We Have An Image Problem

We’ve all heard the comparison made between investing in horse racing and playing the stock market. Wall Street Guru Jim Cramer says that the best stock picking book ever is Andy Beyer’s Picking Winners. Mr Beyer teaches the would be serious racetracker the value of study, experience and judgement when it comes to investing in horseracing. Perhaps Mr. Cramer would agree that past performance is just as important in his industry as well ours. Both investments require desire, knowledge, discipline, and strategy. The problem is Wallstreeters have professions, while we horseplayers are viewed as people with gambling problems.
_We're not the only ones with image problem however, what about the NBA and the Ref who was caught cheating in 2007? And there’s the little matter of steroids. I’m not sure Barry Bonds piss would be cleaner than Big Browns. Yet for years horse players have been viewed as "the degenerates."
_Recently however, it appears that larceny isn’t happening solely at the track. In fact, the behind the scenes activity on Wall Street make racing look like Mass being held in the square by the Holy Father. The three-m’s of recession, the market meltdown, the mortgage fiasco, and the Malduf scandal reveal a climate of cheating and dishonesty that couldn’t possibly have gone unnoticed. And what about the auto industry ... and banking?
_The point is that one shouldn’t single out horseracing and give it such a bad rap when industry leaders and trusted government officials have also behaved badly. The only difference is the bailout. We citizens, including horseplayers, will be paying for the indiscretions of elected degenerates for years.
_The racing industry does have an image problem based on years of underhanded dishonesty and larceny. An image that doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon. According to a recent Paulick Report Poll (12/24/08) http://www.paulickreport.com/ 52% of the voters think that 2009 will be worst than 2008 - which saw declines in handle, falling blood stock prices, and negative publicity over medication and safety. Too many Americans simply know us because of the breakdown of Eight Belles and Barbaro. No one knows the feel good story, the one about the record Peppers Pride set. This is an industry worth saving.