Letters to the Editor

Don't rip Jackson for his plotting of filly's future

Regarding two June 28 letters to Daily Racing Form, "Rachel's owner sounds tiresome" and "Sport needs meeting of its top females": Criticizing Jess Jackson not only for deciding not to run Rachel Alexandra on the synthetic California racing circuit but also for buying her in the first place is absurd.

Firstly, it is the letter-writers stirring the pot, not Jackson. Yes, he bought her knowing that the Breeders' Cup was at Santa Anita this year. That's why he will run her at 4 with the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs as the goal. And she will not lose a race to any horse this year on dirt, whether the opponent be 3 years old or otherwise. She towers over all competition on the dirt, bar none.

As far as Jackson spending his millions, so what? No one questions the folks at International Equine Acquisitions Holdings when they spend like drunken sailors. Exactly how is that would-be superfilly from the West Coast doing? I think that $6 million purchase was named Stardom Bound or something?

And if Zenyatta's connections want to run against Rachel Alexandra, come get her. Or wait till Churchill Downs in 2010. Or better yet, run in the Clark there this November.

Mike Cozzi - Tinton Falls, N.J.

Old-school ideas scratch the surface

Jess Jackson is 100 percent right. I believe as a bettor and racing fan the Pro-Ride at Santa Anita and other synthetic tracks are hurting the racing game. Those tracks may have been put in for safety reasons, but to date statistics are inconclusive as to the reality of improved safety.

Maybe I'm too old-school, but I think Mr. Jackson has a point.

Fred Goldman - West Orange, N.J.

Adoration of Rachel a bit of a stretch

Please, everybody, let's dispense with the Rachel Alexandra hype. Yes, she did set a stakes record in the Mother Goose, but any respectable horse would have done so after her only two competitors ran each other into the ground at a suicidal pace.

I suspect Rachel won't run in the Breeders' Cup because her owner, Jess Jackson, knows that Zenyatta could run her into the ground with both rear hooves tied together.

Tom Tedesco - Sanford, Fla.

Guidance needed on troubled waters

Imagine a glorious ship, adrift in a dangerous storm, full of captains entirely cognizant of the ship's peril but nonetheless of little help because they have no leader and likewise no uniform course of action.

Welcome aboard Thoroughbred racing in North America. Hopefully, one or more of the various governing bodies or ownership interests in the United States and Canada will, before it is too late, take the initiative to start assembling all of the captains for the purpose of defining the nature of the storm, how best to confront it and future storms, and then put into place an effective leadership chain of command.

It is patently obvious that the horse racing industry's lack of uniformity in addressing its present and future course of action is why it is having such difficulty.

The racing business is powered by economic forces tied in large part to the demands of fare-paying customers. It will take a creative joint effort focused on the tasks at hand to identify potential new customers and to address comprehensively the demands of current ones.

The fact that change to the product occurs only every few decades is sad testament that the industry views itself as something that largely cannot be improved. Effective leadership for the industry as a whole must be instituted. Perhaps, then, the ship's crew will see an increase in fresh faces and a decrease in the number of disgruntled passengers electing to jump ship.

Joseph Reiff - Las Vegas