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No respect.
More than 16,000 die-hard fans trekked to a remote part of New Mexico for the industry´s biggest race in 2006, despite stormy weather…a recent sale fetched $675,000 for a single well-bred yearling…on life-support, the Australian industry is being revived…more than $350 million was wagered at more than 100 racetracks in Canada, Mexico, and the US in 2005…Florida may soon open new tracks…TVG broadcasts the races live from California´s Los Alamitos Race Course…dozens of Las Vegas casinos now offer simulcasts for their wagering patrons, and even that stodgy old bible of Thoroughbred racing, "The Daily Racing Form," publishes past performances.
And yet—despite these strong numbers and positive signs—the Quarter Horse racing industry still gets very little mainstream media respect. Despite more than 50 years of official pari-mutuel US racing, the industry is almost completely overshadowed by its far wealthier Big Brother, Thoroughbred racing.
Not many international corporations whose economic impact is valued at almost three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars would go almost completely unnoticed. Ask 100 average Americans to describe Quarter Horse racing and you´re likely to get a head-scratching, "Huh? What´s a Quarter Horse?"
Definitely not one-fourth horse, three-fourths alien species.
As a freelance writer who has also written one of the few books about the sport, I experienced this pervasive apathy/ignorance first-hand recently, when I tried to sell an article about the All-American Futurity in Ruidoso, New Mexico—the Kentucky Derby of Quarter Horse racing, one of the richest races in the sport, with almost a $2 million purse.
You´d think that a little 440-yard horse race with a tiny $2 million purse would, well, matter to someone on the "outside." You´d think that a horse race with almost a 50-year-long tradition in the Southwest would merit a little media coverage.
To market my article, I queried more than 50 sports´ editors around the country.
"Where´s Ruidoso?" came one sarcastic reply.
"Our readers aren´t interested in this subject," scoffed an Oklahoma editor.
A couple of small-town papers generously offered to publish it—for free.
The general public´s ignorance about Quarter Horse racing—and the publishing world´s near-total apathy—is somewhat ironic. Not only does QH racing have a long and storied history in America (dating back to colonial days in Virginia, when colonists raced the animals down country lanes), but each race produces a heart-pounding display of sublime equine athleticism, a feast for the senses.
And yet this explosive form of racing never really took hold east of the Mississippi. Surprisingly, harness racing, greyhound racing, and even barrel racing—none of which, in my biased opinion, can match Quarter Horse racing´s pure drama and passion—are much more popular. In the publishing world, far more books have been written about those sports than Quarter Horse racing.
Beyond basic guides for owners or beginning handicappers, very little published literature exists for racing fans seeking a more in-depth, comprehensive analysis of the sport. Horsemen, horseplayers, gamblers, and handicappers have been shortchanged by the lack of educational and scientific information about their sport.
Not only do very few horseplayers know how to handicap Quarter Horse races skillfully, but owners, trainers, and jockeys also lack objective data about many important issues in racing--such as how to accurately evaluate a race horse´s speed ratings, class, trainer, jockey, recent form, layoff, and post position.
(Steve Sharp is the author of "Fast Horses, Fast Money: The Complete Guide to Quarter Horse Racing." His website is www.fasthorsesfastmoney.com; his e-mail address is slqhracing@yahoo.com.)
More than 16,000 die-hard fans trekked to a remote part of New Mexico for the industry´s biggest race in 2006, despite stormy weather…a recent sale fetched $675,000 for a single well-bred yearling…on life-support, the Australian industry is being revived…more than $350 million was wagered at more than 100 racetracks in Canada, Mexico, and the US in 2005…Florida may soon open new tracks…TVG broadcasts the races live from California´s Los Alamitos Race Course…dozens of Las Vegas casinos now offer simulcasts for their wagering patrons, and even that stodgy old bible of Thoroughbred racing, "The Daily Racing Form," publishes past performances.
And yet—despite these strong numbers and positive signs—the Quarter Horse racing industry still gets very little mainstream media respect. Despite more than 50 years of official pari-mutuel US racing, the industry is almost completely overshadowed by its far wealthier Big Brother, Thoroughbred racing.
Not many international corporations whose economic impact is valued at almost three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars would go almost completely unnoticed. Ask 100 average Americans to describe Quarter Horse racing and you´re likely to get a head-scratching, "Huh? What´s a Quarter Horse?"
Definitely not one-fourth horse, three-fourths alien species.
As a freelance writer who has also written one of the few books about the sport, I experienced this pervasive apathy/ignorance first-hand recently, when I tried to sell an article about the All-American Futurity in Ruidoso, New Mexico—the Kentucky Derby of Quarter Horse racing, one of the richest races in the sport, with almost a $2 million purse.
You´d think that a little 440-yard horse race with a tiny $2 million purse would, well, matter to someone on the "outside." You´d think that a horse race with almost a 50-year-long tradition in the Southwest would merit a little media coverage.
To market my article, I queried more than 50 sports´ editors around the country.
"Where´s Ruidoso?" came one sarcastic reply.
"Our readers aren´t interested in this subject," scoffed an Oklahoma editor.
A couple of small-town papers generously offered to publish it—for free.
The general public´s ignorance about Quarter Horse racing—and the publishing world´s near-total apathy—is somewhat ironic. Not only does QH racing have a long and storied history in America (dating back to colonial days in Virginia, when colonists raced the animals down country lanes), but each race produces a heart-pounding display of sublime equine athleticism, a feast for the senses.
And yet this explosive form of racing never really took hold east of the Mississippi. Surprisingly, harness racing, greyhound racing, and even barrel racing—none of which, in my biased opinion, can match Quarter Horse racing´s pure drama and passion—are much more popular. In the publishing world, far more books have been written about those sports than Quarter Horse racing.
Beyond basic guides for owners or beginning handicappers, very little published literature exists for racing fans seeking a more in-depth, comprehensive analysis of the sport. Horsemen, horseplayers, gamblers, and handicappers have been shortchanged by the lack of educational and scientific information about their sport.
Not only do very few horseplayers know how to handicap Quarter Horse races skillfully, but owners, trainers, and jockeys also lack objective data about many important issues in racing--such as how to accurately evaluate a race horse´s speed ratings, class, trainer, jockey, recent form, layoff, and post position.
(Steve Sharp is the author of "Fast Horses, Fast Money: The Complete Guide to Quarter Horse Racing." His website is www.fasthorsesfastmoney.com; his e-mail address is slqhracing@yahoo.com.)
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