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“love for horses has disserpeared in the racing industry and has been replaced with……… is this true??”
as i see it for GB / IRE:
– among stable staff, not true.
– among jockeys, not true.
– among owners, not true. in fact, with the number of horses in training holding up in the face of diminishing prize money and apparently diminishing opportunities for betting coups, it could be argued the other way – that more than ever owner involvement has to be out of love for either/both the horse itself (whatever its talents) or else the social side of racing.
– among trainers / permit holders, not true. they need to balance books, but that hasn’t noticeably replaced the reason they got into / stay in the game.
– among breeders, not true for the private side. the commercial operations were never founded to be dewy-eyed, so even there not true, as no change.
– among racecourses, and separately also among the racing press, maybe not disappeared or even overcome by, but changing and to an extent disappearing, in an increased desire to maximise profits
– among bookies, some of the old-school are still around, but from the big corporates there does seem an increasing disrespect for the horse and a view of it as a “product” – increasingly seem to love horses the same way a supermarket loves chickens
– among the interested public, no particular change from the mix its always been as between the two elements of horse and money, but other elements now in the picture- corporate/ social / family.
The number of big/professional punters that are also inolved as owners suggest that it’s possible to enjoy both aspects.
Robert Sangster started out as a punter, and in the current era, think of the number of horses in training for J P McManus, Harry Findlay etc.
AP
for me it is both equally, took my breath away when i saw ouija board and motivator going out on to the track before racing they just looked magnificent.
then there is the thrill of watching your horse cruising a furlong out on the flat and you just know its going to engage 5 th gear and cruise on to win, or again you are in with a chance at the last jump at cheltenham, for me its the biggest adrenalin rush,the sport of kings can give you the biggest of smiles and the worst of heartaches and life would be very dull without it.I never cried at the races
but often did on the way home
Has the magic gone ?
With the sea of numbers
Quite possiblythe sport of kings can give you the biggest of smiles and the worst of heartaches and life would be very dull without it.
Very well put. Most professional sport these days is about cheating, money and ego, there’s plenty of all three in racing, but the courage, effort and honesty of its main protagonists, the horses, make it unique amongst sports.
Although I wouldn’t have half the interest without Betfair.
Horses for me, but I do echo the posters who like a bet. I see the two as inextricably linked but I never enjoy a win if the race has a fatality – in fact, I have questioned my involvement on occasion. After Gloria Victis died at Cheltenham I didn’t bet for a while afterward.
Play the odd game of internet poker (which I’m trying to give up as it is fundamentally a waste of precious life); back greyhounds (fantastic, undervalued animals), but other than that I never bet on other sports/casino games/propositions.
Its definitely the horses which attracted me and continue to attract me to the game, Miss OP.
It was the Thoroughbred first, the race second, the racecourse third, and punting fourth: then, now and forever.
The day I decide to cease betting is easy to envisage, but the day I cease watching the racehorse strut his magnificent stuff is not
I like betting on the sport I love but not being a gambling man feel no need to bet, and don’t on anything but racing. It’s this engrossing, gloriously complex sporting spectacle that provokes the bet: the intellectual challenge of ‘finding the winner’ with attention concentrated by the exchange of money
The reason I bet is clinically simple: to make money, what is the point of it otherwise?
A slow, rather tedious return on the investment Paulostermeyer described.
Don’t need the money, nor do I need the betting but I do need the stimulation unravelling a horserace provides, and above all else do need, need, need horseracing – in moderation
Started out – reading a couple of forums and watching a couple of races. When i first saw a couple of races i’d just guess and go for the one with the most foreign sounding name. I then remember Cheltenham and just going with the common denominator that people had picked in the punters lounge.
Once i started to accumulate my own knowledge(which still has a long way to go via my own ignorance), i upped the stakes. I now feel that i’m at the point where if i gave up betting i’d still watch races without a doubt. I’ve got used to too many racing faces on tv to just switch of and not take an interest.
I think it’s important that you get to a stage where you’re not extremely pissed off if you lose, but still maintain the buzz of winning.
Racing can be different from other sports. Many owners and trainers put the trophy ahead of the financial gain. That side appeals to me. In football for example, what do you think the Galziers think about, how nice the Premier League trophy looks or the money that comes with it ?
I fail to see how even a gambler can just turn his back on the sport because there’s no money on a race. If it’s money you’re looking for, then maybe racing isn’t the best idea.
I disagree with one of Drones points. You say why bet if you aren’t making money, but i’d say why do people pay to go on a helter skelter ?
first reaction is the game
when having a bad period punting wise will stop betting and watching any racing.
but as i look at my bookcase there is over a hundred books on the subject of racing and many racing prints and statues in the house.
so i would say both withYou say why bet if you aren’t making money, but i’d say why do people pay to go on a helter skelter ?
A day at the races or an afternoon curled up in front of RUK is the helter-skelter and like most pleasures I’m happy to pay for it.
For many this would seem insufficient and derring-do aboard rollercoasters, swings and roundabouts is needed to enjoy all the fun of the fair, but they hold no especial attraction to me. I will ride them for reward only: usually candyfloss but occasionally a lovely bunch of coconuts
Wow dude, enough about your coconuts already. For me the whole helter skelter theme is just having no direction and not knowing what i’m going to bet on next. Some people do level stakes for every horse. I prefer things to be a bit less predictable. Sticking to the theme park theme, level stake bets would be dodgems, as in dodge em !
At what point would you jack it in when it comes to stop betting. How much would you have to lose ?
Wow dude, enough about your coconuts already. For me the whole helter skelter theme is just having no direction and not knowing what i’m going to bet on next.
Direction, resolve, motivation, plan, target, strategy, effort, method, management: all pre-requisites if you want to give yourself a chance of profiting from punting.
Your helter-skelter betting may provide fleeting moments of fun and reward whilst spiralling downwards to earth with a bump, but to repeat it requires a steep climb back to start again – over and over again
The profitable punter contents himself with a rather dreary long, long walk along a flat, straight and featureless road. Winding lanes branch and lead to nowhere worth visiting, or more-often-then not a dead-end; those on the crowded verge beckon ‘come join the fun’; ‘no thanks’ replies the lonely long-distance punter ‘you go your way, I’ll go mine’; with vision tunneled on the distant horizon.
Some people do level stakes for every horse. I prefer things to be a bit less predictable. Sticking to the theme park theme, level stake bets would be dodgems, as in dodge em !
Having wandered directionless down many a winding lane named ‘Staking Plan’ and getting hopelessly lost I eventually arrived back at departure point, wearied, poorer but wiser: my beloved, comfy, unpretentious, greystone-built little home named ‘Level Stakes’. Not all I ever wanted but all I’ll ever need, and not being in a sought-after area there’s little traffic to dodge, happily.
At what point would you jack it in when it comes to stop betting. How much would you have to lose ?
It’s not a matter of winning or losing; stopping would be determined by loss of interest and motivation, and as written previously I can easily envisage that happening without interest in the sport itself diminishing at all. Races watched to races bet has long been in the region of 10:1 anyway and the ratio creeps ever bigger.
Hope your punting life eventually finds some direction and meaning GoldiDude
we don’t know where we’re going, but we’re on the way
Direction, resolve, motivation, plan, target, strategy, effort, method, management: all pre-requisites if you want to give yourself a chance of profiting from punting.
Agree with your list Drone except the most important word of all is missing, although it is implied – discipline.
Without discipline it is almost impossible to make betting pay.
Each month I set myself two targets – how much profit I want to make in the month and the maximum I am prepared to lose.
As soon as I hit either target, hopefully the first, I stop betting for that month. The “target” changes each month – some months I do not have a target so do not bet.
If I hit my “target” on the 1st of the month that is it – I will not bet again that month. (The only exception being March where I have a separate fund for the Festival).
Each month I set myself two targets – how much profit I want to make in the month and the maximum I am prepared to lose.
I’ve never understood this target betting. Why miss the golden betting opportunity of the 30th of April because your funds ran out the 27th, when you’ve got another tank coming along on the first of May? A batsman may need only 4 runs per over to win the game. If he hits a boundary with the first ball of the over, should he play a forward defensive to the remaining 5 deliveries, including the full toss which he should be hitting back over the bowler’s head for 4?
As a batsman should play every ball on it’s merits, a punter should play every race on it’s merits, whether they have had a good run, or a bad run. Easier said than done at times, but for me, that is what discipline is all about.
I’ve never understood this target betting. Why miss the golden betting opportunity of the 30th of April because your funds ran out the 27th, when you’ve got another tank coming along on the first of May?
Because I do not bet simply to make as much money as possible.
The betting "targets" I set are for specific requirements, usually holidays, or a specific "luxury" purchase, which is why some months I do not bother having a bet.
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