Along The Rails

Sean Clancy over at bizlex.com does a better job than most of the industry publications in putting the industry’s year in perspective.  The gist?  All is not lost.

 The chestnut filly looked cold. Small, too. A little like a deer trying to decide whether to cross the road as traffic whizzed past. Celebrating her eight-month old birthday, she walked around the sales ring at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed Sale in Timonium, Maryland on December 7. There weren’t many people interested in her, a few bundled-up onlookers cared, but most were oblivious. She was just another horse catalogued amongst the nearly 400 mares, yearlings, weanlings and racehorses. In $100 increments, she sold for $2,700, below the average of $6,287, but at least she sold. Many horses didn’t draw a bid as another horse sale took its beating.

Her name –– All Is Not Lost.

Good stuff at the end of a bad year.   By focusing on what the industry has to offer rather than wallowing in scary horse sale numbers and the general public’s horror over the tragic loss of Eight Bells, racing fans who have a clear eyed view of life both on the backstretch as well as in front of the betting window will be doing a great deal to keep the sport alive.  Remember that each era offers its challenges as well as its opportunities; after all, Thoroughbred racing flourished during the Great Depression, the worst economic conditions the nation has ever know.  A population which is struggling is also much in need of a break.