The Salt of Pepper
“I have enjoyed every moment of the development of the farm, bringing Swiss Yodeler here to start his career, and watching everything evolve into the Pepper Oaks of today,” Youngman said in a statement. “My decision to shut down the farm does not diminish my love of horses and racing, and I will likely continue to race one or two horses.
“However, the current problems within the industry and its failure to do more to enhance its position in the marketplace along with the lack of vision and unity required by its current leaders in all areas to ensure a bright future for the sport, leave me saddened and concerned as a business owner.
“I hope racing can find its way and regain its position as a leading sport and entertainment alternative for fans and families.”
Youngman said she will focus her attention on other business interests and administering philanthropic endeavors. There was no immediate word on what the farm’s plans are for Swiss Yodeler.
I find this a little more than disturbing. Maybe there is more to it than I know. I also don't live in California - probably won't anytime soon either (even though I do love their tv ads and we all know happy cows don't really come from there). I do try to pay attention to what is going on all over this country with our industry however it isn't always in the front of my mind (if only you knew all that was in my mind) to know what's up everywhere.
So with this news and even the economy - I wonder if this will be a trend across California, or even the rest of the nation? California has had plenty of problems - and I'm not just talking about racing and breeding of horses. I mean if 8% of our Starbucks are closing - can all the horse farms keep going? That was meant to be somewhat smart ass.
I'm sure that if Pamela Anderson (once a favorite b-rate actress of mine - now not even on my D-List - not a cup size reference) heard that Pepper Oaks was closing - she and the other PETA freaks would be having a party. We - as more realistic people with sense of intelligence - or even actual intelligence can't celebrate the end of a farm.
I'll end today with a thought that has been hitting at me for a while. Every major industry that uses television and internet to promote uses a celebrity. Wait - a real celebrity. If PETA can get Pamela Anderson to travel all around the world bad mouthing Jessica Simpson for eating meat (shut up) - why can't we get a celebrity - with real acting or singing cred to promote us? Someone respected. Make sure they aren't someone like Alyssa Milano (am a fan but could drop that soon) who participates in horse racing as an owner (follow that link and do a Ctrl F for her name and see her posing with one of her co-owned yearlings ) and also models in ads for PETA covered in lettuce.
We can't use Bo Derek - though she knows her uh stuff (almost went there) when it comes to every aspect of this industry - because if you are under 30 - most likely you don't know her. Maybe we can get someone like Amy Winehouse. I kid - I joke.
Who do we get so we promote the sport and the industry before we have another Pepper Oaks announcement?
I know of a few 'real' celebs the industry should go after. One is your favorite (and one of mine), Janet (Miss Jackson if you're nasty). I know she doesn't currently own horses; however, she has stated in more than one interview that she always wanted to be a jockey when she was a kid.
How about Allison Janney? A well-respected, Emmy Award-winning actress, who just happens to be a grand daughter of Stuart Janney, owner of Ruffian.
Or, what about several of the cast members of 'The Sopranos'? Most of them own horses, and are always seen at the Breeders' Cup.
There, that's my 2 cents.
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Ditto what Mary said about the guys from the Sopranos. Joe Pesci. Bill Parcells. Kid Rock (yeah he's trashy, but I am talking about the ads we should have on MTV and VH-1). Ashley Judd. Nick Lachey. Um, hello?? PEYTON MANNING anyone??? He comes to the Derby every year, usually with Troy Aikman and Warren Moon. What about Shaq? He doesn't gamble, but he loves the sport.
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There's more to our problems in racing than PETA. Recently, I sat down with someone who's been doing a lot of research on the off-shore gaming account issues. Did you know that we are losing BILLIONS (it is not unlikely that we are losing more than $30 Billion) to offshore accounts that do not pay into our sport?
Yes, that's right! People are taking our signals and not paying us for them. Then there are the people who take signals under contracts that are so in favor of the signal taker that the horsemen get screwed out of $$.
Could you imagine how many ills additional money would fix in this business? How much more funds would be available to (and not in any order) 1) fund a true central "league" office; 2) fund drug testing; 3) fund breakdown research; 4) fund retirement/rescue organizations; 5) fund purses - WOW!! Imagine having so much money in the purses owners actually make money at this game!!!
How do we fix the problem? Get the owners, trainers and the few racetracks who really do give a dam to unite and form one central distribution center for the many signals out there. To get our signal, you need to be a registered North American license holder (ie, you're going to pay the US taxes and you're going to pay the horsemen their fair share).
The biggest obstacle right now is Churchill Downs and Drew Cuoto. Pepper Oak is just a by-product of the dismal state of affairs of California racing since Cuoto took over. Did you know he was fired from TOBA? Yes, he was fired from TOBA for getting reimbursed for expenses like an entertainment system, underwater camera, trips to the caribbean (oh, he did stop at one track on the way home...guess that justified that!) He hired his girlfriend who lived in California to be the editor of TOBA. He gave her a $80,000 salary and FedEx-ed her whatever she needed to edit! She was never in the office!!!! He was a train wreck and yet, TYPICAL in this business, he lands a job running the TOC!
Now it is rumored that he is living high on the hog in California on supplements to his salary in the form of paper bag payments from the off-shore shops to keep the horsemen from looking too hard!! Not saying that's true, but he really does have a nice lifestyle....hmmmm......!!!!! Wake up people. It ain't the marketing that's bringing us down. It's the money we're losing daily.
Time for a change!
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