The Canadian Sportsman
June 14, 2010
“We have not come close to giving the people what they want. The public wants payoffs. When the $2 bet was invented, $2 was what a person made working in a day. If a person bet $2 it was a very significant gamble and even if the horse paid $4 it was a very significant return. They gambled a day’s wages and they got back a day’s wage plus another day. What do you have today? A person bets $2 and wins $2 with which they are going to buy what? A pop?”
— Mike Antoniades, racing analyst for Balmoral Park, discussing why tracks should focus on developing bigger payouts through Pick 4, Pick 5, Pick 6 and, eventually, V-75 wagering.
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May 20, 2010
“He and his girlfriend were both looking for work. I had heard and seen that she was good and I always thought Andrew was useless. I didn’t think he was any good at all... I didn’t want him, but they were a package deal. I gave him the biggest s--- I had. I gave him the s-----est horses. I really thought he was going to be no good at all. He was working six, seven months, and it was time to open the Jersey stable. All my assistant trainers all have kids, a wife, family, one thing or another. Nobody really wanted to go. I thought, ‘I want to do this, but I need somebody to run it.’ Well, Andrew came up to me and he said, ‘Casie, if I had the opportunity, I’d like to do it. He had been working well. I said, ‘You, run a stable? What the hell? You’re grooming for me. You’re not even training.’ He said, ‘I’d love to. I’d love to.’ Anyways, I kind of had no choice. So, I sent him down and I came down four days later. He had the trailer packed with everything to set the stalls up with. We were going to claim horses that week. I thought the barn was just going to be a disaster. We had a lot of work to do. I got there three or four days after he got there, the whole barn is set up and is spic and span. It looked like I had been there for a year. I couldn’t believe it. He must have not slept. How he did it I have no idea. He ended up being awesome. He’s one of the top guys I’ve ever had. I hope he never leaves me, because he’s very good and he says he’s not going to, but once he ever does, he’ll be fine on his own. He’ll have no problem running his own stable.”
— Casie Coleman (above) on assistant trainer Andrew Harris, who runs the New Jersey branch of her barn from Showplace Farms
April 07, 2010
“I remember in my first year, one of the early business courses I took, the prof came into the room and the first thing he said was: I’m going to give you two words that will be the best advice you ever had going forward in business. He wrote on the blackboard: Confront Reality. I can’t think of a better strategy for our industry than to really focus on confronting reality. All too often, we reminisce about the good old days and all too often we dream about better days through wishful thinking. Frankly, I think all who see a future for racing have to take a leadership role and champion change and accept the fact that things must change. I, for one, would much rather be at the head of that curve than at the back of the curve. In dog sled racing, the lead dog always has the best view. So, I never want to be the trailing dog in any venture.”
— Hugh Mitchell chief executive officer Western Fair Association
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