[BrentCrude]

First off,you really have to be super dedicated to become a good jockey or successful horse trainer.Jockeys have to sacrifice not eating for 30-40 years and it's little wonder why they turn to drugs to find enjoyment or an escape.It's almost a certainty that all jockeys have numerous broken bones and have faced death due to racing accidents.

I don't think the gambling public has a real appreciation for how much effort and talent it takes to conduct horse racing.Horses,even good ones are unpredictable and so called experts that do know allot about racing still look like idiots when it comes to handicapping.The gambling public doesn't want to take the time to handicap something like racing with too many variables.They would rather rely on their own skills as a card player or bet on sports where teams have more predictable form than horses do or just try for dumb luck pulling a handle and pushing buttons.And who in this day and age of casinos giving comps wants to pay to enter a race track and to have to buy $5 race forms etc.

It all adds up to the horse racing industry not being supported by the gambling public where they have to ask for special interest group status and welfare from the states.It's pathetic that out of frustration the jockey guild hired Jesse Jackson to be their mouthpiece spokesman because they think he's connected to sources that can get them government aid.It's also pathetic that tracks are becoming nothing more than fronts for card rooms and tight slot machines where the procedes from that form of gambling add to the purses being 60% bigger than they would if just the handle from racing paid the purses.If the states wanted to be horseman-jockey and gambler friendly they would have practically eliminated the takeout in horse betting.Some of the exotic betting takeout is rediculous.