CHRB Chairman Richard Shapiro Resigns

[zinn21]

See link:

I've got mixed feelings about him. He was proactive and reactive..

http://news.bloodhorse.com/article/48449.htm

[majxmom]

At least some of his most controversial decisions were for the benefit of the horse. I'm sorry to see him go, but I'll bet there was a lot of cheering at racetracks this morning.

[Archer]

"There is nothing left for me to destroy . . . my job here is done."

[Tucumcari]

Oh Archer we are only at the beginning. Sign on when "Opening Day is at Hollywood on Dec 26th." JK.. I hope.

[Sysonby]

At least some of his most controversial decisions were for the benefit of the horse. I'm sorry to see him go, but I'll bet there was a lot of cheering at racetracks this morning.

But the reason those decisions were controversial is because, well intentioned they may be, they were huge in magnitude, knee jerk, expensive and poorly thought out.

Something I haven't seen reported anywhere is that there were 3 breakdowns in one hour on the California synthetics last Saturday.

1:33 PM Hollywood--"Silent Kitten was in good position stalking the pace inside, bid along the rail in the stretch, took a bad step and went lame in midstretch, drifted out while being pulled up in deep stretch and was vanned off."

1:49 PM GGF--"Karoake Jeannie prompted the pace from the outside, moved up three wide to challenge for the lead in the upper stretch but broke down nearing the furlong pole and was vanned off."

2:36 PM Hollywood--"Trino prompted the pace outside the rail then stalked off the rail leaving the turn, came three deep into the stretch and was outfinished for a minor award between foes late, then did not return to be unsaddled when lame and was vanned off."

Eyes on the ground are saying that especially in the case of Hollywood, it's because the stuff is degrading.

Shapiro's legacy may not have been written yet unfortunately.

[majxmom]

But the reason those decisions were controversial is because, well intentioned they may be, they were huge in magnitude, knee jerk, expensive and poorly thought out.

I certainly don't argue with that.

I thought he must be the most unpopular guy in racing when he spoke at the Eclipse Awards, made a joke at his own expense, and not one person laughed. I'm sort of surprised that he made it this long.

[Tucumcari]

It does degrade from north to south. It's been tough on horses and people.

[zinn21]

Tuc wrote:

It does degrade from north to south. It's been tough on horses and people.

Very true.. I was an advocate of synthetics but now realize their lifetime is extremely short and loose memory life quickly. Only way to maintain consistency is remove all material every year or two and replace. That's got to be a bad option.

There is a consensus building that feels taking the tracks down to the sub surface level and upgrading drainage and all would have had the same reduction of injury effect if a dirt surface would have been reinstalled.

At this point I'm for returning to a dirt surface with a state of the art sub surface (already in all major tracks less Pleasanton) installations..

[ratherrapid]

i just read somewhere that stats to date show catastrophic injury rate way down in CA. This failed to cite comparitive percentages. Do we throw out synthetic tracks every time a horse get's hurt? Or, do we assume an open mind and wait a year or two and see what the stats say then? There are many advantages to racing with synthetic tracks which have to do with owning horses, saving money, preserving horses, etc. Monmouth and BC as one e.g.

[steward]

Shapiro is what an unprincipled, waffling ditherer looks like in a leadership position. He is one who attacks secondary issues head on, hoping that the tough ones will go away by themselves.

He admits the underlying current problem with horse racing is a broken business model. Namely, that not enough gamblers view the sport as a competitive alternative for their recreation dollars. It also implies that it is an impossible one to tackle as long as the government slice of the take is too large, yet too politically impossible to confront.

The overhead of the sport is just too big to be competitive. So what did Shapiro do? He spent all of his energy trying to placate the enemies of racing, rather than confronting them or - heaven forbid - defeating them. Pandering to the animal rights radicals with feelgood panaceas (that have marginal impact) only weakened the sport further, both financially and with a large segment of its hard-core gamblers.

One can tell where this guy was coming from with his idiotic comment:

"We must continue to protect our horses and riders."

Like the nutjobs whom he pandered to, he put the animals first and the humans second. A backwards view of the world, like any other kook fringer.

[Tucumcari]

Rather Rapid, They are claiming far fewer catastrophic injuries, and I can get on board with that. BUT I have a hard time believing Dr Arthur when he says he doesn't see what we the horsemen are saying as far as the soft tissue. He is speaking from a stand point of what necropsy he does at Davis not what number are turned out and brought back in 6 months or a year. To what end?

[zinn21]

Steward wrote:

Like the nutjobs whom he pandered to, he put the animals first and the humans second. A backwards view of the world, like any other kook fringer.

Not sure you can lay California racing dysfunction on Shapiro's back although in hindsight it's easy to see how he overreacted.

There is no doubt equine injuries are trending down on the synthetics. Field size, especially in Northern California, increased significantly therefore a better product volume for the wagering public.

My concern other than the horse's safety is that the synthetic surface may compromise performance allowing inferior horse's victory against superior peers.

[steward]

Shapiro could have handled animal safety in a number of ways other than he did (a test period at one track, for example). He could also have challenged the premise, which instead he accepted without argument.

Going into a debate with an opponent and unilaterally ceding the issue is a recipe for retreat, if not ultimate defeat. In this case, he surrendered without a quibble, let alone a fight. Chinless, spineless ... whatever adjective one wants to select, it accurately decribes this fellow.

[steward]

Not sure you can lay California racing dysfunction on Shapiro's back although in hindsight it's easy to see how he overreacted.

Agree, mostly. And the dysfunction isn't only confined to the racing industry. It's infected everything.

The state is another laboratory for what happens when logic is replaced by emotion, and instituted into public policy. Basically, it's become another rust belt state brought down by the heavy hand of government. Not there yet, but in a decade or so it might be referred to as "Michigan but with better weather."

[Tucumcari]

Catastrophic injuries are down. I would boldly challenge the injury list