Too Little, Too Late?

Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association is accepting suggestions on his blog as to how racing can be made safer. He is getting lots of good suggestions, ranging from changing the ages of competitors in the Triple Crown from 3 to 4, mandating synthetic racing surfaces, abolishing whips and drugs. He is also getting lots of feedback--probably much more than he bargained for.

Personally what galls me is his admission that "two weeks ago" he said "the horseplayer is the single most important economic driver of our game." Now of course, he is changing his tune, citing the horse as the centerpiece of the industry. But hello? It took a tragedy at the Kentucky Derby to get him to rethink his position? Isn't it just a little bit ironic that if the horse had been the centerpiece of the industry as he now acknowledges it should be, he wouldn't have been dreaming of the increased handle from women betting on the filly to beat the colts and instead considering whether or not she should have been in the race to begin with.

Not that such consideration would have prevented a tragedy. We will probably never know if Eight Belles injured herself before, during or after the race. But we do know that the amount of press given to the "Can a filly beat the colts?" question (and with it the potential to attract women to the sport) has been obliterated by the negative press the industry has received for letting her run.

So please tell Mr. Waldrop what you think. I'd like to think he might actually read every one of his emails. But don't expect miracles from a man who valued horseplayers over horses just two scant weeks ago.