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Page 7
"The numbers of owners signing up though is the thing that most validates my thoughts on why the Standardbred Association of Illinois will succeed where other groups have failed. Owners are the most disenfranchised group in our industry. Their interests are not represented by IHHA nor ISOBA and yet the owners are truly the backbone of our industry. The owners buy the horses, pay the trainers and drivers, the owners come to the track and bring their family and friends to watch their horses race. They are the most underutilized resource we have. They represent a variety of backgrounds, with professional skills and social contacts not generally seen among drivers, trainers and breeders." Given their huge financial investments, have Doc or Terry ever considered scaling down their operations? Both vehemently say it has never been a consideration for either of them. "Scaling back isn't a realistic option for a horse breeder," Terry said. "Much of our investment is in broodmares and in the land. The land can't easily be switched back and forth from pasture to crops. Regardless of the state of harness racing, we are regularly faced with choices that have to be considered. Property values and mortgage payments have to be weighed against the low profit margins and cash flow problems inherent in the breeding business as compared to selling land to developers. "Think about the farms that are no longer around in Illinois, Terry added. "Nettle Creek Farm and Talamod Farm are now subdivisions. Lin-Nel Farm is closed, Marsh Stud has been developed, Renvaeh Farm is now a neighborhood. And while the state was lucky that Pat & Doc took over in Sherman, otherwise that farm would have closed. Even Fox Valley Standardbred's old location was sold off in the process. Do we think about having change forced upon us? Yes, but not only by the thought of recapture." "We attempt to buy quality horses that will always be in demand, and curtailing our operation just isn't even an option," Doc noted. "I'd like to think positive on purse increases rather than decreases. We have to turn our industry around in Illinois, and the only way to do this is through legislature. Right now it seems that slots would be much more positive than getting a percentage of the existing riverboats. A percentage can be taken away very easily, just as easily as they are given, and if the slots do come, then we should make sure to see that they are locked in to live racing only. Slots will be our security in the long run. Of course off shore accounts will always be a problem too until the Federal government can figure out some way to regulate them." |
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