Sport lacks owners

Horseplayers expecting full cards at major racetracks such as Churchill Downs, Golden Gate, Hollywood Park and Monmouth Park were sorely disappointed Thursday. They were closed.

The PR spin was that these tracks were taking an extra weekday off to make up for racing on Monday, Memorial Day. That’s hogwash.

All these tracks now are racing four days a week and looking for excuses not to run. Simulcasting has proven more profitable than live racing.

It’s tough not to be cynical as horseplayers when we’re sent signals like this.

Tracks from coast to coast are complaining about a horse shortage leading to smaller fields. That’s true to some degree. But I agree with the sentiment Jon Lindo expressed on the “Race Day Las Vegas” radio show last week. Lindo thinks there is a shortage of owners, not racehorses.

For decades, the industry has failed in marketing to newcomers, regardless if the interest is based on the sport or wagering. New fans are the lifeblood of the business; they provide a fresh bankroll for wagering and for horse ownership.

Horsemen’s groups recruit new horse owners based on high income, but that strategy is not working. If rich people have no interest in the sport, they won’t invest — no matter the pie-in-the-sky promises.

Horse owners need to be racing fans first. And the selling point is that you don’t have to be a multimillionaire to own a piece of a racehorse — though it helps. You might need to be filthy rich to buy Santa Anita or Gulfstream, but partnerships and syndicates have made horse ownership affordable.

When I hear sports radio host Jim Rome say how much fun he’s having owning racehorses, it’s something his ”clones” — his loyal listeners — and many others in the sports world can relate to.

Credit Billy Koch of Little Red Feather Racing for getting Rome involved in the sport.

There are people such as Koch making it happen. We just need to listen to them.

• CONTESTS — Updates on two handicapping contests: The Excalibur is having a contest on Hollywood Park races the first Thursday each month. When Del Mar opens, it’ll be the first Wednesday of each month. Also, Super Saturday contests are back at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.