Racing in 2036: Barry Irwin

[Wandering Eyes]

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com

BARRY IRWIN, CEO OF TEAM VALOR INTERNATIONAL

Racing will contract in size and be conducted at fewer venues.

The names Stronach and 1st Racing will disappear and become as remote as the names Adena Springs and Magna.

NYRA and TwinSpires will control the game.

In 2036 there will only be racing in New York (Belmont/Saratoga), Florida (Ocala), Maryland (Pimlico), Kentucky (Keeneland, Churchill, Kentucky Downs) and Oaklawn Park.

Racing will become a team sport, with only the super wealthy able to afford team franchises.

HISA will disappear. Integrity and safety will become strictly the province of a league office that will set and enforce the rules, with its own team of scientists analyzing all aspects of the equine athlete. Only professionals will be allowed access to the stable area. Owners, supplement pushers, bloodstock agents and fans will be barred.

With wagering set to increase exponentially, stable areas will be controlled like Hong Kong operates today. Ex-FBI employees will control every aspect of surveillance of the stable area, as gambling on horses will only thrive with rigorous attention paid to its athletes and participants.

Smaller tracks will become outlaw operations with the participants not allowed to engage in the major league.

Fewer mares will be bred to fewer stallions, but breeders and stallion operations will make more profit from their investments, as fewer animals equates to much higher prices.

Wealthy folks will return to breeding and racing horses even though all previous tax incentives will disappear. These individuals will return to racing and breeding because it will be profitable and a sporting challenge.

The Jockey Club will cease to become relevant, as racetracks will dominate the equine landscape.

Horsemen's group like the HBPA and the TOC will be replaced by labor unions. All backstretch denizens will belong to a union.

AI will completely change how horseplayers bet on the races. Daily Racing Form will disappear and will seem a quaint remembrance of the horse and buggy days of Thoroughbred racing.

Horseplayers will be younger and more plentiful, with oldersters unable to keep pace with their younger rivals, whose embrace of AI and quantum computing will leave most players of a certain age in the dust.

CAW is a technique every player involved in betting on horses will employ.

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