Kentucky
Why Horse Racing is Dying in California and What It Means for Kentucky
In the 20th century, horse racing was “the sport of kings.” It was one of the three most popular sports in America, along with baseball and boxing. That’s far from the case a quarter of the way through the 21st century. Now its geographic footprint is in danger of drastically shrinking, threatening the future of the sport.
Prognosticators estimate the sport will not regularly operate in California and Florida within the next decade. The Los Angeles Times drafted a lengthy, detailed feature highlighting horse racing’s expiration date in California. If you care about horse racing, block of 15 minutes and read it now.
Even if you don’t care, California and Florida’s struggles matter to Kentucky. Think of horse racing as a stool. New York, Kentucky, Florida, and California are the four legs propping it up. What happens when two of those legs break?
Allow me to share a brief synopsis of the L.A. Times reporting, along with some personal anecdotal evidence.
[READ: Inside California Horse Racing’s Complex Problems That Could Hurt the Sport Nationwide]
1. There is No Monopoly on Sports Gambling
Do you know why horse racing was so popular for so long? The parimutuel windows were the only way you could legally make a sports wager. Admission to the track was $2 when I started attending Churchill Downs because they wanted you to save all of your money for gambling. Wagering still matters, but the Instagram experience has been priortized above all else.
Meanwhile, you can wager on an NBA player’s assists right from your phone, unless you’re in California. The state does not have sports gambling or historical horse racing slot machines to prop up the horse racing industry.
2. Horse Racing Often Doesn’t Financially Make Sense
A Maiden Special is your most basic, introductory type of race. These are horses all looking for their first win. A Maiden Special at Santa Anita Park in California has a purse of $60,000. At Churchill Downs, the purse is $120,000.
How can one expect horsemen to survive the California standard of living? The math isn’t mathing.
3. No Political Appetite for Horse Racing
Kentucky is able to race with larger purses because of the historical horse racing slot machines, sports gaming, and most importantly, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF). Thanks to the efforts of politicians like Damon Thayer, legislation has been put in place to secure the sport’s financial future in Kentucky.
Politicians in California only speak up about horse racing to highlight the sport’s darkest days. The rash of fatalities in 2019 called for investigations into the conditions of the track and practices used at Santa Anita Park. That turned public sentiment against horse racing in the state and it may never recover.
4. The Stronach Group
The Stronach Group operates under the title 1/ST. They own multiple racetracks, most notably Santa Anita Park and Gulfstream Park. They previously owned Pimlico, but turned that over to the state of Maryland last summer.
Gulfstream and Santa Anita are two of the five most important horse racing tracks in the country. The land they sit on is worth more than its horse racing enterprise. According to the LA Times, they’re shopping both tracks for sale. Belinda Stronach made that abundantly clear when she said during the Pegasus World Cup broadcast on NBC, “The fact is that Gulfstream Park is now in a very dense, urban setting, and that’s not great for horses, ultimately.”
Churchill Downs is in a pretty dense, urban setting, and the horses there seem to be doing just fine.
What Does This All Mean?
The horse racing industry is big business for the state of Kentucky. According to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, the equine industry generates roughly $6.5 billion in total economic impact, supports over 60,000 jobs, and brings in over $100 million in tax revenue for the state. Kentucky Derby week generates upwards of $217 million for the local economy.
That is not in danger of going away, however, if Florida and California get out of the business, we will feel it in Kentucky. If you care about the business, do yourself a favor and take some time to read the detailed feature from the L.A. Times.
Sign up for the KSR Newsletter to get breaking news and daily headlines delivered directly to your inbox.
If you ask almost any Kentucky fan, they’d say that year one of the Mark Pope era was a success. Kentucky tied an NCAA record for most wins against AP Top 15 foes, beat several rivals, and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019; however, Mark Pope was not satisfied. During his interview with Matt Jones on today’s Kentucky Sports Radio, he made it a point to say that his first Kentucky team failed to meet the mark.
“It’s Kentucky. Like, you know what, guys? I’m not going to be the guy who comes to Kentucky as the head coach and somehow lowers the expectations of this place. Man, we’re trying to win this whole thing. Like, we failed at our job last year.”
When Matt asked if he really believed that, Pope doubled down, drawing on his own experiences as a Kentucky fan after leaving the school as the captain of the 1996 national championship team and returning as its coach.
“One hundred percent. Listen, I know myself; for the last 30 years, I’ve been a die-hard Kentucky fan. If we didn’t win, I’m like, ‘What is wrong with that coach? Man, he can’t win at Kentucky!’ That’s what all my guys are saying to me every single day. And so, like, I’m not unrealistic. I understand the reality.”
You might think that after transitioning from fan to coach and learning the weight of the fanbase’s expectations, Pope would give himself some grace for not winning it all in year one. Quite the opposite. Pope said his first year on the job added more fuel to the fire. Since the season ended, Pope has revamped Kentucky’s roster with one of the top NIL budgets in the country, bringing in one of the best transfer portal classes that will join a talented group of incoming freshman and core returners like Brandon Garrison and Otega Oweh (assuming Oweh withdraws his name from the NBA Draft).
“We are blessed,” Pope said. “I’ll tell you the one thing that nobody in the world will deny, okay, that you can’t actually argue: we have the greatest fanbase in all of college basketball. There’s no one, any other fanbase, that would argue that. Nobody can argue that. And so that fanbase deserves the best of everything. And so you go down the list, and we’re trying to be the best at everything. And that’s what Kentucky is supposed to be; that’s what Kentucky has traditionally been.”
Pope feels obligated to the fans but also to his fellow former Kentucky players. He made a quick trip to New York on Tuesday, during which he spent some time with Karl-Anthony Towns, who has the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. The two talked about legacy, specifically theirs as Kentucky Wildcats.
“I was just with Karl-Anthony Towns yesterday in New York, and that’s what he expects out of this joint. That’s what all our former players and former coaches [expect].”
Including John Calipari, the coach whom he replaced.
“You know what?” Pope said. “That’s what Cal expects. I mean, Cal is like, ‘Don’t you ruin my program. Man, that’s the best program in all of basketball.’”
Pope said at his introductory press conference that he understands the assignment of being Kentucky’s coach; after year one, he’s more motivated than ever to deliver.
Mark Pope’s interview on KSR
We’ll be rolling out highlights from Pope’s interview all day (week?) long, but you can listen to or watch it in its entirety below.
Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.
Here are eight colleges that won an NBA MVP award before Kentucky: Holy Cross, San Francisco, Massachusetts, Indiana State, Navy, Louisiana Tech, Davidson and Arizona State.
It seems hard to grasp, given Kentucky’s overwhelming success in men’s basketball since the early days of the sport, that the school had never had an NBA MVP before Wednesday. But that is the truth—or it was, until the streak was broken by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander was named the MVP of the NBA Wednesday, becoming the first Kentucky player ever to win the award. He played in Lexington in 2018, garnering All-SEC, All-SEC tournament and SEC All-Freshman honors along with a conference tournament MVP award.
Kentucky has had a litany of NBA All-Stars, but none have ever been quite good enough to snag the league’s highest individual honor. Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker finished fourth in 2022, then-New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis finished third in 2018, and Kentucky Colonels forward Dan Issel was the ABA MVP runner-up in 1972.
However, none have ever quite scaled the heights of Gilgeous-Alexander, who has added a surprisingly new feather to his program’s collective cap.
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
Gov. Andy Beshear addresses media following severe storms in Kentucky
Governor Andy Beshear spoke to the media following the severe storms and tornado in southeastern Kentucky.
- Following recent severe storms, including a deadly EF-4 tornado, Kentucky is expected to see lesser chances of showers in the coming days.
- Sunday has a higher chance of precipitation, 60-80%, with possible thunderstorms and highs near 68.
The National Weather Service is predicting some smaller chances of showers in the coming days following recent storm systems that impacted various parts of the commonwealth.
Storm systems rolled through Kentucky May 20 after severe weather hit multiple counties beginning May 16. A deadly EF-4 tornado killed nearly 20 people in Russell, Pulaski and Laurel counties, leaving behind a path of destruction with its 170 mph winds, and a few other tornadoes were also confirmed across Kentucky.
Incoming weather shows lower rain possibilities than in recent days, with the highest chances for rain on May 24 and 25. Here’s what we know about the upcoming forecast:
Wednesday
Partly sunny skies turn mostly cloudy before becoming mostly clear with a high near 70 and low around 52. West winds of 8-15 mph with gusts as high as 26 mph lessen to 6-10 mph in the evening.
Thursday
A 30% chance of showers. Mostly sunny skies turn partly cloudy, with a high near 66 and low around 47. West winds of 8-14 mph with gusts as high as 23 mph that become northwest at 3-8 mph.
Friday
Increasingly cloudy skies become partly cloudy with a high near 69 and low around 49. Northwest winds of 3-8 mph.
Saturday
A 20-60% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny skies turn mostly cloudy with a high near 68 and low around 55.
Sunday
Chance of precipitation is 60-80% with showers and possible thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy with a high near 68 and low around 56.
Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
This is how much untreated wastewater went into the Connecticut River last year
Thousands of chicks found abandoned in USPS truck in Delaware have been adopted by families, farms
DeSantis signs Florida state parks bill born from outcry over golf course plans
Boxer Georgia O'Connor Dead at 25 After Cancer Diagnosis and Miscarriage
Julia Roberts’s Former Hawaii Hideaway Can Be Yours for $30 Million
-
Education1 week agoHarvard Letter Points to ‘Common Ground’ With Trump Administration
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: ‘Original Sin,’ by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson
-
News1 week agoAs Harvard Battles Trump, Its President Will Take a 25% Pay Cut
-
News1 week agoAustin Welcomed Elon Musk. Now It’s Weird (in a New Way).
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: ‘Death Is Our Business,’ by John Lechner; ‘Putin’s Sledgehammer,’ by Candace Rondeaux
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Opinion | We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.
-
News1 week agoMenendez Brothers Resentenced to Life With Parole, Paving Way for Freedom
-
Politics1 week agoRepublicans say they're 'out of the loop' on Trump's $400M Qatari plane deal