Page Title

Where does it go from here
11/27/07 KyHarnessRacing.com

The first year of any new

p

rogram

can determine it's

future. The Wildcat Series

,

for Kentucky

s

ired

horses,

has a future that appears to be in jeopardy

.

Unless changes are made, the Wildcat Series will

come and go, as quick as a winter

snow.

For the program's first year,

so

m

uch effort

was

put

into protecting the

"money"

.

Protect the "money"

by

m

aking

sure

the "big guys" d

o

n't participate

.

T

hose

efforts were met, and now

the health and

stability of

the

program itself

has

been

p

ut in grave

danger

.

As with any

program,

t

his one also

needs

numbers

to

survive and grow.

Without the numb

ers,

it simply

will

not survive.

The KHHA board had the Wildcat program on their

table last year and

h

elped

put it together. "Any

kind

of

series has to start somewhere." says KHHA board

member

Scottie Harris

.

Randy Jerrell,

also a

board

member had this to say,

"The goal of the

Wildcat

Series is to get interest at

the smaller tracks,

Bluegrass Downs and Thunder

Ridge.

Hopefully

people

will

see it and will want to

s

take and come to

the race in

the future."

The program was

intended to provide a race for the

Bluegrass Downs and Thunder Ridge

tracks

. Th

at

concept

i

s

a great idea

, and it can

be

very

successful

at

both tracks.

However, as we stated, changes need

to be made.

One KHHA board member stated,

"

O

ne

of t

he

problem

s

began

b

y

spending an

hour and a

half

,

in

a

meeting,

thinking

of ways to keep

more

p

owerful stables

(the big guys)

out.

"

The program has to welcome

anyone

that

has raised

or

purchase

d

a Kentucky sired colt or filly.

In the

end, it should create more opportunities for

everyone

.

Although opinions may

vary with what should be

done,

t

here are

few

thing

s

that need to happen.

T

he

program

n

eeds

to be

reviewed.

It has to

become

mo

re

attractive for

people to ship

in and race.

T

he

best

interest of the

program

n

eeds

to

be

taken into

account

i

f

it

is

to

stay around.

The

thought process,

"

to

find

a

way

to keep

people

out

"

,

has to end.

It

is

very

unhealth

y and

a

non-

productive

way of

thinking

for

any business.

W

hy not

hope that

Jimmy Takter

a

nd

John

Campbell

show up

?

How great

would that be?

That would be

good for the program

.....

wouldn't it?

The

first year, the

program

had only

$

10,000

pe

r

division,

totalling

$80,000.

Splitting the money

into,

two legs

and

a

final, left the series with very

little

appeal.

In its second year

,

the Wildcat

S

eries

will

have

a total amount of $120,000 to divide into eight

divisions.

For the Wildcat Series, a good design to go by may

be the

o

riginal

sire stakes format. With

$

15,000

per

division, there

just

isn't enough

money

to split into

legs.

The program needs to be appealing, not

just

l

ook

like

another

overnight

race. This race

should

be

special and exciting, to the betting public

and

horsemen.

M

ore importantly, as Billy Perkins s

a

id

it

best, "We

want create a signature event, that is

enticing to the

public. It should be an event with full

fields, that

draws good horses and gives a reason

for the public

to come out and bet."