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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21983195
Not good reading. Makes me wonder how many courses will be affected in other countries. And, as usual, it’s the horses who are going to pay the highest price through no fault of their own.
Looks like a real crisis.
Mind, it was a really poor report. Doesn’t even mention the name of the course they were filming at, the one set for closure.
There was also mention of the government’s part in the problems and a reference in the text that many were ‘blaming the government’s new betting regulations’. We weren’t told anything about those.
Mike
No, it certainly isn’t the best reporting in the world. I’ve seen a few comments regarding the state of Italy’s racecourses before now, but it would have been nice to have more insight into the government policy they’re blaming for all the problems.
Unfortunately, Italy has so many problems to deal with at present and their political system of proportional representation makes it almost impossible to get anything do at the best of times so I’m afraid horse racing of any kind is going to be right at the bottom of their list of things to sort out.
"Trotting, which echoes Roman chariot riding…"
Literally the only similarity is that the horses are pulling a vehicle.This is quite an unfortunate situation though. Hopefully trotting tracks (and flat tracks) in France and Scandinavia will learn from Italy’s mistakes. In North America however the jugheads are actually doing better than the "real" racehorses.
There is an alternate version on the BBC web site with a little more detail.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21975872
Thanks Paul.
"The track was closing. It has been overwhelmed by the economic troubles that have brought much of horse racing in Italy to its knees.
Betting is the sport’s life blood, and right now Italians are actually gambling more than ever.
But the way they bet has been transformed over the past decade.
A liberalisation of gaming regulations has allowed punters to put money on sports and lotteries of all kinds, and the cash has just drained away from the horses."
Sounds familiar.
Mike
A liberalisation of gaming regulations has allowed punters to put money on sports and lotteries of all kinds, and the cash has just drained away from the horses.
And the same thing is going to happen here in a few years’ time.
A liberalisation of gaming regulations has allowed punters to put money on sports and lotteries of all kinds, and the cash has just drained away from the horses.
And the same thing is going to happen here in a few years’ time.
Y’all might as well legalize slot machines and turn your less successful tracks into racinos. Sure it might damage their pride, but it keeps them afloat. And with good management the racing side of a racino will actually turn a profit.
Y’all might as well legalize slot machines and turn your less successful tracks into racinos.
We’ve already tried that with our betting shops. It’s been great for the bookmakers, but not so beneficial to racing.
Y’all might as well legalize slot machines and turn your less successful tracks into racinos.
We’ve already tried that with our betting shops. It’s been great for the bookmakers, but not so beneficial to racing.
So get rid of the bookies! The parimutuel system is much better for racing since none of the money goes to a middleman’s pockets. Of course you’d have to change the names of most of your races, along with all the ads on this fine website…
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