A Different Take on Thanksgiving This Year

In many ways, 2011 has really been awful yet in others it has been truly remarkable.  On this day I usually write about what I’ve been thankful but instead of the usual (family, friends, trainer, jockey, horse, etc.), I’m going to go with what I’d like to be thankful for NEXT Thanksgiving. 

• A racino is open at Canterbury Park AND the ramifications to our Native American friends are next to nothing.
• Tabby Lane stays healthy and gets on a roll at Tampa and Canterbury much the same as this year – but with a bit more purse money thrown in!
• The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association looks after the little guy a bit more.  As an example, see the next bullet.
• States ease up a bit on the “registered security” requirement for small partnerships (in most states if you’re in a partnership and not registered as a security you’re violating the law – I know, right, but its true).  The annual financial burden to meet this requirement when running a $10,000 claimer for a group of 9 people is onerous and prohibitive.  (As an aside, if anyone knows how to better handle this, I’m all ears).
• Racing and its partners learn to better market themselves.  ESPN had part of the Breeders’ Cup telecast and there was not a lick of coverage on ESPN Radio leading up to the event.  Nothing.  A bump in ratings means more money for everyone – a little promotion or interview wouldn’t kill anyone.
• The Breeders’ Cup develops a rotation between three or four tracks.
• Maryland racing again becomes the jewel of the Mid-Atlantic.
• Suffolk Downs picks up one of the slot licenses in Massachusetts.

And a few on a more personal level:

• I’ve made a difference as a board member of the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association to which I was elected last week.
• We have a few more horses in training and more folks involved in racing.
• I have an agent that gets my work published.
• I celebrate another summer as the Daily Racing Form and Midwest Thoroughbred Magazine writer covering Canterbury Park.
• I’m either working full time on something I love (hard to imagine I haven’t been snatched up yet, huh?) or not having to in order to make a living!

While the holiday has become associated with Pilgrims and, to some, the beginning of the persecution of the Native peoples of North America, please remember that in a time of deep national division President Lincoln established the national holiday we celebrate today.  It’s a time of healing, peace, unity and love.  My best wishes to you all for this and much, much more.