Sadly for me it’s Sneezy Saturday, so instead going to out to Belmont I’ll be enjoying the festivities from home with a bowl of soup. But, no doubt you’ve seen Crist’s and o_crunk’s commentaries? To sum it up, we’re being deprived of showdowns. I’d put together a more pithy and well thought out summary, but I have a raging head cold, and you should just read their pieces!

But back to the point, do you think a day like today with 9 Grade 1 is “Sleepy” or “Super”? Would you prefer to see a little less racing with more showdowns or do you think the current amount of races works just fine? I can make arguments for both points of view. On the one hand, it’s nice to have a good amount of graded races this weekend compared to the last two weekends, but on the other none of them really stand out to me (which could also be due in part to the head cold).

I noticed something else interesting this week that perhaps speaks to the bigger problem at hand. Roger Lyons said something you don’t often hear from places other than HANA:

No matter how rich the rich are, it makes no sense to invest in thoroughbred production during a time when the ordinary people who would otherwise comprise effective demand for the product–as an object of beauty, grace, and wager–are losing their homes and livelihoods.

He pegs players as the consumers and buyers as suppliers of the commercial breeding industry:

The thoroughbred industry’s problem is a lot bigger than just a lack of demand for racehorses and breeding stock. Yes, commercial breeders experience it as such, and it’s painful, but, as I’ve argued before, it’s a mistake to think of thoroughbred sales as even a proximate function of effective demand. Those buyers are, in fact, investors in the system of production. Through them the system distributes young horses for training and channels breeding stock into more efficient use. They are suppliers, not consumers.

This is something I’ve only ever heard players say before. Very interesting. Couple that lack of demand with a giant amount of races and you start to see the problem from a holistic point of view.

On our last poll, “Which is more likely, Santa Anita returning to dirt or a Rachel Alexandra & Zenyatta showdown” y’all nailed it! That is if SA goes forwards with their plan, which it looks like it is.

And finally, don’t forget to that today is the Ladies Riding Challenge at Parx!