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| Did You Know? |
| That there were only 7 yearlings out of stakes winning broodmares at the 2008 MTA yearling sale. Six of those 7 yearlings sold. Consequently, 85.7% of yearlings out of stakes winning broodmares sold while only 45.5% sold overall. (30 out of 66 that actually went through the sales ring.) The 6 yearlings out of stakes winning broodmares sold for an average of $8,533 while the overall sale average was $6,313. In other words, yearlings out of stakes winning broodmares sold almost twice as often as non-stakes winning broodmares, and when they sold, they sold for 35% more than the average sale price. Interestingly, national studies indicate that stakes winning broodmare average earnings per foal are more than double the average earnings of non-stakes winning broodmare foals! Do you think the mares matter? |
| "Maybe Minnesota Politicians Now Get It" Things may finally be changing for the better in Minnesota regarding the equine industry. After years of repeatedly ignoring the will of the people by dismissing the financial benefit our state could garner by simply implementing Racino based gaming, it appears the people have spoken by electing individuals who understand the basic concept of raising general tax fund revenues. While many candidates who support racino concepts won, those that did not win came from out of nowhere to lose by very small margins. I believe this election has resulted in a wake up call to finally "Do the Obvious". No wonder, so many other states and nations have already implemented racino options, and have consequently sucked billions of dollars in tax revenue away from Minnesota. With a renewed optimism, I noticed that many top Minnesota breeders and owners also have a renewed vigor associated with purchasing both race horses and breeding stock at the recent Kentucky sales. This is not an insignificant development and another reason to predict a much higher probability of racino success in 2011. After watching Minnesota politicians in 2009, (see the following article), I predicted the high probability of a major turnover in the political power structure as a result of lazy financial thinking on the part of elected officials. I was right and the recent election proved it. Now I predict a high probability of Minnesota finally focusing on racino/casino types of tax revenues with a portion of the revenues being utilized to support the important, but struggling, equine industry. Considering the dramatic reduction in Minnesota breeding, those who own Minnesota bred horses may have a great time enjoying Minnesota racing going forward. Could it actually be time to get in the game? "Minnesota politicians just don't get It" (Originally published in May 2009.) Well it appears efforts to secure a fully functioning Racino have failed again in Minnesota. Even though a fair amount of political support for Racinos was secured, the majority of our Minnesota lawmakers are apparently more focused on spending than listening. They decided to vote no on the Racino bill and we can only assume that the simplicity of plugging in slot machines at Canterbury Park, and the $1,000,000,000 in additional taxes the Racino bill would have delivered to our state over the next 5 years, was simply not important enough to consider for the big spending politicians currently in office. We shouldn't be surprised by political arrogance. Far too many lawmakers pretend to empathize and talk a good game in town hall meetings, to only then turn around and perpetuate the massive problems they helped create. Unfortunately, unfettered deficit spending is the name of the game today in both Washington and Minnesota, so who really needs a billion dollars anyway? Amazingly, 11 other states have fully functioning racetrack casinos that contributed more than $2 billion to their respective states, in just one year! What we, as horsemen, horsewomen, mothers, fathers and Minnesota taxpayers know is that the Racino bill could have directed billions of dollars over time to the general revenue tax fund which could have prevented cuts in education, health care, economic development and other programs. However, our worst fears have again been realized as certain lawmakers continue to follow the cow paths of their minds. They will likely realize too late that the state has allowed billions of dollars in taxable revenue leak out to other states and nations. Those politicians who decided to vote no or not support the Racino bill, have further damaged our state's economy and will painfully force a substantial part of the Minnesota agricultural/equine industry to close up shop or move stables, jobs and businesses to more progressive states. We, like many others, love the state of Minnesota. We love it because of the people and the diverse, high quality programs the state offers. Many lawmakers deserve credit for creating an environment that people like us have chosen to operate or live in but, it also seems that the majority of today's lawmakers think the best time to fix the roof is when it's raining. A few years ago, when the sun was shining on our state's economy, revenue opportunities like the Minnesota Racino were ignored by many politicians. Now that we are in an economic deluge, instead of adopting meaningful solutions, these same politicians have proven they are predominantly concerned with their political cronies or their personal campaign funds. We can only hope the roof doesn't cave in before we get more politicians in office who are committed to do what is right for the citizens of Minnesota. We honestly don't know how things are going for everybody but it seems more and more of our solid "salt of the earth" Minnesota citizens are losing jobs. We also know needed governmental services will soon be cut and the folks we talk to in the farming, business and equine circles have just about had it with existing elected officials. These officials have created many of the problems we now face, and are failing to address them, proving they are unable to deal with a crisis. Facing an historical state deficit, and after months of work, our representatives couldn't even do their jobs and balance a budget. The only thing they seem to be competent at is faking out their constituents by creating an aura of concern around issues. Unfortunately for them, more and more people are starting to really pay attention, ignoring rhetoric and focusing on substance. In other words, the public is starting to realize it's time to back up the truck and unload the dead weight that powers the existing political machines. Those of us in, or doing business with, the equine industry in Minnesota will not soon forget those who voted no to the Racino, which by the way was favored by just under 80% of the populace based upon a recent media survey. As a result, just about everybody we know is planning to return the "no vote" Racino favor our representatives bestowed upon us, during the next election cycle. After all, we only have incumbent politicians to thank for economic plight and our turn to vote comes sooner than the big spending politicians realize. |
| General Thoroughbred News We have learned to never accept opinions or manufactured stories as truth. Instead real truths often have to be discovered by analyzing data. Frequently, our studies of publicly available data reveal information that is contrary to popular opinion. Over the past few years we have been asked to share perspectives on the thoroughbred business. |