by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA website is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity — not a threat.”

“He’s a serial entrepreneur. Somebody stop him before he makes a killing again.”

Bob Carson

We love these things: pocket trips, claiming races, classifications, purses, stakes, overnights, first over trips, maiden claimers, non-winners of four under 600 last five starts, exacta part wheels, half-mile turns, post positions, shadow trainers, bar shoes, head poles, closers, runaways, driver selections, condition sheets, parlays, second dams, and a thousand other aspects of this sport. We have made our choice, we will race and wager until our last dollar or our final furlong. We will continue to be irritated that 99 percent of the sporting public will never see what we see in harness racing.

But they won’t.

The hard truth is that only a ridiculously small sliver of the population will find what we have found. Not enough to replace those who fade away, not enough to thrive, maybe not enough to survive. The old paths to our door are small and bumpy. For potential new fans, we need new inroads, radical ways that allow them to discover what we know — we are a sport with a lot to offer. We need to get their feet wet before we can baptize them.

Imagine that you have never seen a harness race in your life. You tentatively stroll into the facility and your first steps are to the apron to watch the horses warm up. It’s fun. It’s interesting. The sights, the sounds, the smells are appealing. The horses are magnificent, although you are a bit troubled by all the straps and sticks and leather that mask the natural beauty of a moving horse. And you do not like seeing the men in the carts have whips in their hands. Still, so far this looks promising.

You walk up to the grandstands and take a seat. The announcer on the PA system bellows, “Ten minutes until post time for race number one.”

Autumn Ryan graphic

Here you start to get slightly uncomfortable. You realize you do not know what you are doing. You realize that you are supposed to bet money, but it is intimidating to get into one of those lines. Besides, you have no idea how to read the program you purchased with the admission ticket. And, you have no interest in learning. You wouldn’t mind risking a few dollars, but nobody wants to stupidly throw money away.

So you plod through the evening at the racetrack. You take in the sights and sounds. You watch the races with little understanding (at first you do not even know where they stop and start). You head home and think, “That was okay.” But at some level you felt like an outsider, a bit confused. You probably would not return.

The part of the evening that separates a “terrific time” from an “okay time” for the novice is the pari-mutuel wagering.

Ironically, pari-mutuel wagering is the part of the game that enthralls traditional horse players. It’s a conundrum; new people are turned off by what “racing people” find so appealing.

Let’s change the picture. Let’s do something radical, something crazy. Let’s take away the reading of the program, the standing in line, and drive this new visitor back to the track with an offer he can’t refuse — big fun with little thinking. Let’s send our first time visitor back for another look at horse racing.

This time, you buy your ticket (it’s pricey at $50) and the ticket taker hands you a computer generated punch card that is very, very simple. Your ticket shows ten races, each race has a number and the name of your horse. Your card looks like this:

Race #1-Horse number 3 (Smashing Pumpkin)
Race #2-Horse number 6 (Redhotfillypepper)
Race #3-Horse number 2 (CashNCarry)
Race #4-Horse number 5 (Sunburned)
Race #5-Horse number 3 (Hello Newman)
Race #6-Horse number 6 (Eggdrop)
Race #7-Horse number 1 (Gunznroses)
Race #8-Horse number 3 (Acid Reflux)
Race #9-Horse number 2 (Hairball)
Race #10-Horse number 5 (Divorcefunds)

Circle any horse that wins the race.

At the bottom of each card is a listing of tonight’s prizes.

10 correct-A new Lexus (There is one displayed in the grandstand concourse)
9 correct-A pair of tickets for a Paris Vacation Package (Brochure included)
8 correct-Two round trip Continental Airline tickets to anywhere they fly
7 correct–54 inch Flat Screen Television
6 correct–Apple I-Pad
5 correct–$100 gift certificate for Borders
4 correct-Dinner for two at one of these three fine restaurants (see menus)
3 correct–Car Wash

All you do tonight is watch the beautiful horses. In each race you cheer for your horse, circle your winner, and dream of Paris and that Lexus. You do not need to read, study, guess or be wrong. All you need to do is socialize, eat, drink and have fun.

Racetrack operators do not need ticket machines or ticket tellers. Selling entrance tickets is your primary revenue. Obviously if you draw 2,000 people your take is $100,000 per program. Racetrack concessions will skyrocket when patrons do not need to bother with that pesky pari-mutuel wagering. With the exception of the big prizes (which we know will rarely happen but if they do, the awarded prize would be advertising Nirvana) the remaining prizes will cost you nothing because they are promos for advertising.

Proposing plans like this often upsets traditionalists. They shouldn’t. Traditional horsemen, horsewomen, trainers, grooms, traditional handicappers, owners — do not worry — our world remains the same. This is a new use of empty facilities. Traditional racing remains the same with simulcast and casino money flowing into regular wagering pools. Stakes payments will be made. Nothing changes. We simply operate in two different spheres. Two tracks, neither necessarily impedes the other.

Traditional horse racing, staking, claiming, handicapping and classifications will still take place. The only significant change is that the pari-mutuel bettors will wager via the internet or a PDA (this is just around the corner in any event).

The prize structure will take place only for patrons at the racetrack. If “prize people” want to come over to “our side” and do some real wagering, they are welcome. We desperately need them. If traditional harness racing handicappers want to take a night off from studying the program and try for a “prize” — great.

Everyone is welcome. Everyone has a place.