The Canadian Sportsman
August 08, 2010
“If the notion is we are only going to appeal to the people who are watching because they are hard core aficionados, I think people like them should be on the air — big personalities. The Woodbine people would probably throw up, but put Bert Smith on TV.
“If you see a handicapper on air say, ‘I think that 5 will win,’ and then the race happens, it is boring. But if that handicapper says, ‘I think that 5 will win, and if he doesn’t win, I will eat this plate of bugs,’ like on Survivor or, ‘I will shave my head,’ or ‘Somebody will dunk me in a dunking booth,’ then I am interested in watching no matter what happens, because there is something of entertainment value provided... Forgive me for this one, guys, but if there is a beautiful woman on air and every time this guy picks a winner, she removes one article of clothing, there is a segment of your audience that is going to watch that. But give them something to watch.”
— Alan Kirschenbaum (above), Hollywood screenwriter, horse owner, racing blogger and president of the California Harness Horsemen’s Association in the sixth in a daily series of quotes pulled from our Round Table Discussion entitled 15 Essential Ideas for Saving Racing. Dave Briggs’ Last Call Online column about the Round Table is available here. The entire Round Table Discussion booklet is available to download as a pdf by following this link and clicking on the “Now Available” item in the bottom left corner of the page.
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August 07, 2010
“Most businesses have the 80/20 rule where 80 per cent of your business is coming from 20 per cent of your customers. I think, in our business, we have the misfortune of having the 95/5 rule and job one needs to be to move away from that fairly unpleasant reality. But we need to be very, very judicious in terms of protecting that base, which really is the lion’s share of our wagering.”
— Nick Eaves (above), president and CEO of the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) in the fifth in a daily series of quotes pulled from our Round Table Discussion entitled 15 Essential Ideas for Saving Racing. Dave Briggs’ Last Call Online column about the Round Table is available here. The entire Round Table Discussion booklet is available to download as a pdf by following this link and clicking on the “Now Available” item in the bottom left corner of the page.
August 06, 2010
Brown on integrity: we need to take matters into our own hands
“These owners are discouraged, they are disgusted, and some might get out. Almost all will cut down. They just don’t think we have a fair playing field. Three of the very, very biggest owners, probably the three people who control as many quality horses as any entities in the business, made the suggestion that they were going to tell their trainers not to allow their horses to be driven by drivers who drive for this particular trainer (who is believed to be using performance-enhancing drugs on his horses).”
— Murray Brown (above), public relations director for Hanover Shoe Farms in Hanover, PA and vice-president and general manager of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company in the fourth in a daily series of quotes pulled from our Round Table Discussion entitled 15 Essential Ideas for Saving Racing. Dave Briggs’ Last Call Online column about the Round Table is available here. The entire Round Table Discussion booklet is available to download as a pdf by following this link and clicking on the “Now Available” item in the bottom left corner of the page.
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