting public that made him the ½ wagering favourite. I insist though, in this sport at least, it’s not all about the money - and I’m thankful for that.
I’m sure that Pebble Beach got a nice hot bubble bath after his big win, got cooled out and put away properly, and had a nice big supper upon returning home. I’m also quite certain that the 8th, 9th and 10th place finishers, Ario Hanover, Mad Max Hanover and Kolby Two Step, as well as every other horse on the night’s card, got similar. Win, lose or draw.
In fact, I’m pretty sure that Riddle Me Miss, a 12-year-old Mutineer mare that trotted in 2:06.2 around Hanover Raceway earlier that same day got all of the above as well. At least I sure hope she did.
That’s the thing about harness racing, it is done for money of course, but it’s not all about the money. And that’s ok by me.
Whether you follow professional golf or not, you’ve probably heard about the new Saudi Arabian funded LIV Golf Tour. An upstart professional golf tour with a different format than the PGA Tour, that has been drawing some well-known pro golfers away… mainly with offers of huge money just for showing up. Most of the players who have left the PGA Tour are older, and well past their prime; a few are younger, but not playing as well as they once did. There’s one thing it seems however, that they all have in common: they’re doing it mainly for the money.
But it’s where that money comes from that’s the issue
Some people have an opinion on this and some people don’t. I do.
One person I talked about it with basically gave the players who leapt a free pass, saying that pro athletes have always chased the money.
Another suggested that maybe some weren’t aware of Saudi Arabian practices. Fair enough. Saudi practices? Let’s start there then.
On March 12th of this year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held a mass execution of 81 people. The Saudis gave their reasons for the killings but shortly thereafter the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that 41 of the people executed were members of a minority community who had taken part in anti-government protests.
A few months ago here in Canada I swear that I saw a picture of a guy sitting on top of his Winnebago, right in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, drinking a beer and holding a sign saying that Canada was no longer a free country. Hmmm? I wonder if he’d like to play golf for the Saudis?
It’s against the law to be gay or transgender in Saudi Arabia. Most are lashed and jailed for it, while others just disappear and are never heard from again.
Women in Saudi Arabia weren’t allowed to receive healthcare or an education, without permission from a male guardian, until 2017, and that’s also the year it became legal for women to actually drive a car. Wow, the Saudis should actually be applauded for coming around I guess? I wonder if they’ll pay a middle-aged journalist/horseman with a 10 handicap to play on their new tour? Where do I sign up?
Lastly, on my list here anyway, although the FBI claims that there is still no hard proof of a connection between the Saudi Kingdom and the 9-11 hijackers, in September of last year it was reported that 15 of those 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals - many with close ties to the Saudi regime. Al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden, was also from an influential Saudi family and his organization is alleged to have received money from wealthy Saudis throughout the 1990s.
According to the internet, in 2021, golfer Phil Mickelson was worth approximately $400 million. How much money is enough though, because recently, after admitting to author Alan Shipnuck that the backers of the proposed Saudi league are “scary mother fu@#$%s to get involved with,’’ he left the PGA Tour for the new LIV Tour for a reported $200 million payday - plus what he earns on the course. Does he love the sport or the money more?
Both being left-handed golfers, Mickelson is a player that my son and I have cheered on for decades. That’s sadly no longer the case in our home.
Enough of the politics you say? Am I bugging you? I don’t mean to bug ya, but sometimes, even with an audience of only 10,000 people or so, a person needs to try and make a small difference by speaking up.
In our sport it’s always been exciting when we attract big-named athletes or performers into horse ownership. Over the past few decades names like Mats Sundin, Tie Domi, George Foreman, Doug Gilmour and Rick Vaive come to mind - and the more the merrier. Should one of the golfers on the new LIV Tour want to buy a horse with you one day, it would understandably be hard for you to say no… that’s a given. However, if that was the case, someone like me might remind you that it’s not necessarily all about the money - but I know in saying that I’m really just preaching to the choir. You’re already well aware of that I’m sure.
Dan Fisher - [email protected]