In 2022, 14,525 thoroughbreds in North America were sold for a cumulative value of over $1.2 billion, according to Bloodhorse, and over $12 billion was bet on races that were run for purses that added up to $1.31 billion. The industry as it exists right now is extremely profitable. “I’m feeling a real shift in support and recognition that we need to have unified rules, we need to have rigorous rules, we need to have clear standards," Lazarus said, “and that we may not have a future as an industry if we don’t.” I think that we can continue to grow - at least on a steady, incremental basis.”
I don’t know that we can get back to the way it was. "We need to educate outside of the industry in order to grow the industry," said Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents thoroughbred horsemen in the U.S.
But the buzz is limited and the total number of foals has fallen sharply over the past two decades, raising questions about where the niche sport goes from here in a crowded landscape. Betting and sales numbers are setting records and viewership for days like the Derby trails only the Super Bowl in the U.S. Known in its heyday as the “Sport of Kings" when the likes of Seabiscuit, Man o’ War and Secretariat were stars featured first newspapers and radio reports and then newspapers, horse racing is long past its golden era, though the details can be complicated. Disturbing clusters of horse deaths - at Santa Anita in 2019 and most recently 12 more at Churchill Downs, prompting the storied track to close to investigate.
The joy of such a lofty accomplishment - the Triple Crown has been just 12 times since the first one in 1919 - was soon replaced by headlines mostly for the bad: Bob Baffert's 2021 Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, failing a postrace drug test and the Hall of Fame trainer being suspended. The moment was fleeting, as it was when Justify won the Triple Crown three years later.
#ALABAMA CLAY HORSE BOOKENDS FULL#
When the crowd roared to a fever pitch at the 2015 Belmont Stakes to celebrate American Pharoah becoming the first Triple Crown winner in nearly four decades, the scene was a throwback to the days when it was common for the grandstand to be full and horse racing was squarely in the spotlight.
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