Just some random thoughts on this cold, blustery, gloomy Winter day in the best Thoroughbred breeding and racing state in these grand United States.

See.

The end of that sentence warms the heart, doesn’t it?

Kentucky is once again the place to be if you are interested in Thoroughbred breeding and racing. Period. No debate.

Turfway Park, now owned and operated by Churchill Downs, has the best winter racing in this country and around the world. The average field size is the deepest and widest. The handle is the fastest growing. The purses? Are you kidding me? Trying comparing the average Maiden Special Weight purse at Turfway to Gulfstream Park, Oaklawn Park, Santa Anita. Any place. Any time.

And, just this week, in the midst of the deepest snow fall in Kentucky over the last 10 years combined, Turfway Park announced that this year’s Jeff Ruby Steaks would have a purse of $777,000 — becoming the richest race in Northern Kentucky history.

Hip. Hip. Snow up to our hips. Hooray.

Yet…

At the same time, just this week, Gulfstream Park’s top officials just announced that they would like to segregate its’ racing license from its’ gaming license. Split them. Divide them. In essence, ruin them. In a story reported by Carolyn Greer at Horseracingnation.com, the track and its’ leaders have gotten someone to file legislation to allow for Gulfstream Park to put a dagger right in the back of the horse industry. Again.

What does that mean, in reality?

In simple English, it means bad Math for those of us who love horses.

In short, “Money” from the “Gaming” operation will no longer be shared equally with the “Racing” operation. Maybe, not at all.

In the long run, the Stronachs will do better; the horse people will do worse. And, worse. And, worse.

Have you heard that before?

In California, the Stronachs just killed off live racing in Northern California to supplement its’ product in the South. Now, it’s just a matter of time. It, too, will wilt dry on the vine like a bad grape season in Napa.

In Maryland, the Stronachs have long wanted to tear down the historic Pimlico Racetrack, which has hosted the second jewell of the Triple Crown all but 13 times in its’ 149-year history. Instead of investing in the track and the surrounding community, like Churchill Downs has successfully done in Louisville, the Stronachs have employed a “Slum Lord” mentality and threatened both the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore with abandoning the property unless millions of government dollars were just given to them to keep history alive.

How has that gone for them?

How has any of that gone for them?

Bad people beget bad decisions. Bad decisions beget bad business. Bad business begets bad feelings. Bad feelings beget failure.

This legislative proposal being pushed by the Stronachs and Gulfstream Park will beget an epic fail for the horse people. Epic.

It’s truly amazing.

In Kentucky, we have soared. To new heights. Racing and breeding are hot stocks.

It didn’t come easily or without work. Hard work.

It didn’t come quickly, either. For some of us, we have been working on these issues for 40 years. That’s 40 years. 4-0.

It certainly didn’t come without cultivating relationships with decision-makers in the State House and Senate. Planting the right seeds of hope, and not doubt. Tending to the political landscape, just as we do our land on the farm. Developing relationships. Cultivating ideas and crafting compromises.

And, it came only after we were blessed with key legislators that not only understood our industry, but also love it, too. Thank you Damon Thayer, who just retired as the Majority Floor Leader of the Kentucky State Senate. Thank you David Osborne, who still sits as the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Many thank you to others who helped push, shove, speak, listen, guide and follow.

In the end, it came to fruition.

Because our industry worked together.

Sometimes, we regretted it.

Sometimes, we fought it.

Sometimes we all had to swallow both pride and hold onto differing opinions and temper. Sometimes we had to wait. Sometimes we had to push. Sometimes we had to sit at the table with people we didn’t like or respect. Sometimes we had to eat crow, rather than the fatted calf.

And, we even had to overcome the efforts of the Stronachs, who hired a highly-skilled; well-connected; and professional lobbyist in Kentucky. The lobbyist’s job was simple. Kill Historic Horse Racing legislation.

But, in the end, Our horse industry won. The Stronachs horse interests lost. And, the newly-found fruit is well worth all that labor.

The historic Standardbred industry, which was all but dead and gone in Kentucky, is now flourishing like no other time in its’ deep and rich history.

The days of the old Almahurst Farm — which blossomed under the expert tutelage of Henry Knight before the great fall of the brand — just may sprout new again.

There may be, yet again, a new version of the legendary Castleman Farm — which dates all the way back to the early 1800s when the land was first acquired by the Honorable John B. Breckinridge and named Cabell’s Dale — after his wife — Mary Cabell.

The Red Mile once again is the flagship racetrack of the entire sport, with record purses and improvements galore.

Oak Grove Racing and Gaming has added new Standardbred dates to the schedule.

Cumberland Run, owned in part by the Winchell Family and the same group that has excelled at Kentucky Downs, is the state’s third Standardbred track.

Kentucky now has an in-state Standardbred circuit. The Phoenix has risen from the ashes. Literally.

The Thoroughbred industry is soaring.

Not a stall one can be found. The field size is larger than ever before. New facilities are being built. Billions — with a damn “B” — are being invested and spent to improve accommodations and attract fans of both sport and gaming. Both.

Just take a look.

New track at Turfway Park and gaming operations in Northern Kentucky

New paddock facilities and fan experiences being built at historic Keeneland.

Complete makeover of Ellis Park and new gaming theatre near Owensboro.

New track at Oak Grove and new track near London.

A new track being built in the Ashland area.

New additions every year at Kentucky Downs, and the surrounding areas.

Additional facilities in Calvert City? Near Paducah? Are you kidding me?

And, of course, a new first turn pavilion; a world-class new paddock; renewed private suites at the top and a complete makeover of a huge section of the grand stand at the floor of Churchill Downs. Alone.

Add it all up.

Billions in new investments.

New fans. New entertainment. New horses. New horse people.

There is first class racing from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. No more dips. No more declines. No more reason to travel to Saratoga for the summer or the South for the winter. Plenty of reasons to stay. Right here.

Yet…

Instead of following the Kentucky model that is working on building new and restoring the historic, the Stronachs are hell-bent on doing what they do best — destroying.

They put Hialeah out of business.

They put Calder out of business.

They put Bay Meadows and now Golden Gate out of business.

They have all but put Pimlico out of business.

And, now, it seems they are closing in on Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park.

Instead of spending investment dollars on working on legislative solutions in California and Florida, they have thrown money away working against the horse industry in Kentucky. Didn’t even work. Wasted their time, enter and money.

Instead of trying to work with the American Indian Tribes, who have earned the rights to casinos in both California and Florida, the Stronachs have embarked on and employed a strategy that has produced nothing but failure. After failure. After failure. The “Me Too” concept isn’t working. Get over it. Try something new. How about the idea of “Let’s Share” and “Grow Together.”

The horse population in California has shrunk to alarming levels.

The once powerful horse community; breeding operations; and stallion farms in Florida have all but disappeared now. The places where the great Affirmed was born; and the greater Mr. Prospector first became a stallion are gone. The memories of Fappiano have faded. There’s no longer a 2YO Sale at Gulfstream Park. Dozens of farms in Ocala are now up for sale and subdividing. Hundreds of horse people are gone. Thousands of horses have disappeared.

Now, the Stronachs want to split its’ “Gaming license” from its’ “Racing license?”

Just follow the money. Undoubtedly, they will split money, too. We get 100%. You, racing industry, can have the rest.

Are you kidding me?

Instead of multiplying the pie, like Kentucky, the Stronchas want to divide? Again?

In simple English, the Stronach’s math is bad business for those of us who love horses.

In my down-home Southern English, this is a response worth considering:

“Hell no; over my dead body, asshole.”

Just saying.

Some people have foolishly argued that we should give California, Florida and Maryland some of our new riches and buckets of our new revenue to underpin the Stronachs.

Tom Ryan — that self-proclaimed horse whisperer, pinhooker and less-than-shy braggadocio for peeps like Jack Wolf — has gone on record as wanting Kentucky to send more than just horses to his good friend Bob Baffert at Santa Anita. Load up the wagon, he says. Feed the hungry. Lead the blind blindly.

Even a headliner at Keeneland has privately pushed the idea, advocating on behalf of the sale’s company bottom line rather than the horse racing brand.

Horrible idea.

And, luckily…

Never going to happen. That would take legislative changes that all of Kentucky’s horse people should and will oppose and the members of our legislature should and will never consider. Ever.

But, equally, the Stronachs have proven to be awful custodians of both money and property. They have proven to be failures. Over. And, over. And, over.

We have already given them the model to success and they are to blind to follow.

You know the old line, don’t you. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink?

How about this adaptation and reiteration:

You can push a horse’s ass into the starting gate, but you can’t make them win.

Simply put…

The horse industry needs to rid itself of the Stronachs, one way or another. The horse industry needs to dump them in the Muck Pit. Not figuratively. Literally.

Then, and only then, will the survivors be able to revive the sport in Florida, California and Maryland.

Then.

And, only then.