Nevertheless, the embrace of exceptionalism is a dangerous slope. With the advance of technology shrinking the Earth with each passing day, there is little to suggest that the future holds bright for a country that isn’t fully aware that it’s part of a greater whole. In just about every aspect of life, with the possible exception of pop culture and missile warfare, the USA is now looking up to other countries. The data is daunting.
Americans live shorter lives than dozens of other populations. Our health care system is over-priced and under-performing. Educational standards, especially at lower grade levels, are embarrassingly inadequate. A generation ago, the label “Made in China” meant avoid at all possible. It now represents the source of half that is manufactured. All told, the country’s slide into a parallel existence with the part of the world that we once thought inferior has come quickly.
Only a week ago in Southern California, European-based thoroughbreds proved superior to North American-raced horses in six Breeders’ Cup races. The half-dozen victories were two more than the imports should have won on the basis of the percentage of entries they represented. Of the six European-based winners, four have been nominated for Cartier Racing Awards – the end-of-year honors for horses running abroad. Only eight of the 37 European-based Breeders’ Cup runners that participated at Santa Anita were among the 34 Cartier nominees, meaning that European trainers didn’t even send their best runners to compete against ours and still they won.
Those who won’t accept these facts as logical would argue that the track surface favored the visitors. They may be correct in believing that a bias existed, but why then didn’t the same bias hold when it came to turf-raced Americans that were entered in Pro-Ride races? As further proof of how lowly the horse racing world views our champions, consider that unbeaten Zenyatta is listed fourth, tied with Rip Van Winkle, a horse that she trounced, on the World Thoroughbred Rankings compiled by the International Thoroughbred Racing Authorities. Moreover, only three American-raced horses were included in the list’s top ten spots.
Over the course of the next month, three world-class horse races will be run in all places - Asia. The Japan Cup on turf and the Japan Cup Dirt will offer huge purses, draw big crowds and be seen on television by 20 times the number of people who viewed the Breeders’ Cup. In mid-December, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, celebrating its 125th year, will stage four Group 1 stakes including the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup valued at $2.5 million. We should start paying attention to these races and begin winning them, or else lapse into irrelevancy. Three issues stand in the way.
The first is that almost every foreign racing jurisdiction won’t permit the use of race-day medications. The second is that our horsemen believe that our horses, unlike the Europeans, suffer setbacks from traveling long distances and residing in quarantine for a limited time. The third is that there are so many rich purses for small fields with weak horses available here in the USA that only a great chance of winning in Asia or Europe would make traveling long distances sensible, and great chances, given the quality of our best, aren’t abundant.
Regardless, American horse racing isn’t facing the future prudently if it continues to live in its own bubble. The sport will fulfill a world vision as certainly as the NFL will launch teams in Mexico City, Toronto and London. Hat’s off to pioneers such as Wesley Ward for trying to win at Royal Ascot. Kudos to profit-seeking men with fast horses for heading to the Middle East when The Sheikh stakes $10 million to celebrate the inaugural Dubai World Cup at Meydan. The race will be contested over a new Tapeta track.
Given these circumstances, it seems irresponsible for the people who truly care about the sport overall to insist on dirt tracks exclusively. Such an investment would be counter-trend to the market and short-sighted as more and more money is generated from horse racing abroad. For the record, more than 50 percent of Grade 1 races on this continent are run on synthetic surfaces – seemingly perfect for horses with turf racing proclivity. If there’s one thing the Breeders’ Cup taught us, it’s that we may be playing catch-up already.
As for racing on a worldwide basis, the international expansion of the breeding industry into Ireland, Japan and Dubai will ultimately have its effect on where American-based horses will compete. There’s a trickle of back and forth already. Technology can deliver the gambling product everywhere. Eventually, some astute horseman will emerge to change the status quo.
Thirty years ago, D. Wayne Lukas became the first trainer to understand that restricting his horses to local offerings was limiting his earnings. Lukas began flying his thoroughbreds in to snatch purses at other venues about six years after Canada met Russia on ice. At the time, his un-exceptional practice seemed exceptional. But, like the Soviet’s success, it wasn’t.
16 Nov 2009 at 05:31 am | #
Great piece, Vic. Couldn’t agree with you more. I cringe when I hear that Zenyatta beat the “greatest horses in the world” in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. And there has been plenty of that going around
16 Nov 2009 at 07:46 am | #
Vic the first two paragraphs are excellent. As far as the data you quote I would have strong arguments with some, but this is not the place to go into detail. Over all I thought the article was great. We need more people in this game and else where to think out side the box and look at things from different prospectives. I think in short what you are saying is a lot of us need to pull our heads out of the sand.
16 Nov 2009 at 08:35 am | #
Thoughtful piece, Vic. You are so right to say that we have to come to grips with the world at some point. The sooner the better, in my opinion, starting with medication rules, which really are laughable in this country. What is the point of the expenditure on testing if, when doping is detected, virtually nothing is done about it? Perpetrators escape virtually unharmed financially. Try the snake oil trick in Hong Kong or Australia and see what happens. You would be barred from stepping foot on a racetrack ever again.
I am among those who believe that we are weakening the breed here through drugs and drugs masking infirmities to the point that one day other countries won’t want our horses. And that day may not be too far off.
As for racing surfaces, you can argue the toss, but many foreign countries run on turf or synthetics and, as you so rightly point out, that leaves us on our lonesome with dirt. Our isolation in producing horses for a surface no other nation wants or uses, like our attitude toward drugs, smacks of arrogance.
A little arrogance would not be a bad thing if it were justified. But, as the BC just showed us, we are being overtaken by foreign-bred horses and we are doing precious little about it.
16 Nov 2009 at 10:35 am | #
Great piece, Vic, really excellent.
While I may think it is unfair to American horsemen to conduct the Breeders’ Cup at a synthetic venue more than once every three or four years, that detracts not one whit from your points.
I would also recommend readers look at how many South American-bred or other foreign bred horses win U.S. races of 10 furlongs and longer, compared to their numbers.
It also baffles me why American trainers wring their hands about running horses back more quickly than six weeks, to avoid the “dreaded bounce,” while Australians win 10 furlong races, then run back at two miles on five days later.
One might think we would learn something from the rest of the world, but it appears one would be wrong.
16 Nov 2009 at 11:03 am | #
Some good points, especially regarding medication, but I have to point out, regarding this statement:
“As for racing on a worldwide basis, the international expansion of the breeding industry into Ireland, Japan and Dubai will ultimately have its effect on where American-based horses will compete.”
The breeding industry is an intrinsic part of Irish culture which has been growing since the stallion tax exemption was introduced in 1969, and has boomed since the rise of Sadler’s Wells as a sire beginning about 20 years ago. It has already had such effect as it will.
Japan has also developed its breeding industry over decades, but this remains quite a closed system and the dynamic of Japanese buyers bringing in selected high-class American and European bloodstock to bolster their own system looks like it will continue.
As to Dubai, there is no breeding of thoroughbreds there. It was tried and failed. Dubai will continue to attract runners, but it won’t have a homegrown breeding program.
In short, it is most likely that American-based runners will continue to travel selectively to Dubai for the World Cup, occasionally to Japan for the Japan Cup and Japan Cup Dirt, but not to Ireland for sure. Meanwhile Irish-bred runners will come to the US and whomp our horses in turf races, Japanese-breds will appear only rarely, and the UAE-bred - not.
16 Nov 2009 at 11:50 am | #
Dear Rachel: I could have written a better sentence than the one you have questioned. My apologies. But thanks for clarifying the breeding interests in Japan, Ireland and Dubai.
The point I wanted to make is that these three nations, in particular, have been active and successful in the American thoroughbred market. The sons and daughters of American sires are already making their presence felt on foreign tracks and stallion barns.
While it may seem that common practice regarding where horses race will continue uninterrupted, my argument is that it may not. I base this argument on the fact that the trends found in foreign countries are stronger there than here, and the game there is turf and no medications, not dirt and drugs daily.
If the USA doesn’t change some of its basic differences with the rest of the world, the sport here will slip to a sub-standard level. In situations like this, someone always steps forward to challenge the status.
Your analysis of which horses race where is fine for the time being. But what about the future? I think the American game will go global because it’ll have to.